Organize + Energize: 7 Mini Habits That Will Move You Closer to Getting Organized
Tuesday, March 03, 2015
You can do it now or save it for later. Most of the time if you save it for later, the piles have grown and it’s now going to take you longer to complete. Spend a few minutes tackling it in the moment and save hours on the back end struggling to tackle your task.
Start practicing mini habits and before you know it, they will be incorporated into your everyday life and you’ll be able to accomplish more than you ever thought possible.
I spoke with Craig Perra, J.D., Certified Professional Coach from The Mindful Habit, who empowers men and couples in 17 countries all over the world, and he loves mini habits. He states, "Mini habits change lives. It's that simple. Setting small, ridiculously attainable goals is a powerful tool to create the capacity for your success and move you closer to your goals. The key here is to set small, easily attainable goals that move you towards the result you seek. This concept is so counterintuitive because we are taught to "shoot for the stars" and the result so often is failure. But it works."
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTWhy are you procrastinating? What are you doing at the moment that allows you to be distracted? Are you really too busy?
Here are 7 mini habits you can start now:
Start placing your keys/phone in the same place. Every time you walk in the door, place your keys in a designated spot. You’ll never run late again because you forgot where you placed your keys. Same goes for your phone. Have a designated spot for your phone and practice placing it in the same spot. You have a home for your toothbrush, right? Why not one for your keys and phone.
File receipts. After arriving home from shopping, take receipts out of the car, wallet, or pocketbook. Place them in a monthly pouch, file or envelope. After you get in the habit of doing this, at the end of the month, match your receipts to your statement, staple, and then file. Your monthly pouch will then be empty and ready for you to fill with the current month’s purchases.
Take trash out of your car. Is your car becoming a trash can? Practice taking out your trash every time you get out of the car. You get out and the trash goes with you.
Open mail every day. Take a minute everyday to open your mail. It will take you no time at all to categorize it and decide what to keep, shred, throw away, attach to your to-do list or to file.
Take something out, put it away. It’s very elementary, but how many of you actually do this? You wear a shirt and instead of hanging it back up or putting it in the laundry, it ends up on the floor and before you know it, you have many small piles. Practice taking things out and putting them back.
Keep a running shopping list. If you used the last of the paper towels and know you need more, write it down on a running shopping list. Clear the mental clutter and practice writing things down as you need them. You’ll never have to waste time and struggle again thinking about what you need to purchase.
File papers in the moment. You’ve just paid a bill, but you don’t feel like filing it right now. Why? Take a few seconds and file it. Practice tackling tasks like this that will only take a few seconds. Items like this that get pushed to the side are the tasks that end up taking hours later on.
Craig also states, “Mini habits open the window to success, initially just a little. It allows you to build habits in a very easy non-threatening way. It eliminates (or at least minimizes) the mindset of "it's too hard" or "I don't have enough time." Mini habits allow you to accumulate mini wins that build over time.”
You’ll always hear me say this: You should always break an overwhelming process down into pieces. This is exactly what you are going to do with these mini habits. These tasks don’t seem overwhelming when you break them down into mini habits that are very achievable. Start tackling these mini habits and they will get you one step closer to achieving your organizational goals.
Kristin Carcieri-MacRae, the founder and owner of Organizing in RI, has always enjoyed finding creative ways to streamline the environment around her. She has appeared on air on Patricia Raskin's Positive Business Radio and her articles have been published in the Rhode Island Small Business Journal and New England Home Life. Kristin's CD, Organizing Basics, is a 1-hour guide for the person who wants to get organized but doesn't know where to start. She is also available for organizing workshops. Tune into her weekly radio show, Organize, Energize! on talkstreamradio.com.
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