6 Brain Hacks to Kickstart Your Organizing Project
Anyone who has ever lived in a cluttered home and then finally gotten it organized will tell you what a difference it has made to their well-being. A clutter-free environment reduces stress and anxiety while promoting productivity. Remember, home clutter can have a direct impact on mental clutter; when your space is messy, your brain has trouble focusing, thinking clearly, and feeling at ease! An organized home also eliminates the dreaded “I’ll get to it later.” piles that collect dust (making allergies worse), while making cleaning a faster, easier task. Let’s not forget, having an organized space saves you money, too! How many times have you had to buy something twice or even three times because it got lost in a pile or put somewhere it didn’t belong? And maybe the best reason to declutter and organize your space is the sense of accomplishment and self-confidence you will feel walking into an organized, welcoming home. Letting go of items you’ve held onto for too long, creating healthy home habits, and maintaining order in your life all create a positive sense of self!
Of course, all of that is easier said than done. And when life gets hectic, the first things to go are the healthy habits we so painstakingly built! With the days getting shorter and the craziness of the holidays right around the corner, it can be hard to keep up with home organizing. But don’t give up and don’t lose hope! I’ve compiled a list of 6 tips and tricks to get your brain motivated on the days you don’t have a professional organizer behind you, forcing you to go through that pile of papers you’ve been avoiding or put back those clothes where they belong.
6 Brain Hacks to Help You Get Started
1. No Scrolling When You Wake Up
Avoid scrolling on your phone for the first hour or two in the morning and see if you feel more motivated during the day. Most of us spend a surprising amount of time scrolling on social media every day. Put a sticky note on your phone the night before with one to three tasks you can complete the next day instead of scrolling. For example, “Go through the pile of papers on the dining room table.”, “Put away clothes on the chair.”, “Organize two pantry shelves”. Once you’ve completed those tasks, you can reward yourself with some mindless scrolling, or better yet, stay off your phone all day and see how being present might make you feel better!
2. Name the Feeling
Take a moment to breathe and label how you’re feeling: “I feel overwhelmed because this task feels too big,” or “I feel scared that if I throw this item away, I’ll regret it later.” Naming the emotion helps reduce its power over you and helps you think more clearly, for example, “I feel overwhelmed so I’m going to break this task into smaller pieces that feel more doable.” or “I feel scared so I’m going to put these items I’m not sure about in a memory box, come back to them in six months and see how I feel then.”
3. Journal or “Brain Dump”
Spend 5 minutes writing everything on your mind, especially small worries or unrelated tasks. Just dump it all onto the page (this doesn’t have to be a fancy notebook; a piece of scrap paper will do, or type it out on your laptop or phone). This clears your prefrontal cortex (the part of your brain you use for planning, decision making, and stress management), which allows you to feel calm enough to focus again and come up with a game plan.
4. Set a Timer
Set a timer for five minutes. Oftentimes, the most difficult part is just… starting. We’re so resistant to beginning a task because our brains fear the unknown. But once you start and your brain realizes the task is not a threat, it actually becomes easier to keep going. Try setting a timer every day for a week. Maybe start at five minutes and work your way up to thirty minutes. You might even find that by the end of the week, you don’t mind working for longer, you simply need that timer to get your brain over the discomfort of starting!
5. Create Baby Steps
Our brains get overwhelmed by the big picture. Thinking about cleaning your whole bedroom feels impossible, especially when you only have half an hour and you’re already tired. Break the big picture up into teeny tiny steps. Take “clean the bedroom” and break it into the smallest possible first step. It could be, “Put dirty clothes in hamper”, or “Take out dishes/cups/garbage”, or “Go through one drawer”, even something as simple as “Create ‘donation’ bag and put it in the room”; When you string together a few small steps, suddenly you realize you’ve actually gotten a lot done!
6. Pair the Task with Something You Enjoy
Who says chores have to be tedious? If there’s something you’ve been putting off, like going through your kid’s clothes from last season, cleaning off your work desk, or going through a box of old taxes and paperwork, pair the task with something pleasant! Turn on your favorite music and have a fashion show with your child; the clothes that no longer fit can go in a donation bag, and the rest are now fresh on your mind for your child’s back-to-school outfit! (This works for adults too, throw yourself a fashion show, have fun!) Grab your favorite coffee or snack (or both!) and go through the piles on your desk. Make a game out of it, every five papers you file or throw away, you get a bite of your snack or sip of coffee! Put on a juicy podcast or a guilty pleasure TV show, drag that box of old paperwork somewhere comfy like the couch, and go through it. Make yourself comfortable!
Keeping your home organized and staying on top of tasks can be challenging, especially with all of life’s other demands, but it’s not impossible! The more you build sustainable habits and learn how to break down tasks into small, actionable goals, the easier it becomes. Try as many of the six tips above as you’d like, even incorporating just one into your daily routine will help you check off items on your to-do list!
