Just Pick an Organizing Tool

11069-NN7KGNOn we go with more from my Zero to Planned class.

“Just Pick a Tool” — that seems to be what people often feel is expected of them to get moving on their organizing.

Who of us hasn’t said, TODAY IS THE DAY I GET ORGANIZED and rush out to HomeGoods and Staples to buy everything we need to make our home, office, and day feel better and be more productive.

Only — well, what did you buy and why?

Usually the answer is something like “It matched my room and it looked really sleek and organizing’y.”

I’m not gonna lie: I have fallen for the siren’s call of a sweet looking organizing tool myself.

Let’s talk about why this isn’t going to work a lot of the time.

First off it has nothing to do with your commitment or ability. Not one thing.

What it has to do with is the tool and how you use it.

If I asked you to come over and hang a painting for me, would you bring a hammer or a screwdriver? Sure. We could probably get that puppy up using the screwdriver, but what a long and frustrating process that could be.

There’s a bunch of things that need to be looked at when deciding how to organize and what you’ll need. For example:

  • Is your job/day mostly task or project orientated?
  • How naturally structured is your day?
  • Do you need to see something for it to exist?
  • How quickly do you need to put your hands on something?
  • Do other people need to be able to access your stuff?
  • Do you have someone you delegate to?
  • How many things (and what type) do you balance in one day?
  • Do you have long term deadlines or immediate ones?
  • Do you manage you or does someone else?

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

If you read the first post (HERE), you know that your organizing system needs to be all about your needs and your style. There is no failure here. There is only “haven’t found the right thing to utilize.”

I love covering this section going from super unstructured to every-minute-has-an-assignment. People are different. And, one of the things I love is helping people use their strengths to get stronger.

So, relinquish the organizing-failure that so many people fear and starting thinking about YOU instead of what’s on sale at Target’s home office aisle.

<3
Bria

Interested in the Zero to Planned workshop? Spots for the next round are filling up! The details are HERE.

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