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Take Baby Steps To Achieve Organizing Success

One simple strategy to reaching your organizing goals. Take Baby Steps to Achieve Organizing Success | organizedartistry.com

Did you make New Year’s resolutions or set goals for yourself this year? I thought I heard you shouting from the rooftop, “This is the year I’m going to get organized!’

Did you create a plan for getting organized?  Have you mapped out some mini-goals for yourself? If yes, then great!

If not, that’s OK. No beating yourself up about it. Maybe you or a family member has been under the weather. Maybe ‘life’ has gotten in the way. Or perhaps, you just don’t know where to begin. You can start at anytime. How about TODAY?

No worries–take ‘baby steps.’

No one expects a baby to stand up one day and walk across the room. There’s a lot that goes on before a child meets that developmental milestone. They sit up, they crawl, they practice standing up in their crib. They take ‘baby steps’ towards mastering their actual baby steps.
You can take baby steps to reach your organizing goals, too.

Here are a few examples:

– Take a few minutes before bedtime to sort through and purge expired medicine.
– Sort and purge your piles of coupons while waiting for pasta water to boil.
– Schedule 15 minutes on your calendar to organize your sock drawer.
– Read a few posts on organizing blogs that pertain to your organizing challenge(s).
– Look at organizing ideas/products on Pinterest (don’t get sucked in, though!).

All of these teeny-tiny organizing projects and tasks are baby steps that will eventually get you to achieve organizing success.

I often tell my clients to visualize their organizing goal as an iceberg. Baby steps are equal to the act of chipping away at that iceberg. Some days you may feel like you’re chipping away with a hammer, other days, with a toothpick. Regardless of your tool, if you keep working at it, you will reach your goal, however challenging it may be.

You CAN get organized–I know you can. Just take a baby step–one little step in the direction of the organizing goals you have set for yourself. In the beginning, it may feel as if you’re not making much progress but let me assure you–every ‘baby step’ you take towards reaching your goal will get you one step closer to the day when you can proudly shout from the rooftop, “I did it!”

What baby steps will you take to achieve organizing success?


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Categories: Basic Organizing Principles, Helpful Organizing Tips, Medicine Cabinet, Pinterest, Time

9 responses to “Take Baby Steps To Achieve Organizing Success”

  1. Seana Turner says:

    I often say that decluttering is somewhat like exercise. It feels hard when you start, but it gets easier. You see the progress, and making decisions becomes less stressful. As you say, babies fall, and then just get back up. Better to make small progress and get better and better than not to try at all!

    • Stacey Agin Murray says:

      I like your comparison. With any task, the more often you do it–the better you get at it. Although most people get frustrated with taking baby steps (and sometimes falling), it’s really the best way to get accomplish a goal.

  2. I totally agree! I find that 15 minutes each day will do it. In fact, I even created several 15 minutes task lists to inspire people to get organized a little at a time.

    • Stacey Agin Murray says:

      I’m sure your 15-minute task list has helped many people take baby steps towards their organizing goals–what a great idea. One drawer or one shelf at a time is the trick. I advise people to go through kitchen drawers and cabinets while they’re cooking. Purge their sock drawer while watching TV. Small steps = Large gains!

  3. Baby steps are the key. The smaller the step, the more likely it is that you’ll continue. When the project feels too big, we can psyche ourselves into doing nothing because we can feel defeated…or that it’s too challenging. But those baby steps let us exercise our organizing muscles while creating mini success points. The key is to stop and acknowledge those successes. Be your own cheering committee.

    • Stacey Agin Murray says:

      So true. It’s those baby steps that propel us forward and motivate us to reach our personal organizing ‘finish lines.’ I’m always reminding my clients to give themselves a ‘pat on the back’ when they’ve reached what you call a ‘mini-success point.’ That quick acknowledgement of a job well done often serves as a stepping stone and guides them closer (with confidence) to their organizing goal.

  4. This is great! In a world of instant ‘before and afters’ and pinterest-worthy organizing pics people need to know that it’s OK to not change everything at once. Baby steps are fine, as long as its in the right direction:)

    • Stacey Agin Murray says:

      Thanks for your kind words! I often cringe at the ‘Pinterest Perfect’ organizing pins–being organized is not equal to being perfect as many people believe. You and I know it takes a thousand baby steps to get to ‘Practically Pinterest Perfect!’

  5. I find most projects easier to tackle when I break them down into baby steps. Otherwise, it’s too overwhelming to even begin!

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