3 Essential Steps for Finally Getting Organized
I get it. You’ve decided to start “getting organized” because your life is currently a disaster. Your home is in a state of constant chaos, your nervous system is dysregulated, and you even feel unrest in your own home. The home you have worked so hard on to provide a safe place to land for you and your family.
You can’t remember the last time you could check off every item on your mental to-do list. Laundry, dishes, work, and self-care done in one day? That’s rich! You’re tired of living in this state of unorganized debris, but you can’t do it all, so hence it’s time to kick your butt into gear and start getting organized.
If only you could create a system that would work EVERY time. If you could just start getting organized you would finally see the results you want. A peaceful, uncluttered, and beautiful home. Routines that work for you, children who put away their things, and a husband who sees the laundry basket every time!
You won’t miss another PTA meeting because you lost the flyer for it, grandma’s recipes will be where they belong, your bathroom cabinets will be organized, and you can tell a 5-year-old where to find a shirt in your closet because you’ve actually got things on a hangar for once!
How many times have you tried “getting organized”?
This is the problem we always run into. To finally “get your shit together” (pardon my French, but let’s be real) is the end goal, but how in the world are you expected to turn a gigantic disaster of a home into a pristine palace overnight?
Easy answer: You don’t.
We get stuck every time. I’ve spent years and years trying to get super organized and I end up hitting the same wall you’re hitting right now. I’ll do “great” for a month or so, and then I would fall off the organizational wagon because what I was asking for wasn’t sustainable.
This is how I finally organized my life.
After continuing said cycle for what felt like millennia, I found coaching. Coaching focuses on mindset, and this, my friends is the missing piece of the organizational puzzle.
The great thing about this is I’ve already failed at this more times than I can count and because I’ve accepted my call to be a life coach, I’m going to give you the 3 Essential Steps for Finally Getting Organized so you don’t have to stay stuck in the dreaded cycle you’re currently in.
1. Design Your Outcome
Genuinely, what do you want?
Do you want a pristine home? If so, why? What does that look like?
Most of us find ourselves wanting the things that others want for us. While I do agree that cleanliness is healthy and good, having unattainable standards for an eternally immaculate home filled with children will probably crush your motivation early on.
For my entire childhood, my mother washed the sheets on Sunday. This worked for our family because Sunday was the day we were guaranteed to be out of bed, at church, and socializing.
As an adult and being married to my husband, my Sundays looked drastically different. Sunday’s are our day of rest, therefor naps are involved, movies are being watched, and cuddling with our toddler is happening. Who wants to cuddle on a bed with no sheets? Not me!
I fought for so long with the frustration of washing the sheets on Sunday until one time I didn’t. I washed them on Saturday. Suddenly, the stress I had been feeling on Sunday completely went away. The expectation that had been set for me was that I had to wash sheets on Sunday, but the truth is, I can wash sheets whenever I want to, so I started doing so!
Make It Sustainable
This story can be applied to many parts of our lives, specifically to organization. How many things in your home take a ton of work to put back together, or it makes no sense to store this thing where it is, but you do it anyway?
You are not turning your back on your family by putting medicine in a drawer rather than behind the mirror, bath towels in a different cabinet, or art supplies where you use them most. Ask yourself “Where do I want to put this?” or “Where would it be easy for me to access this?” when deciding how to organize your home.
2. Set Expectations
Now that you have the knowledge of what you want and what standards have been set for you, how are you setting new standards? Ask yourself the questions below:
- What will it take to maintain the beautiful and organized home/office/car/etc that you are imagining?
- How much time do you have to devote to this standard?
- Will your effort be worth it?
- What rules need to be set for other members of your household?
The questions above are important because if you do not understand the undertaking of following through with these expectations, you will set yourself up for failure and return to the cycle you’ve been in before.
You have full permission to have a lived-in home, the expectations you set should only come from what you want and what will serve your family best.
3. Develop Sustainable Organizing Habits
You know what you want. You know why you want it. Now you’re formulating a plan to make it happen. What skills and routines will serve you as you begin getting organized?
Most of us need to level up our communication skills to discuss and relay these new expectations to others.
For those we live with, we need to learn how to be gentle, hold others accountable, and be held accountable as well. For those we do not live with, we may need to set boundaries. You could have to turn down a few coffee dates to make sure you have time for the necessities. You may need to tell Negative Nancy that her input on your laundry routine has no business here. Whatever you may find, you need to skill up to protect your expectations.
You also need to get comfortable with failure and learn how to pivot.
Pivoting used to be something I hated. After practicing it for as long as I have, we are now best friends.
You will set a new expectation and it will not be as effective as you thought OR it doesn’t align with your vision in the first place. If either of these things happen, it doesn’t mean a task is just “difficult” and you need to get over it. What it really means is you need to recalibrate and make adjustments.
Just as I mentioned previously in the harrowing story of washing the sheets, there isn’t anything wrong with switching the day. There isn’t anything wrong with changing how you do something or even the frequency.
Doing the dishes won’t work in the morning? Try the afternoon. Not then either? Try the evening. Find the slot that brings you the most peace, and strategize to make that work.
The ultimate goal of organizing anything is to find peace with it. Why force something to work if it does the opposite?
How can these organizing habits be sustainable with long-lasting results?
Gentleness, humility, and recalibration.
Be gentle with yourself and those around you, take small steps and make small adjustments. Trust me, they’ll add up over time.
Don’t be afraid to fail. Each failure means you are one step closer to reaching your goal.
We all struggle with organizing and pivoting through changes as we create new routines and structures for our lives. If you’re struggling to find this structure, use this link to schedule a complimentary 30-minute coaching session. I will help you through the mindset shift to go from “getting organized” and start “being organized”.
Until next time,
Audye
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