What Are YOU Waiting For? Identifying the Real Reason You Can’t Get Organized

Along side losing weight and quitting smoking, each New Year, “Get Organized” tops the list of most common – and most ignored – New Year’s Resolutions. If you’re nodding your head in agreement, don’t worry, 2015 is the year we’re finally going to make sense of it for you.

Our blog usually focuses on a single project or task that people face in their search to live a more organized life. The room we focus on may change from week to week, but the underlying challenges and struggles that so many people experience when trying to get organized are the same, regardless of circumstances. This year, I’m going to show you how to address those challenges so you can understand what has been stopping you from taking control of your clutter or time management or whatever symptom your organizing struggle appears as.

When beginning work with a new client, our first step together is to complete a comprehensive assessment of their situation and how they got there. Uncovering the reasons behind someone’s disorganization is crucial if you want to prevent the disruptive behaviors from returning. Over the years, I’ve learned that 99% of the time, however a person’s lack of organization manifests in their daily life, the root cause of it can be traced back to one of three categories:

• PRACTICAL MISSTEPS
• SITUATIONAL CHALLENGES
• INTERNAL OBSTACLES

Here’s a closer look at what these groups mean:

Practical Missteps – are either a matter of using the wrong tools or tactical approach for the job, or simply a matter of not knowing how to do it. These are the easiest issues to fix, and with the proper guidance and a little training, we can restore and show you how to maintain order.

Situational Challenges – are a bit tougher because they usually cannot be changed. For instance, if your job requires you to travel often, that’s most likely beyond your control. If a family member has special needs that dominate your time and other resources, then not only is your plate full, it’s also probably spinning on top of a tall pole! The good news is that even immovable hurdles like these don’t have to prevent you from living an organized life. Once you figure out the smart methods for functional day-to-day organization that work best for your unique circumstances, you’ll find everything becomes easier as you move forward.

Internal Obstacles – can be the most difficult to identify, but once removed, thoroughly amazing transformations can take place. Any potentially unrecognized blockages stemming from past experiences in our childhood or adult lives, entwined in work or family struggles, or obstructed by any number of psychological complications, can show up as an obstacle to getting organized. These types of behavioral patterns can be changed, but they require appropriate help, and a professional organizer can definitely be among those resources. The important step is to get to the root of the problem rather than relying on superficial fixes. With dedicated effort, habits can be formed that prevent disorganization from creeping back into your thoughts or your home.

Over the coming months, we’re going to delve into each of these categories, as well as some specific obstacles to organization that we’ve seen over and over in our client work. Our hope is that you will be able to recognize and move beyond the blockages that have kept you from living a more organized life. If you’ve ever wanted to understand why you’ve had such trouble getting organized before, share your questions with us in the comments below and follow our blog for specific tools and tactics to take control in 2015.

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