Now, Repeat After Me

December is such a busy month.  Mall parking lots are crazy and the lines inside the stores are lengthy.  Regardless, I love the hustle and bustle that surrounds Christmas.  But before you know it, a new year will be upon us and many will be contemplating their New Year’s Resolution.

A few days ago I was reading an editorial piece by Ashely Gartland entitled Bye-Bye Bad Habits. I was struck by the similarity between her message, my message to many, and the fact that many a message bears repeating. It won’t sink in until just the right moment, and that moment is different for everyone. Breaking bad habits is the same as changing bad habits and that’s what any kind of long term, sustainable change is about.

I’ll recall here the subheading used in Ashley’s article, and compare them to what I often hear myself saying to clients:  

Ashley’s Words	Chris’s Words
Acknowledge your habit	What isn’t working for you?
Look to the future	Let’s set a goal for this space.
Change your environment	If this space holds too many distractions for you, let’s take a boxful of items into a more inviting room and sort through them there.
Substitute a better behaviour	Don’t do everything at once. Pick one thing you will do differently, and do it every time. For example, don’t leave your dishes in the sink, put them in the dishwasher, or wash after each meal.
Hold yourself accountable	Ask someone to be nearby, to keep you on task and help you to stay motivated.
Count on failure	It’s normal for people to backslide when they are working towards long term goals. Think of that nasty, four-letter word, diet. A little setback doesn’t negate all that you’ve accomplished. Keep your eye on the prize.

So, if you’ve struggled to make positive changes, and are left feeling defeated, don’t give up. You can still create the space, person, home – whatever you want – when you hear the message that resonates with you.  

Until that time, shut out all the noise and enjoy this magical time of year. Merry Christmas!!!

Goal Setting

Last month's post looked at the importance of planning your (organizing) projects. The first thing to do was to set yourself a goal. Before a Professional Organizer begins working with you, they need to understand what you want. Unfortunately, the direct approach seldom works. Whenever I've asked a client "What's your goal for this space?", they look at me for a moment then reply, "I want it to be organized".

Understood, but let's dig a bit deeper. What does organized look like? Can you articulate your vision of organized? Remember: this is specific to you/your family, in the context of the room you want to organize.

In setting goals for your organizing project, we need to identify that which is specific, attainable and measurable. For example, do you want the kids to help themselves to snacks without the kitchen looking like a war zone? (This would be a specific goal). Then let's discuss ways for your kids to achieve some autonomy, while still being responsible for putting things back where they came from. If we can get the snacks in the right-sized container, and put that container in a place that's easy for the kids to access, we may have solved one organizing dilemma. (This is how we hope to attain the goal).

One of two things will now happen when the kids help themselves to snacks: they will leave the kitchen in an impeccable state, or they will still leave the kitchen in a shambles. (This is how we determine/measure whether we've attained the goal). If the kids don't immediately embrace the changes, don't worry. We haven't failed: we've learned something about the kids and how they function in the kitchen. This is our opportunity to teach new behaviours to the kids, or modify the solution -- or both.

The goal of a pristine kitchen is still attainable. We just need to determine how to achieve it. Remember that change takes time. It can be time to find the right solution, time to learn a new way of doing things. Regardless, with patience and a bit of Q & A, we can achieve our organizing goals.