Stop Saying This to Get More Organized

We are 22 days into the New Year – you know, the year where you said you were going to be more organized? You read the latest organizing book, maybe even spent too much on pretty bins, yet you still find yourself in the same, messy boat. Your frustrated, inner voice is stuck on repeat saying, "I'm just not good at this."

Stop that mental chatter. Now.

The reason you are not organized is NOT because you don't have the right bins or handwriting for Pinterest-worthy chalk paint labels (I don't either). Rather than blame yourself, blame the following STUFF for keeping you from organizational bliss:

+ ill-fitting pilled sweaters
+ broken toys
+ pre-parenthood jeans (sorry, it can be a rough reality)
+ unmatched Tupperware parts
+ 37 water bottles for your family of 4
+ 324,534 lego pieces
+ divorced socks
+ board books for your 4th and 6th graders
+ more of Kate's masterpieces than a gallery could hold

Get the idea?

Being and getting organized is more about focusing on WHAT we are organizing and WHY we want to be organized rather than how we actually organize it. More focus on the “things” we choose to keep in our drawer/home/life and less focus on the “things” we buy to keep them. More focus on the calm and peace a life with less stuff will bring and less focus on the pain potentially caused by letting go.

I challenge you to say, "I'm trying to live with less junk" (that's what it is, folks) anytime you think about getting organized. This silences the voice saying, "I'm just not good at organizing" and empowers the one screaming, "I can't live like this anymore!"

Too blunt? Maybe. Real life? Probably.