Set-It-And-Forget-It Organizing

Will the task “Get Organized” ever move off your To Do list? It depends. 🙂

Wasn’t that helpful? Seriously, today’s blogpost is inspired by my friend, “T.” She emailed me that she felt great about finishing a big part of a back-to-school organizing project in her home. (Great job, “T!”)

“T” had thoroughly organized one area, and there were some items that didn’t belong there. So, she staged them in another room for the next step in her project. Then, she added, “Where will it end?”

Many people feel this way about organizing. Is there really always and forever more organizing to do? Not really. Not for that space.

Once you’ve organized a particular space, it’s all about the maintenance. The truth is it takes very little effort to maintain an organized space. And, maintenance really can become such a routine part of your life that you don’t think about it.

Think about all the things that you do now that are just regular parts of your day. You don’t think of them as dull routines or systems. They’re just what you do.

Would you even consider leaving the house for the day without brushing your teeth? Putting on some clothes? Remembering your shoes?

At some point, you practiced these things until they became habit. Someone in authority over you reminded you to practice these things over and over until you did them on your own. Guess who’s in charge of reminding you today? …. Wait for it…. YOU.

YOU just need to remind yourself (calendar, sticky notes, whatever) to practice your maintenance long enough to have it become second nature.  Once you do, you’ll enjoy the freedom promised by that famous infomercial for the small cooking appliance with the slogan, “Set it and forget it.”

Organize a space. Automate its maintenance. Then, you can relax and enjoy that space forever.

It can happen for you. You can do this.

“Heaven and Earth were finished, down to the last detail … on the seventh day He rested from all His work.” Genesis 2:1-2 (The Message)

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 Hello, my name is Tina Bonifacio, and I am a Professional Organizer working with residential and commercial clients in the greater Savannah, Georgia area. For more information, visit https://organizedbytina.com. Thanks for stopping by. You are welcome back anytime.

Tagged as: automate, enjoy, get organized, habit, maintenance, organize, organized, organizing, relax, remind, reminders, routine, second nature, set-it-and-forget-it, space, systems, To Do, To Do List