3 Keys Thursday: 3 Factors to Consider Before Adopting Someone Else's Strategy

Dodgerton Skillhause via Morguefile

Yesterday, I wrote about finding the sweet spot between my planner and my to-do lists. It's a plan that took a long time to evolve, and one that works extremely well for me.

Does that mean it will be a good fit for you?

Maybe. Maybe not. If we share styles, perhaps it will. If we have different planning needs, it most likely won't.

One trap I fell into frequently before learning to organize by STYLE was trying to replicate things that worked for other people. Almost invariably, I ended up frustrated and no better organized than I was before I started. Even worse, I sometimes blamed myself instead of considering the (usually correct) possibility that the tool was not a good fit for one (or both) of my styles.

That's not to say that other people don't have good ideas -- they often do. But, before you try to adopt someone else's plan as your own, ask yourself these questions.

Does it fit my styles? As someone who loves planners, I've seen, picked up, flipped through and nearly purchased many of them. But, as someone with an I need to see it personal style, I've put almost as many right back where I found them. Plenty of lovely planners lack the layout and planning space that I've learned that I need in order to function effectively. And binder planners? Fuhgeddabout it! Binders and I do not get along. Those planners may be a perfect fit for someone else, but they don't work for me.

Will the novelty wear off? Novelty can be just what we need, especially if our brand new tool fits our styles and moves us in the direction of a change we're committed to making. But, novelty will only carry us so far. If the learning curve is too steep, we may go back to the old way out of sheer frustration. Fit new tools into existing styles and throw in just enough novelty to spark the excitement of a new approach.

Is it worth the expense of time and money? Good organizers don't have to be expensive. Our kitchen calendar gets limited use and is mostly a visual reminder of doctors' appointments, so it's as basic (and cheap) as I can make it. The blank sheet of paper I put on my clipboard under my day-by-day sheet is usually the flip side of something I've printed but no longer need or a piece of notebook paper torn out of one of my daughter's old school notebooks. And the clipboard itself is reusable. The only thing I really splurge on is my planner and even then, splurge is a relative term. It's more important to me that it fits in my purse than that it's a thing of beauty (although pretty planners are nice). I'm a big fan of organizers from the dollar store and clearance racks and I re-purpose what I already own as much as possible -- as long as it fits my styles.

Pixabay

The next time you just love something someone else is using, ask yourself if it fits your styles. If it does, ask yourself if you can imagine using it every day and how much time and money adopting this new tool will cost. If you can check all the boxes, go for it.

We never know until we try.