Make This One Change For a More Organized Year
There are so many things we can recommend to help you have a more organized year. You could get a planner. You could make your bed every day. You could do the dishes after dinner every night so that you never wake up to dirty dishes in the sink. All of those are great habits. But what’s the one habit that has the most powerful habit you can develop?
The habit of saying NO.
WHY SAYING NO IS IMPORTANT
We all want to help people and do things for them, but when we say yes too often, we harm ourselves. It’s the oxygen mask trope – you aren’t any good to anyone if you don’t have your own oxygen mask on. So saying no is about setting boundaries that allow you to take care of you.
HOW DOES SAYING NO HELP YOU BE MORE ORGANIZED
When you take on too many responsibilities, you can become very overwhelmed. Overwhelm and the resulting stress not only make it harder to deal with the clutter and disorganization in your own home. In fact, you may be so overwhelmed that you don’t have the energy to maintain your own home. The more things you obligate yourself to do without doing for yourself first or also, the more overwhelmed you may become – and it can lead to chronic stress and disorganization.
WHEN YOU ARE MORE ORGANIZED, YOU FREE MENTAL SPACE
Say no now and get your own house in order. Or even just say no, make yourself a cup of hot chocolate and curl up with a good book. By doing so, you free mental space that allows you to be more creative. You will have more energy to help others. You will have more ideas about how to improve your own space. And you will enjoy life more.
SAYING NO ISN’T A BAD THING
When we say no, it is often accompanied by guilt and discomfort. In fact, that discomfort can be so strong that we end up saying yes just to avoid feeling it. But it is crucial – not just to get more organized but for you your own piece of mind – that you become comfortable saying no and feeling righteous about doing so. It makes your yeses that much more powerful, too.
For more on reducing stress, read:
The Art of Saying No by Daniel Zahariedas