3 Keys Thursday: 3 Keys for Digging into De-Cluttering

Photo: Dodgerton Skillhause via Morguefile

Currently, I'm at work on the Let it Go! section of my organizing book. As often happens, writing inspires action and I feel motivated to tackle the clutter in my office that's been calling to me all summer. Unfortunately, this is often easier said than done. Although I love stuff isn't my primary personal style, all of the stuff that piled up in my office was, at one time, stuff that was important for one reason or another. Consequently, it takes more than a writing-induced nudge to turn motivation into action.

One way to jump-start that motivation is to devise a plan of attack, but a bit more greasing of the skids helps to keep things going if and when the plan stalls. Here are three ideas to keep in mind when the implementation is harder than expected.

Start with something easy. I opted to start my latest attack on my office with binders I hadn't opened in over a year. No-nonsense, non-sentiment-provoking paper. Starting out by sorting something where the keep/toss decision is relatively easy keeps us from hitting a wall at the outset. Similarly, starting to sort piles from the bottom is easier than starting at the top. With paper and clothing in particular, the oldest items are usually on the bottom of the pile. Outdated and forgotten, they're relatively easy to get rid of. Once we've tossed a few things, the whole Let it Go! process just feels easier.

Start small. Nothing makes me procrastinate faster than feeling overwhelmed. Promise yourself you'll eliminate one pile or work for half an hour, and then walk away, secure in the knowledge that you've made progress. Maybe even play "Beat the Clock," setting a timer and seeing how many items you can toss or put away before the timer goes off or tell yourself you can stop after you toss or put away a certain number of items.

Pick a season. Although I mean to go through all of my Christmas stuff in the off-season and my school files over the summer, what usually happens is that the need for these items (or new versions of them) is what finally motivates me to attack the piles. As with strategy #1, tackling old stuff can be just what I need to stop procrastinating and start de-cluttering, especially if it means making way for new and improved versions. And, when my mind is already "in gear" for a particular task or season, the work goes more quickly.

When Let it Go! feels too challenging, it's easy to procrastinate, which is sad because we miss out on the benefits a good de-cluttering session can provide. At its best, Let it Go! can help us feel lighter as we eliminate the old to make room for the new, or to free up the most beautiful of all organizational sights.

Clear space.

3 Keys Thursday: 3 Keys to Successful Goal-Setting

Dodgerton Skillhause via Morguefile

Yesterday, I wrote about my mid-year goal-setting session. One of the reasons I've come to enjoy this process is that I've come to look at it as me time -- time to think about what I want to do and what I want to accomplish, rather than stuff that has to get done.

Want to do some goal-setting of your own? Whether you jot your goals down on a piece of scrap paper, in a neatly tabbed notebook or somewhere in the recesses of your planner, here are a few suggestions to make the process more helpful than painful.

Dream big. Do you remember being a little kid and having adults ask you what you wanted to be when you grew up? Try thinking of goal-setting in that respect. You can dream as big as you'd like, change your mind at any time and include things like princess, superhero and pro athlete on your list of goals. What would you do if the sky was the limit?

Think small. So, you've done it. You've identified your goals. That part was fun, but now they seem so far away and unrealistic. What is one baby step you can take in the next week to get to one of those goals? When I said I'd made progress on my goals, I didn't mean I'd checked them all off my list; I'd simply taken a succession of baby steps in the right direction. Maybe I'll get there, maybe I'll take a detour or maybe I'll change the route entirely, but in any event I need a destination, and each step takes me closer to where I want to be.

Make recognition a part of the process. Long-term goals, in particular, can be big and intimidating. If we learn to focus on how far we've come rather than how far we still have to go, the process gets easier. In addition, we need to acknowledge our small successes. We don't need to throw ourselves a party every time we do one little thing, but we should at least take a moment to pat ourselves on the back (or put a checkmark on the page) when we take a step in the right direction. If we aim for a succession of baby steps, we creep ever closer to the goal, even if we fall down and get back up again after each step.

How about you? Are there any secrets to successful goal-setting you'd like to share?

3 Keys Thursday: 3 Keys to Managing "Overwhelmed"

Dodgerton Skillhause via Morguefile

Getting sick is no fun, and, while feeling better is wonderful, trying to catch up on everything that fell by the wayside when simply walking from the sofa to the kitchen was an accomplishment is not much fun either. Add snow and deadlines and it's easy to feel as though the to-do list is simply endless.

Until we can make the world stop when we do, feeling overwhelmed from time to time is inevitable. Knowing what to do when that feeling strikes can help us to take charge and feel a little less out of control. For me, this "take charge" approach includes:

Taking baby steps. When it's all too much, we start feeling the need to slay big dragons. Unfortunately, the pressure to get it all done at once, even if it's self-imposed, only contributes to that feeling of too much to do in too little time. Putting one foot in front of the other and taking one thing at a time can create a sense of accomplishment as we erase all of those little tasks from our to-do lists, one by one.

Prioritizing. As we approach each of those small tasks, it's important to ask ourselves if the baby steps we're taking are leading us in the direction of something that must be done now or something that can wait. While we have the luxury of mixing it up when we're not in a time crunch, we need to focus first on the here and now when we've hit the panic button. When we're overwhelmed, baby steps that make progress on a project due in two weeks may be less useful than the ones we take on the stuff that's due tomorrow.

Using the plan. In an effort to find shortcuts and super solutions, we often get in our own way. When this happens, we need to stop, step back and assess the plan(s) we have at our disposal. If they work on a day-to-day basis, they might just be the life raft we're looking for when seas get stormy. Choose the most appropriate plan and put it into action. Even a semblance of a plan can help us feel less out of control.

How about you? How do you keep things under control when you're feeling overwhelmed?