Many people I meet in my work as a Professional Organiser, have struggled for years to put order into their homes and lives. The term ‘chronic disorganisation’ is little used in the UK, but it often describes a set of features I see when working with people whose daily lives are negatively affected by ‘stuff’.
Along with the difficulties involved with accumulation and discarding, people affected by disorganisation can have a poor sense of time and are frequently late for work, school and appointments. This usually occurs because of an inability to find misplaced items, distractions and an unrealistic idea of how long it will take to complete a task.
Does this sound like you? If so, here are a few ideas that should help:
Avoid morning madness
Do this by preparing what you will need the night before. Lay out the clothes you’ll wear, gather up and pack any bags needed, put out breakfast items and check the bathroom for loo roll and toiletries. Think through everything and have it ready to go. If you have children in the house, have a ten minute nightly ‘prep for morning’ time to get them in the preparation habit too.
Create a command centre
This is a fancy name for a handy place to store keys, sunglasses, purse – in fact anything you need to quickly grab before you leave your home. It can also be a place where outgoing mail is kept. I use a nice basket in my kitchen for this; it’s also large enough to keep other things I use on a daily basis – medication, pen, notebook, hand cream, nail file and a perpetual shopping list!
Schedule stuff
A little planning goes a long way, especially if you write it down. Plan to do your most important tasks early in the week, so that if they have to be rearranged there is still enough time to do them. Schedule the most difficult tasks during your ‘prime time’, when energy levels are at their best. Remember that you are procrastinating if you apply yourself to a trivial task while a more important one hasn’t been done!
What is delayed is often forgotten. When you think of something, either do it straight away or add it to your to-do list
A NEATER LIFE
Chunk tasks
Break up tasks into smaller pieces – this is called ‘chunking’. You don’t have to complete the entire job in one sitting – this expectation can feel overwhelming. Instead, do a little at a time and keep the momentum going by scheduling snippets of time with yourself and sticking to it.
Appointments and errands
Be realistic about the amount of time each of these will take. Give yourself a buffer by adding approximately 20 minutes to the time you think it will take. By doing this you will learn not to overschedule and will avoid feeling continually under pressure.