But I’ve been thinking a lot about what I want to do with this site and I think I’m finally ready to do more. I get a lot of searches for “organized mother” so there are a lot of people out there wanting to get more organized. I’m going to still talk about my journey to get organized, as well as point out resources and information as I find them.

I hope you’ll join me. And if you have any questions at all, a topic you’d like me to cover, or just a comment, please feel free to leave a note on any post or email me. Thanks for sticking around!

image: morguefile

Sentimentality has not been my friend. I like to keep mementos reminding me of good times, happy things, and people I love. But when you’re so busy storing these items that you don’t actively display and enjoy them, you’re not getting any benefit, are you? I know I’m not.

So we’re learning to be a bit more ruthless. Donating books we’ll never read again (and being more discerning when we buy new ones), throwing out receipts and bits of paper that we no longer need.

There are two big lessons we need to learn and stick to:

1) Once you’ve started decluttering, don’t allow new clutter to take its place. Once you get that desktop or kitchen counter or dining room table nice and clear, keep it that way. Look for ways to embrace the clutter-free lifestyle and try to keep up – don’t let it gradually clutter back up. Be vigilant!

2) Fighting clutter is a continual process. Just one cleaning session will not be enough. Once you get an area clear, you must work to keep it that way. It will be much easier to maintain if you try hard not to let it get cluttered again. It’s not as hard as it sounds, as long as you don’t allow yourself to be lazy.

We’re working on our living room right now. Because our place is so small, we have my desk in the living room. It’ll be moving to the dining room as soon as we can get things cleared out in there. We have to do a section at a time.

I’m hoping that posting about these things will help us keep going, and keep us more accountable on doing what we planned. Does writing about it help keep you accountable? Or do you feel embarrassed by your projects and would rather just talk about them when they’re finished?

[image: stock.xchng]

Take my desk, for instance. Right now it has the week’s mail in a pile, waiting for me to sort it. In addition, my receipts and other filing are sitting there, too. But when I’m having a bad go of it, the last thing I want to do is tackle that pile. Or do my receipt filing, or log my expenses. For some people, mundane tasks help them get their mind off of things. I really should try to look at it that way instead of “one more thing” to add to my already long to-do list.

You have to give yourself a little bit of leeway sometimes. You don’t want to always slack off, but you can’t be “on” all the time either. When you are overwhelmed, give yourself permission to just maintain things “as is.” Try not to let the chaos grow and do what you have to do to get back on track.

So I have some things to deal with before I feel I can reorganize. Rather than berate myself for what I’m not getting done, I’m going to let it be. And when I get my bearings again, I’ll get back on track.

When you feel overwhelmed, do let all of your progress go to waste, or do you try to maintain things until you can get back on track? Do mundane tasks help get your mind off of your shortcomings, or are they too much for you?

Image: Rob! (cc)