Isn’t it funny how you can preach the importance of something and know the importance of something and then do the total opposite?
When it comes to organizing, we know the process that we follow is critical to the success of the project. If we do all of the steps, in the correct order, most often, a great outcome is guaranteed. However, if we skip steps or give concepts too much wiggle room, the outcome usually isn’t what we hoped for.
My laundry room has proven this is 100% true. If you didn’t see our newsletter last week, let me remind you what it looked like before:
As I write this, I’ve made significant progress, but it’s still not done. Here’s why:
#1. I didn’t give myself enough time to work on it uninterrupted.
One of the biggest benefits of working with an organizer is knowing that we’re going to work on your project with total focus. I didn’t allow myself the luxury of that and, at the halfway point, my kids were in need of my attention.
If you’ve ever organized with us, you’ll know one of the key ingredients to a project is momentum. The energy feeds off of itself and the more you get done, the more you get done! By having to steer my attention elsewhere, I lost momentum and that slowed my progress exponentially.
#2. The reason the space was so disorganized in the first place was because it wasn’t in need of a good tidy. It was in need of a system overhaul.
Tidying would have solved my problem for a few days, maybe a few weeks, but I needed a long term solution. But here’s the challenge with a system overhaul…. It means other areas of your home are also going to be affected. (Rachel uses the term “Mission creep”, which I love because it explains this so well). I couldn’t just organize the laundry room. I was going to have to organize other areas of my home as well.
So, on top of organizing the laundry room/mudroom, I also began to tackle:
- Our utility drawer
- Under our kitchen sink
- Our extra kitchen shelf
So, in essence, 1 project has now become 4! (Can anyone relate to this?) But, there is some good news!
Under the kitchen sink is done. (yay!)
The utility drawer is done. (yay!)
The laundry room is 90% done. (yay!)
There’s still work to be done… Donations need to get loaded up and taken away. The kitchen shelf needs more planning which will likely involve my playroom storage (project 5!) and there are items that need to go to the van & the garage (projects 6 & 7!)
So, in conclusion, if you’ve ever wondered why we suggest whole home organizing, this is why! “Mission creep” is inevitable. But once you’ve got all the systems working in harmony, organizing literally takes minutes, not hours.
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