What’s the Plan?

In this world of ever-changing technology, fast-paced living and high demands, each of us wears many different hats. The means to learn about almost anything is at our fingertips. We’re expected to produce results in a nanosecond. The pressure is on to be fast, accurate and better than “the next guy”.

I see nothing wrong in striving to do your best. But to do that will usually require time. History tells us this time and again. Benjamin Franklin said “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” Then good ‘ole Abe Lincoln said “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” I really like this one. It doesn’t role off the tongue as easily as the words of Ben Franklin, but it’s such a great illustration of how important it is to prepare.

To win the battle, you must put a strategic plan in place. To bake a cake, you must have the necessary ingredients. To appoint your space so that it will be functional and aesthetic, you must take the time to both form a vision of that ideal space, and make sure you have what you need to realize that ideal space. Sometimes we’re too quick to get started on our organizing project, only to realize 45 minutes later that we aren’t equipped to complete the task. Often what’s missing is the space required to bring our vision to fruition. Sometimes we haven’t emptied our workspace of all the things that need to be elsewhere. Regardless of the specifics, the one common truth is that we failed to plan out the steps needed to cross the finish line.

Take stock. If you want to make your kitchen more functional, first make sure that everything you want to keep in your kitchen is there.  This is an important step: you can’t determine how much space you need for something, if you haven’t taken stock of it in the planning stages.

Remove. If you’ve got things in your kitchen that aren’t part of your big picture, take them out.  Put them where they belong, or designate a new home. You can’t successfully set up the space if it’s filled with things that don’t belong there.

Re-jig. Re-jig your thinking so that you recognize these first two steps as being necessary to your success, and not merely delays or a waste of time.

Accept. The reality is, all the pieces may not fall into place the first time around. You might test drive your dream space and discover that it’s not quite the haven you envisioned. That’s OK. It’s perfectly normal to make a few modifications before you can be truly satisfied with your accomplishment. 

Remember.  In the words of Hillary Rodham Clinton, “Fail to plan, plan to fail.” And we don’t want that, do we?