Organization: Small Changes Can Be Big Wins

Instead of recognizing the impact of small changes, we become overwhelmed at organizing our homes from seeing the whole house as a single project. Small changes can be big wins – and small changes are often what motivate us to keep going. Think about how losing a single pound helps motivate you to lose the next 20. It’s the same with organization – you don’t have to go from no organization to the perfect home overnight. Discover how small changes can help you keep the momentum.

HOW DO I KNOW WHERE TO BEGIN MY ORGANIZATION JOURNEY?

Rather than try to organize your whole home, stop and think about where you experience the most stress. Is it the pile of laundry on the chair in your room or the difficulty getting dressed in the morning because your closet is so unorganized? Is it the fact that your family cannot sit together in the dining room for a meal because the table has become a storage space? Small changes are most effective when you can identify a source of stress that you can eliminate. It has a domino effect on your ability and motivation to make more changes.

HOW SMALL CAN THE CHANGE BE? (I DON’T LIKE CHANGE/CHANGE STRESSES ME OUT/I DON’T HAVE A LOT OF TIME)

It is completely ok to start as small as you need to. In fact, try organizing just a bathroom cupboard or your junk drawer – nothing more. Just a simple drawer or small cupboard. Take your time and pull everything out of the drawer. You may realize right away that most of what is being stored is actually trash (or stuff that goes somewhere else). When you begin to put things back, do so with purpose. When you’re finished with this one small change, don’t immediately jump into another project. Just experience how the one small change you did make impacted you.

KEEP MAKING INCREMENTAL CHANGES

Once you realize what a relief it is to tackle a small project, you will hopefully feel motivated to do more of that – and to realize that even small changes can make a big difference. You don’t have to take on your whole house all a once. You don’t even have to do a whole closet – you could start with just shoes.

Being more organized can relieve stress, but when getting organized makes you stress, break it down into smaller, more manageable pieces.