A couple of weeks ago, I asked the members of the Organize 365™ Facebook group what they felt they would need to finally get organized. The number one response? Time.
It’s not surprising–I’ve heard this many times over the years. People–women especially–have the firmly held belief that they don’t have enough time, will never have enough time, and therefore their homes are doomed to disorganization and chaos. They get overwhelmed, they get depressed, and their homes get more cluttered and disordered.
Around and around we go.
This is a lie we tell ourselves, and a lie that other people impose upon us. We should be the full-time caregiver, the home chef, the housekeeper, the career-driven mastermind, the chauffeur, the family activities director, the dog walker, the fitness model–and if we aren’t, we’re failing.
This is nuts. It’s crazy talk.
The time is there. Really, it is! We simply need to unshackle ourselves from these unrealistic and unattainable goals for our identity. You can get organized in whatever time you have!
There are some times in life when this is nearly impossible. New babies. Depression or other illness. Temporary crises. Short-term monopolies of one role or the other. During those times, you need to snap into survival mode and just do what you can to ensure everyone is fed and treading water until the chaos clears a bit and you can come up for air.
There are also times when organization (and the energy to do it) just comes naturally. It becomes easy, almost effortless, and you seem to make progress quickly. These times, I call Golden Windows.
