Letter from busy mum about getting organized

by NathanShaw on October 21, 2009

how to get organizedSomeone send me the following challenge about getting organized…

I totally get that being efficient is the key to being organized and in my work life I have that down to the point where I think I could make a business out of it.

Its getting a routine here at home that I’d love to do. I had to laugh at the diagram in the report showing the ups and downs of getting organized then letting it slide then getting organized etc etc ad nauseum.

I work part time, am a sole parent of an 11 year old boy (24/7) and am studying for a degree in Western Herbal Medicine – only one unit at a time at the moment.  I feel guilty for not studying whenever I do anything else including house stuff.  I would like to establish some sort of routine for getting the housework done (because it really does annoy me when its not done and I’m not anal about it – just like it clean and tidyish), studying and recreation (including exercise) so I set a good example for my son.

It’s the variables that impinge on my attempts at routine. I know it can’t be a clockwork thing and I don’t want every minute of every day accounted for, I just want to establish a rhythm for getting things done.  For example, if I am tired, I just don’t wash up after tea so the dishes are there til the next day – neatly stacked and rinsed of course but just not done! And there’s only two of us!!!

I hate vacuuming so I put it off until I feel like I need to wear shoes in the house to keep my feet clean! (slight exaggeration) . I don’t exercise and so I get tired so we don’t eat as well as we should so I don’t have enough energy and on and on it goes. I live in a fantastic location, right on the sea. I can walk or ride to work 3 days a week but find the ‘variables’ ie have to pick up my son because he didn’t ride to school sometimes stop that from happening. I want to factor in gardening time and a budget and be able to pursue the creative projects I constantly wish I could find time and energy to do.  Maybe its just too big a problem????? It does seem a bit overwhelming when I put it all down like that. The reason I looked it up on the net was that I thought there might be some nice plan someone has gone to the effort to put together that I can follow step by step til I get it all sorted (and I KNOW it will never really be sorted – or that it will always be a fluid adaptive process!). I just want to have the time and energy to do what I want to do and I feel sure the key lies in being more organized!!!

First, I thought that’s an amazing story, of dedication to getting organized.

Here is my reply:

Good to hear from you and I appreciate how you feel.  You’ve painted a vivid picture.  A few things jump out at me…

  • Not exercising
  • Different variables.
  • Your 11 year old.
  • Possibly expecting a bit too much (which really does speak to my point about getting organized vs just being efficient).
  • And good determination.

I think with the passion and determination that you show, you can certainly find the right balance, providing you accept in your heart, what you say about it not being ‘perfect’. And yes ‘perfect’ is the adaptive process.

On that note, I would suggest giving your self space and time to write out different daily scenarios, with if : then statements.

E.g. If son has gone on bike, then collect him on bike too. If son not gone on bike, then decide to cycle anyway and walk back with him, or, whatever.

I do think the 7 Steps Of Organizing product is likely to be helpful to you, simply because of your seriousness about applying an actual process.

I also think that you might be able to find a way of eliciting the help and support of your son, perhaps by sharing what you are trying to achieve in life, with your degree, and what would make you happy, and get his agreement, understanding, and commitment to share in the household reponsibilities with you.

Hope that helps a little.

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The 8 lies about getting organized and how to solve them for good

by NathanShaw on September 15, 2009

Dear Friend,

If you want to know the easiest, fastest, and most certain way of getting organized… this will be the most important website you ever find…

Why?

… Because when you get rid of the 8 lies of getting organized, you’ll finally be freed from those ideas that are limiting you right now from getting organized efficiently.

1st Lie of How To Get Organized

“YOU NEED LOTS OF TIME”

Have you been led to believe that getting organized needs a big time commitment?

Obviously not the ideal way to organize your life because you are already busy, right? It’s difficult (if not impossible) to spend lots of your time getting organized.

2nd Lie of How To Get Organized

“ORGANIZE AS YOU GO”

Have you been led to believe that to get organized you need to work on areas of your current lifestyle that are disorganized?

The problem with that is like trying to mix ingredients for a cake inside the hot oven. You need to separate the stages: Cooking preparation, and then the actual cooking.

Would you try and tidy the kitchen at the same time as cooking in it? No you would struggle to get anything done. Same with organizing life while living life. It’s not compatible.

3rd Lie of How To Get Organized

“ORGANIZE EVERYTHING AT ONCE”

Have you been led to believe that you can get organized by tipping up lots of draws and trying to sort through all the skeletons in your closet, including hobbies, goals, responsibilities, etc, all in one go?

Only Professional Organizers would put you through such a hard time of opening many cans of worms in your life in one big get organized marathon. How unnecessary.

4th Lie of How To Get Organized

“ORGANIZE ONE AREA AT A TIME”

Have you been led to believe that you should focus on organizing only one area or thing at a time?

Organizing one small area at a time is another massively false and damaging technique.

Like putting out little fires, new one’s soon start in another area. When you start organizing one area, the area you just organized becomes disorganized again). Plus the dozens of areas not currently on your agenda get even worse.

5th Lie of How To Get Organized

“MASSIVE EFFORT NEEDED”

Have you been led to believe that getting organized requires a great deal of discipline and effort?

If you try to do ‘one area at a time’, ‘all areas at once’ or ‘put a lot of time into it’, then it will be very hard work. With Einstein’s solution it’s easy.

6th Lie of How To Get Organized

“GETTING ORGANIZED = TIME MANAGEMENT”

Have you been led to believe that getting and being organized is about how you manage your time?

Imagine you are traveling by car. You start off on the long journey early… and drive quickly. Is that good time management? Not if you haven’t got prepared by checking the route you are going to use BEFORE you start the journey.

Getting organized must be done BEFORE time management because if you don’t know where you’re going, and are not well prepared for it, then trying to rush will just get you in a mess.

7th Lie of How To Get Organized

“LOTS TO LEARN”

Have you been led to believe that there are tons of tips and techniques needed for getting organized?

Jane emailed me:

“I’ve read many, many organization books, and am still having a problem seeing my way clear. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated…”

The problem with ‘many, many organization books’ and courses, is that they only provide tips for certain situations or lifestyles. You have to be extremely lucky to find an author who has a similar lifestyle and way of thinking to you.

But I doubt you have time to learn from ‘many many organization books’? You even feel time pressured to finish this web page don’t you? As you read every word here you reason this information holds the key to you becoming totally organized. And you have time enough for that don’t you?

8th Lie of How To Get Organized

“IT’S ALL OR NOTHING

Have you thought it only worth the time and effort to get organized IF you can get TOTALLY organized, otherwise it doesn’t seem worth trying for?

And yet, because of all the common techniques that fail, being so organized seems impossible?

…So you ‘cut your losses’ and end up not bothering very hard to get organized anyway?

Get the case study report on what it really takes to get organized.

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