Okay, everyone knows those people … the born organizers. You know the ones, they have a place for everything and a mental file card system reminding them where everything is. These are the people that live by “a place for everything, and everything in its place.”
You, conversely, are lucky to get out of the house with your keys and handbag or wallet. You often leave behind the lunch you painstakingly made the night before, and you root through the dirty laundry looking for the blouse to go with the suit you need to wear TODAY for a presentation you're about to give. Oh, and the notes for the presentation … you're writing them on the train on your way into work.
You open your favorite magazine only to find one more article extolling the virtues of organization and you resolve to start right away.But where do you start when you’re so naturally disinclined to organize?
Start small
Trying to implement everything you read in that latest article or blog post by the perfect mommy, choose just one area. Work on your new habit a little each time you think about it until it becomes a habit.
While many people tout the belief that habits form in about 21 days, the truth is that creating automaticity (what psychologists call habit formation) may take much longer than that to develop. A 2009 study by Phillippa Lally, et al., at the University College London, participants averaged 66 days to establish a new healthy habit such as changing their diet or exercising.
As entrenched as your current bent toward messiness and disorderliness is, making the switch to organization won't come overnight. Nor should you expect it to come naturally.
Pick one
Consider starting with just one of these items. Add it into your life in as seamless a way as possible so that it becomes “organic.”
Organization habits are especially important when your home is on the market and needs to quickly become "show ready" at a moment's notice. Your real estate professional may have other ideas to help you quickly "stage" your home, so ask.