Have you ever watched “Get Organized with The Home Edit” on Netflix?
I’m obsessed!
Although I’ve never been an organization freak, this show makes me want to be one.
Seeing the home spaces they organize, so beautifully arranged by function and color, just makes me feel good.
And, on the flip-side, I know that when I see cluttered and chaotic spaces in my house, I don’t feel good.
It feels like total overwhelm and sadness.
It stresses me.
And you know, if you’ve been reading my posts, that stress is a huge barrier to weight loss, fitness, and a healthier life.
So, just by organizing your environment you can feel better, in every way.
But organizing isn’t just about your home environment.
It’s also about organizing your time, your meals, and your finances.
Notice the area of your life where being disorganized is causing the most stress for you.
Start there.
And start small.
Choose just one thing to get you going.
Like your bedroom closet, or your fridge, or your day.
And follow this simple formula that I’ll be repeating for each area below:
- Empty
- Edit
- Establish
Organizing your environment
Waking up to a cluttered space is an immediate energy drain.
Part of the reason for the clutter is that we have too much stuff, and we need to edit stuff out.
And the other part is that we haven’t established dedicated spaces and systems.
First of all, know that you’re not alone.
Many of us struggle keeping our spaces organized.
Disorganization can feel overwhelming.
And overwhelm leads to avoidance, and, of course, that just makes it worse.
So, just be willing to begin.
And then face the space you want to start with.
So, here’s what to do:
- Empty – Pull everything out of the space so you can see it.
- Edit – Sort through the stuff, and throw away or donate what’s no longer useful.
- Establish – Find a home that makes sense for the things you’re keeping, leaving a little room to grow.
The Home Edit has so many ideas to inspire you on how to do all this, so check it out.
Organize your time
If you’re a person that’s always rushing around, or consistently late, this is for you.
Managing your time will be a huge stress relief.
So, begin by scheduling your day, the night before ideally.
Use a scheduling app or a paper scheduler.
And don’t forget the things you want to do for healthy living…
Schedule things like your workouts, your meditation or journaling time, your food prep and cooking, and time to wind down before bed.
Then, similar to organizing your space, you can follow these steps:
- Empty – Get all the things you want/need to get done out of your head; write them out or type them.
- Edit – Remove any task or appointment that you don’t really need to do.
- Establish – Put everything you commit to into your schedule, considering transition times and down times.
A little word about transition and down times…
So, if you tend to underestimate the time it will take to get from A to B, then add some buffer in there – double the time you’d normally estimate for transitioning.
And, very important, add some down time each day.
Put in 15 minutes here and there to give you time to breathe, think, and reset.
And know that if you don’t schedule it, you aren’t thinking about it ahead of time, and it won’t happen.
Organize your meals
Food and meals make up a big part of our days, and a huge area I help my clients with.
If you can organize your meals and snacks, you can reduce your stress around food, and eat healthier.
Organization is key to healthy eating, I can’t over-emphasize that enough.
You’re much less likely to order take-out, or pick up frozen pizzas.
So, just like with organizing your time, it’s important to organize your meals and snacks in advance.
Here are the steps:
- Empty – Get out onto paper a list of 10 to 20 healthy meals and snacks
- Edit – Decide on what meals and snacks you’ll be eating for the next three to five days.
- Establish – Put those meals and snacks into your scheduler, create a list of ingredients, and go out and get what you need.
With organizing meals, you can also go a step further and prep in advance.
Cut up fruit and veggies, or cook meat and veggies and grains, or make salad dressings and sauces.
Organize your finances
Some of us don’t like to look at what money we’ve got.
Or haven’t got.
But because credit is a fact of life, debt is also a fact of life.
So, being willing to face your financial health, although it may seem painful, will ultimately de-stress you.
Because when you know where you stand, you can take responsibility, and plan accordingly.
So, here’s how to begin organizing your finances:
- Empty – Make all your money and debt visible by getting out all your bank account and debt totals, and listing what’s going out and what’s coming in.
- Edit – Are there expenses that aren’t needed? Cut them out. You can also consolidate debt here.
- Establish – Once you know the flow of your money, you can establish a reasonable budget, or a dream account for future projects.
Money is a huge source of stress.
And so much of that can be eliminated by just being willing to look at where you are.
It’s the unknown that tends to cause the most pain.
Is your stress coming from being disorganized?
With no plan and no structure, I think stress is pretty much guaranteed.
Organization is freedom.
And if it just seems way too overwhelming to tackle on your own, hire an expert to help you.
Just make sure they teach you a system that makes sense to you.
So, you can maintain it.
When it comes to my clients, my priority is to make things easy to integrate and maintain.
That being said, there’s a lot of resistance to getting organized.
It’s internal and I’m very familiar with it.
Organization can feel like too much effort, or like it saps all the spontaneity out of life.
But, the truth is…
Get organized frees your mind from overwhelm, frees your time so you’re not overscheduling yourself, frees your finances so you’re not overspending…
And it frees you from the effects of stress on your mind and body.
I would even go as far as to say, that being organized leads to better health, fitness, and weight loss.
So, what do you think?
Are you ready to roll up your sleeves, and get it done?
I’m ready to help.
Keep moving forward,
Debbie
P.S. Do you need help organizing your life, so you can move forward with better mental and physical health? Then let’s connect!
Reply to this email and let me know where you need help, or book a time to talk to me directly.