Never Bite Off More Than You Can Chew!

When I walk into a room with a client and we are about to begin the downsizing and sorting process in their home, many times I can see and feel their anxiety. Most often the reason they have hired me is because the task at hand is far too overwhelming for them to face on their own. They don’t know where to begin. It’s a universal human response. First, I establish a comfortable place for them to sit where they have a view of the room. I explain that even professionals would be overwhelmed if they looked at a huge job as a whole and did not break it down into small pieces.

I tell them that when I am working as a professional organizer with a client I work in 2 foot increments, from top to bottom, from left to right and before you know it you are finished with an entire shelf, then an entire closet and finally an entire room. With this in mind, the client begins to see the possibility of success. It is not very different when working with your papers. If you have a huge pile of mail or general papers on your desk or kitchen counter, don’t take the entire pile and try to conquer it, take only 1 inch off the top or even half an inch.

The key is not to drown your self in the task, but to take small bites and have the feeling of accomplishment quickly and often. Take breaks, but be consistent about returning to the pile until it is gone. On a similar note, the same one-step-at-a-time approach will work well when rescuing important documents from your files and piles. Focus on getting the important papers in order one at a time, rather than facing the entire organizing job as a whole.

Judy Rough