Help for Disorganized People (Part 2)

As we continue our series on Time Management and Organization for the Disorganized Procrastinator (read part 1 here), let's take a look at some common reasons for procrastination.

Pretty much everyone suffers from procrastination tendencies in at least one aspect of their lives, whether it's getting work done, doing household chores, or exercising.  (Wouldn't it be great if we procrastinated about eating that delicious chocolate brownie as much as we do about exercising?)

When you procrastinate on certain things, you're getting some sort of payoff for the behavior. You're avoiding the pain of doing the task right now. Maybe you realize that it may cause you pain later, but you put that out of your mind. What you're concerned with right now is avoiding the pain now. Pain felt later is not real yet.

So what are some of the reasons we procrastinate?

1. Fear of Failure

This is the most obvious reason people procrastinate. The fear that you won't succeed is so strong that you'd rather not try at all. Your mind tells you that you're not a failure because you didn't do it yet. Many people who fear failure have perfectionist tendencies. Perfectionism is really just a cover and an excuse for not ever finishing anything due to the fear of failure.

2. Fear of Success

Believe it or not, some people procrastinate due to a fear of success, the inverse of fear of failure. If you have an innate feeling that you don't deserve success and lack confidence in your ability to continue being successful, you will procrastinate. Once you are on top, it's harder to stay on top, so why get to the top at all? Fear of being able to repeat success can block you from ever experiencing success in the first place.

3. Addiction to the Rush

This is something that often happens to college students or people who work with deadlines. They wait until the last minute and the extra adrenaline that is produced makes them feel good. They get addicted to the adrenaline and seek reasons to flood their body with it again, and again. Adrenaline junkies often believe they do better work at the last minute, which could not be further from the truth. If you perform at a high level at the last minute, imagine how well you would do with a real plan of action?

4. Lack of Interest

Some things you put off because you simply don't like to do them.  That could be cleaning out the oven or the fridge, matching socks, or working on a report for work or school. Those things are boring, so you procrastinate because you simply do not want to do it to start with. You wait until the very last moment to do it.  Maybe you're even late with it or don't do it at all.

5. You Need Training

Some people procrastinate because they really aren't sure how to do something. They need someone to train them how to do it right. It doesn't matter if it's household organizing, work related tasks, or something else entirely — if you tend to procrastinate about something, ask yourself if you are procrastinating because you don't know how to do it.

6. You Don't Like to Say No

By putting off doing things you've committed to do, it's your way of saying no without saying no. If you're a person who doesn't like to say no just because you're trying to be nice, but then you put off doing what you've agreed to do — I hate to tell you, but you're not being nice!  Just be honest and don't commit to things with which you cannot follow through.

7. You're Overwhelmed

It's not uncommon to start putting things off when you simply get in over your head. Due to poor organizational ability, you simply bit off more than you could chew. Plus, you lack the training to chunk together actionable steps to beat the feeling of overwhelm. When you're overwhelmed, it seems easier to just ignore anything that needs to be done.

8. You're a Dreamer & a Talker

Many people who are otherwise great people tend to love to talk about doing, rather than actually doing. The problem with this is that if you never follow up with doing what you're talking about, you'll never achieve success. You'll always just be a talker and a dreamer. Spending time making vision boards on Pinterest feels productive, but if you don't back that up with some action, you're not productive. You're all talk and no action.

9.Inability to Visualize Success

Some procrastinators have serious problems with creating a picture in their minds of future success. You let your past inform your future too much. You just cannot see yourself being successful at anything, so you put off trying and put off doing your best because you just can't see yourself beyond where you are right now.

Next week, we'll talk about how to overcome these roadblocks.

But for this week's challenge, I want you to identify:

1. One thing that you've been putting off.
2. The reason you've been procrastinating.

Leave a comment and let me know what you determined!

Help for Disorganized People

If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm not the world's most organized person.  (Someone recently suggested I might truly have ADD.  Who knows?  But hey, maybe I can use that as an excuse, right?)

My super-organized (and extremely patient) husband has taught me a thing or two about how to keep things organized.  I'm sure I would be 10 times worse without his help.

So for the next few weeks, I'll be running a series on Time Management and Organization for the Disorganized Procrastinator.  I'll be sharing some of the things I have learned from my husband as well as personal obstacles that I have overcome.

Ready for part 1?  Let's dig in…

Do you have piles of paper surrounding your desk? Do you have boxes of paperwork to go through in the attic, inside closets, or in the corner of your office that need to be organized? Are your computer files a disorganized jumble of text files and Word documents full of ideas that you will never find again? Do you have many plans and ideas that you just never get to? Does the idea of getting organized make you uncomfortable and a little bit nervous? If so, then this guide is for you!

