“Organizing is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it’s not all mixed up.”–A.A. Milne

Most people cringe at the thought of getting organized.  It can be a daunting task, but the reward is priceless and let’s face it, it just makes life so much easier in the long run.  If we could just get over the prejudice we have against organizing, we could come to realize that it is something that can greatly improve our lives.

Sometimes the biggest obstacle we have when we are trying to get organized is knowing where to start.  And with our over-committed schedule, we leave ourselves little time to think, much less, get ourselves pulled together enough to get organized.  To overcome this downward spiral, let’s take a look at the basics and take this bit by bit.

There are three basic parts of organizing;

• Simplify
• Plan
• Prioritize

SIMPLIFY:

“Less is more!” –Unknown

There is simple truth to this simple saying.  Let’s learn the lesson from our forbearer’s and apply this wisdom into our lives.  We all want more out of life, and if doing less is what gets us there, then by golly, let’s do less!!

So many of us have such high expectations of ourselves and even our family members, especially all you parents out there.  Don’t get me wrong, I think it is very important to have hopes and goals for both ourselves individually and for our loved ones.  We just need to take a step back sometimes and realize what cost we pay for our excessive dreams.  If we are always stressed and unhappy, then something just isn’t right and we need to address it ASAP.

To simplify our lives means we need to take a moment and re-evaluate what we are doing and find ways to make it less complicated.  This can go in so many different directions, from clutter to time management.  When we simplify, and find ways to cut corners and perhaps lower our expectations by just a small degree, then we will find more time to enjoy life.  Isn’t that what we all want?

PLAN:

“It takes as much energy to wish as it does to plan.”–Eleanor Roosevelt

It’s time to stop wasting our time wishing and start planning.  Plans come in so many different shapes and sizes, but they generally have one result, peace of mind.  When you take the extra time to pre-think what you are about to do, your chances for success increase dramatically.  There have been studies that indicate the fact that simply writing your goals down significantly increase your chances of accomplishing your goals. (http://www.dominican.edu/dominicannews/study-backs-up-strategies-for-achieving-goals.html).

Since a good chunk of society has a never-ending “to do” list and ever-increasing expectations of ourselves, perhaps if we could take this simple advice of writing it down and creating a simple plan, we might decrease our stress level and increase our chances for success in achieving our goals.

PRIORITIZE:

“Organize your life around your dreams – and watch them come true.” –Unknown

It is amazing how many of us spend a good chunk of our precious time doing things that really don’t matter.  When you get a chance, take a minute and evaluate how much of your day is spent wasted to TV, the internet or other time-wasting devices.  I know that these things can be useful and help us relax at times, but are we really using them to the best of our advantage.  I’m sure if you were to sit down and write out your life goals, watching a lot of television would not be on your list.  So then my question is this; why do we spend so much time doing things that really don’t matter to us?

Take a moment and write down what is important to you.  After you get a list, put them in order from most important to least important.  Does your list coincide with the amount of time you spend involved supporting these priorities?  If not, what can you do you spend more time
enjoying those things that are important to you?

Prioritizing our lives will help us find more happiness, because we will be spending most of our time doing the things that are important to us.  And who doesn’t want to be happy?

When we take the time to put a little effort into our lives, it is amazing how much smoother things seems to go.  I challenge you to try it.

“It is my observation that most people get ahead during the time that others waste.”  –Henry Ford