- If it's not
going away, give it a place to stay.
Psychologist Dr.
Henry Cloud once wrote that "the shortcut is always the longest
path"[1] What's true in therapy also
applies to productivity. We have to spend time now to save it
later.
Shortly
after we moved, for example, it became apparent that the
recycling totes were taking up too much floor space in our garage. For
weeks, I tripped on them nearly every time I took out the trash.
Finally, my husband took time one
Saturday to put up a shelf which lifted the
smaller totes out of the way (see photo that follows).
What
item(s) are lying around your home? Find one of them that isn't
going away and take time to give it a place to stay. When
you do, you'll be one step closer to living a Proverbs 28:2 life
where "a man of understanding and knowledge maintains order"
one completed project at a time.
- Fight the status quo by picking up as you go.
I
recently grew weary of my daughters walking upstairs
empty-handed when there were toys and other items sitting on the
steps, waiting to be carried upstairs.
"If
you're going that way anyway," I would argue, "why not take
something with you?"
Finally, in a
lyric attempt to make
a lasting impression, I came up with a song that proved so
annoying, I've only been allowed to sing it once:
Never
leave a room empty-handed,
when things are all around, looking stranded.
You've got to fight the status quo,
if you ever want to know;
that when
you pick up as you go,
there’s no way clutter can grow.
I still
need to remind my daughters to take things with them as they go
upstairs but, for fear of hearing the song, I rarely have to
tell them twice. I had fought the status quo and convinced my
children that, like my singing, the clutter must go.
- Do a
ten minute tidy at the end of the day,
to
keep your home organized and looking okay.
I first
heard about the ten minute tidy while watching Loonette and
Molly clean up on
The Big
Comfy Couch when my oldest daughter was just two. Although
Katie has long since given up this children's show and the
Molly doll she used to carry around, the Ten Minute Tidy rule
has stuck with me through the years and I often find myself
doing a quick clean up before turning in for the night.
If you
also have known the peace that comes from taking ten minutes to
clean up before turning out the light and turning in the for night,
imagine how much more at ease you will feel if everyone in your
family worked with you to do the same.
Let's
assume, for example, that there are four people
in your family. Getting forty minutes
worth of work done in just ten minutes time is proof that a ten
minute tidy at the end of the day, will keep your home organized
and looking okay.
I hope
you've enjoyed these rhymes for disorganized times. May they inspire
you to take steps toward de-cluttering your life today.
[1]
9
Things You Simply Must Do,
p. 132.
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