For the Do-It-Yourself type of person who needs a little motivation to get started, we have some simple tips. 

Many people become overwhelmed by their clutter.  They take one look at the overstuffed closet, the piles of papers in the home office, or the unopened boxes in the basement from their move four years ago, and they freeze.  The project looks so time consuming, they don’t even want to begin unless they can carve out an entire day (or more) to tackle it.  Here’s a tip that we tell our clients all the time during our needs assessment.

Break down your organizing project into smaller, more manageable chunks.

·        If there are several piles of papers on your desk, isolate one pile (or maybe only a portion of the pile, depending on how large it is) and work on that pile only.  Start with the most recent pile first, as this is where you will find the most time-sensitive action items.  Identify where each piece of paper needs to go (the shredder, garbage can, files, etc.), get them to their final destination, then start the next pile.

·        If there are several boxes in the basement, identify one box to tackle at a time.  Get through the contents of the entire box, get those items to their final destination (garage, elsewhere in the basement, garbage, etc.) before opening up the next one. 

·        If your closet is overstuffed with clothes, pick one section to start in and make your way across.  Remove a few items of clothing at a time.  Identify what is staying, what is being donated, and what can be tossed.  Put those items where they belong and then move on to the next few items, etc.

Resist the urge to start by dumping all of the clothes in your closet on the bed, or opening up several basement boxes at a time.  You don’t want to run out of time or run out of steam halfway through the project and then have an even bigger mess on your hands.

Ways to stay focused on that project:

·        Move the items you are working on to another area of the home.  For instance, you can take a pile of papers out of the office and work on it in another location.  This will minimize the visual distraction the other piles add.

·        Throw a sheet over the other boxes in the basement or push them up against the wall behind where you are working.  Again, you don’t need the visual reminder of how many boxes are left to be gone through.

·        Set a timer.  If you only have 30 minutes to work on organizing your closet, then work with a few items at a time until your 30 minutes is up.

The object is to reframe your way of thinking about the project at hand.  Instead of viewing it as one big project, view it as several smaller projects that can be done over time.  It is better to make progress in small increments than to not make any progress at all.