Wednesday Tip: How TV Can Help You Get Organized

Happy National TV-Free Week! If you’re participating, use the time you’d usually be watching TV to get started on an organizing project you’ve been putting off. If, like me, you can’t bear the thought of a Parks and Rec and New Girl-less week, read on…
I love TV. What I don’t always love is the guilty feeling of knowing I should be working on things but choosing to watch that Project Runway marathon anyway. Fortunately, watching TV actually affords lots of opportunities to work on small, nagging projects.

First, stop fast-forwarding the commercials on your DVR’d shows. I know they’re annoying (I usually mute them), but they’re the perfect length of time to do some of those tiny tasks that always pile up. Next time you’re watching TV, try doing one of these things during the commercial breaks:

• Sort mail, throwing away junk
• Call a catalog company and ask to be removed from their list
• Sew a button back on a shirt
• Purge one old file folder
• Shred some of the papers in your “to shred” pile
• Unsubscribe from some email lists
• Pay a bill
• Dust the living room
• Lightning Tidy! This is my favorite. Zoom around, picking up and putting away as much stuff that’s out of place as you can during the commercial break. Seriously, I love playing these beat-the-clock games with myself. Yes, I am a giant nerd.

All organizing projects (even the huge ones) are really a series of small tasks. Use this otherwise dead time to chip away at the clutter, and you’ll feel like you really accomplished something!