Week One:

Identifying Your Organizing Style

The first thing you need to do is figure out your organizational style. Even as a disorganized person you have an organizational style. Trust me. Knowing your own personal organizational style will help you avoid choosing methods that won't work for you.

• Neat Nelly — She puts everything away out of sight; however, the term neat can be questioned. She feels neat because it's all out of sight and out of mind.
• Piles Polly — She puts everything out where everyone can see it, usually in piles all over the place. She cannot find anything when she needs it.
• Basket Betty — She puts everything into baskets so that they look neat and out of sight, but they are anything but neat (and maybe not even out of sight).

Understanding your organizational style will help you move forward with creating a system of organization that works for you. Working with your personality, instead of against it, will make becoming more organized a lot simpler. So, it doesn't matter whether or not you pile everything up, stuff everything out of sight, or have lots of baskets and bins with all your work in them. You can work with your natural inclinations to create a plan and develop a system that works for you.

If you're still not sure about your organizational style, think for a moment about what you do when you receive a monthly bill. Do you throw it on a “bill pile”, file it away, or throw it in a basket (or drawer)? Some people just prefer to be able to see everything because they're afraid they'll forget something. Other people feel more accomplished if it's all out of sight (and out of mind), while others do a mixture of the two. Which one are you?

Week one challenge:  Identify your organizational style and tell me in the comments.

(If you're the organized type, none of us naturally disorganized people will mind a bit if you chime in with your helpful suggestions during this series!)

Printable Daily Planner for Disorganized People

Organized bloggers talk about their tried-and-true methods for keeping your house clean and being productive.  Most of them center on the concept of routine.  But what if you're like me and routine makes you bored?  Chances are you jump in to this system that is “guaranteed to work”, and it works great…for a few weeks.  Then you get tired of being locked in to vacuuming on Monday, cleaning the bathroom on Tuesday, etc.  You want to do what you want, when you feel like it — all without your house falling apart.  Me too!
I am not naturally organized, and I hate routine.  But instead of letting that defeat me, I have tried to find ways to work with my personality to create a system that works for me.

I noticed that the days I was most productive were the days when I was scribbling down everything I needed to do in a notebook.

Over time I noticed that without thinking I would always list “like” items together – for example, anything I had to do on the computer, any phone calls I needed to make, etc.  I had unintentionally created a system that was working pretty well for my personality.

I made a printable version to make my method look a little prettier.

How to use this printable:

Although this planner is intended to be used daily, you only need to print one copy.

Attach 6 standard sized sticky notes to the squares (I prefer Post-it Brand since they stick the best.)  Then label each section whatever you want it to be.

My labels are:

1. Basics – I write down everything that I have to do, even no-brainer stuff like “make supper”, “make the bed”, etc.  With a personality like mine, I really do forget if I don't write it down!

2. Extra – this is extra housework that does not get done every day, like mopping or cleaning the bathroom.

3. Shopping list – self-explanatory

4. Computer – this is anything I need to do on the computer, such as working on my blog or ordering grocery items from Amazon. (aff. link.)  That way when the kids are napping I can quickly work through what needs to be done, and I can easily see it on my list.

5. Projects – This area is for things like crafts that I want to make or fun activities I want to do with my kids.

6. Notes – I use this for stuff that's not necessarily to-do but that I still need to remember.  For example – “Tell hubby he has an email he needs to check.”

I love this system!  I can switch around what housework I do on what days, without forgetting about it altogether.  I make my schedule be a slave to me, instead of being a slave to a schedule.

I like using the Post-it notes because I don't have to print a new to-do list every day.  If I've completed the stuff on one square, I can remove just that sticky note and replace it.  If I still need to work on some of the stuff, I can leave that list right where it is.

Are you the “creative” type who gets too bored with a routine, but forgets to do things otherwise?  I'd love for you to try out this daily planner and let me know if it helps!

DIY Valentine’s Day Vases

Since Valentine's Day is quickly approaching, I decided to turn my winter vase into a collection of Valentine's Day Vases.

I took 4 of these vases from Dollar Tree and applied fabric glue with a paint brush.  Then I wrapped some brown yarn around them until they were covered.

I used various white or off-white items from around the house to spell out the word “LOVE” – a piece of lace, a felt rosette (here's a tutorial), buttons, and a piece of white yarn.

And there you have it.

And now, my dear readers.  Here's a question I have for you.

