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?

Plan to Simplify

I know: you think schedules and routines are for school-aged children. You'd like to think you've achieved a more bohemian lifestyle since your school days. You're laid-back and able to roll with the punches. People who plan out all the details are boring. Here's a question for you: How many times have you arrived at work late and grumpy, because it wasn't until you went to get dressed that you realized your wet clothes were still in the washing machine?

You likely already have a few tasks which you perform at the same time every year. Things like changing your seasonal wardrobe, changing your car tires, cleaning out your eaves trough. You know what the benefits are to doing these things, so it's not such a huge sacrifice when you actually put the time aside to get them done. The same approach can be used when performing daily or weekly tasks.

Schedule time to do personal or business admin. Instead of letting your filing accumulate for six weeks or more, set aside 30 minutes on a Friday afternoon to sort and store everything piled on your desk. At the end of a long week, you can still be productive by performing tasks that aren’t as demanding as budgeting. If you still need to action something, file it in a desktop filer. (I’m not endorsing this product; I  just want to give you an example of what it can look like). You’ll see it first thing Monday morning and be reminded of the task to complete, without your desk looking like a twister hit it.

 If personal admin is where you struggle, try to determine how to make the task more enjoyable. As in a corporate environment, I do still suggest that you establish a routine, i.e. pick a night during the week, or an hour on the weekend that you will address the paper flow and bill payments. Beyond that, you do have a bit more flexibility. If you’ve gone paperless, you can curl up in front of the TV with your laptop and pay bills. Or, if you perform best in the morning, why not focus on admin on a Saturday morning, while the rest of your family snoozes a bit longer.  You’ll accomplish more without the usual interruptions, and by the time everyone is up you will already have accomplished something for the day.

Even laundry has its day. Don't wait until there's one pair of socks in your drawer before you do some laundry. Many people like to designate one day of the week to do all their laundry. For me, that feels like a prison sentence. I don't want to give up a full day of the weekend to be a slave to my washer and dryer. If you have a quiet night during the week, why not designate it as a wash night? You don't have to do all your laundry. Worst case scenario, you may have to do a couple more loads of laundry on the weekend. Better to give up an hour or two over the weekend, then to miss a full day of fun.

Prepare for the next day -- whatever that may mean for you. Nobody likes waking up to surprises. Before going to bed each night, do some preliminary work. Check the weather channel so that you know whether to pull out winter boots or an umbrella. Maybe you need to set your alarm for 15 minutes earlier than usual if you anticipate bad traffic or school bus cancellations. Pack your briefcase, pack your children's knapsacks, put them beside the boots or umbrella at the door. Maybe all you need to do to get your morning off to a smooth start is to prep the coffee maker before you go to bed.

Planning our time is as necessary to being organized as planning a physical space. These suggestions are merely some new habits you can introduce. Once they – or whatever changes you decide to make – are routine, you will discover that chaos and confusion are a thing of the past. You'll find yourself living a simplified life.