Do you have something in your house that acts as a clutter magnet? It’s really easy to set things down on them and then it stays there forever.
Don’t beat yourself up for doing this. It’s pretty normal. But you do want to take a minute and figure out why it’s happening? Am I delaying a decision? Do these things not have a home where they can live permanently? Is it a habit that I’ve fallen into because it’s easier than putting things away? What kinds of things are collecting here?
Once you figure out why it’s happening it’s easier to fix the problem.
There are many strategies for habit change.
Two of my favorites are the strategies of convenience and inconvenience. How can you make good habits convenient or easy to do and bad habits inconvenient?
Maybe you find that paperwork clutter is something you struggle with. Maybe the problem is that you don’t have somewhere to put a certain kind of paperwork. Or you can create a ‘home’ for papers that are in transition or things that need to be taken care of. You can create an Inbox or folder to hold the papers you need for a certain category.
Funnily enough, the opposite can also be true. I know it sounds counterintuitive but if you have less space. It forces you to deal with things immediately. Maybe you need to get rid of a filing cabinet or buy a smaller desk. It might help you prioritize what you really need to keep, instead of keeping everything.
Often we just need to come to terms with the kind of person we are and acknowledge our strengths and weaknesses.
If you hate filing and never do it then only keep critical papers. If you never read the owner’s manual then recycle it. You can find it online anyway. Do you know that you like to save things, then limit the space you have available. That will force you to edit what you have. If you don’t need to reference it then chuck it.
If you want one-on-one help organizing a space, call me at 208.736.3306 for a free consultation. I’d love to help you on your organizational journey. Virtual options are also available.