I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to filling vases.  And, to further add to my problem, my decorating budget is $0.  I have to use what I have around the house.  And in this case, these are the only flowers I had that were white or pink, or any sort of Valentine-y colors.  So, do you have any ideas for how to fill the vases using only these flowers or things I could find outside?  I'm no good at this.  Help!

Project Simplify: Turning Goals into Reality

If you have not already printed these free goal-setting printables, you can do that now and work on determining the goals that you would like to reach this year.

Since the theme this year is “Project Simplify”, I thought it would be pretty silly to make some kind of complicated worksheet to help me determine how to reach my goals.

Instead, I am using a simple calendar.

If you care to use my simple method, read on and I'll explain how to make your goals become reality.

• Re-read your list of goals and determine how they can broken up into actionable items.  For example, if you wrote that you want to memorize more scripture, you should decide  which specific verses you want to memorize and by what date you want to have them memorized.  Add that to your calendar.  I want to memorize Colossians chapter 3, and I am planning to memorize one verse each week.  So I have added “Colossians 3:1” to the first week of the calendar, “Colossians 3:2” to the second week, and so on.

• If you have long-term goals, break them down into steps and determine a deadline for each step.  Add each step to your calendar.  For example, let's say you want to re-decorate your bedroom.  Give yourself a couple weeks to decide on the colors you want.  Mark that deadline on your calendar and focus the next couple weeks on browsing Pinterest and magazines until you're sure you know what you want.  The next deadline could be when you want to have it painted by.  Then when you want to have the new curtains made (or bought).  And so on.

• Make sure your goals are reasonable.  I know many people suggest to aim high, but I'm going to suggest the opposite.  You can always add more if you easily reach one goal.  My tendency in years past has been to be all starry-eyed about the things I'm going to accomplish.  Then when it's too much to keep up with I end up getting discouraged and scrapping everything.  I'd rather choose a couple simple things and do a good job keeping up with them than to end up aiming too high and ending up accomplishing nothing.

See how simple this is?  I bet I  could sum up this whole post in one sentence.  Let me try:

After assuring that your goals are reasonable, turn them into specific actions and add them to your calendar in the appropriate places.

In a few days I'll be sharing my daily planner (if you can even call it that -it's so easy!) and how I translate what's on my calendar into daily actions. But for now, go ahead and print your 12 calendar pages and work on translating your goals into specific actions you can put onto the calendar.

(And go ahead and add birthdays and other yearly events now too. )

 Download here

For those of you who indicated on Facebook that you really could use some help in the organizational department, you will not want to miss the post where I share my daily planner! I'm calling it “The Planner for the ADD Personality”, or “A Simple Planning System for People who Hate to Plan” or something like that.  It's working for me, and I've been pretty much hopeless until now.

Be sure you're subscribed to email updates so you won't miss it when it's posted!

Pretty Winter Vase

I just recently found out about the Dollar Tree Value Seeker's Club  through a friend’s blog.  She had done the cutest craft that she found on there. 

After my Christmas decorations came down, I knew I wanted to make something to make my house look pretty for the rest of the winter.  The Dollar Tree Value Seeker's Club was the perfect place to look! The free club has new ideas every month that you can print and take with you to the Dollar Tree as a shopping list.  They had some great ideas for January, so I was really excited to have the opportunity to create one of their projects as part of a sponsored campaign.

I decided to make a pretty winter vase. I figured it wouldn’t be too hard, and I knew I could find some fillers for it out of my backyard.  I headed to Dollar Tree and found this vase that was a nice shape, brought it home, and got to work using the instructions on the Dollar Tree Value Seeker's Club website.

I was so excited that this project went so quickly and easily – I am the queen of finding ways to mess things up and make them take forever!  And all I needed was my vase, white paint, white glue, and Epsom salts. I painted the vase white,

let it dry (sort of – I’m a little impatient), then coated it with glue

and applied the Epsom salts.  So easy, but pretty! The only thing I did differently from the instructions on the website was instead of rolling the vase in the Epsom salt, I ended up sprinkling it on after I applied the glue.  I found that rolling the vase in the salt was scratching the paint off of it.  That may have been because I was too impatient to let it dry well enough.  But sprinkling it on went very fast, and I had complete control over getting it exactly where I wanted it, so I was fine with doing it that way.

I am so happy with how this project turned out, and I’m enjoying having my house a little less dreary for the rest of the winter. 

Be sure to sign up for the Dollar Tree Value Seeker's Club for access to the instructions for this project and lots more like it!  I already bought the supplies for another easy decoration that I plan to make for my bedroom.

What project do you think you would like to try first?