If a cleaning, decluttering or organizing chore seems too huge to tackle, break it down into small chunks. Any chore, for that matter - a work project, helping with your child's science project, doing your taxes - whatever! Set a time limit of 10 minutes to an hour - whatever you can handle - and tackle one aspect of your project.
The other day, my husband and I decided to spend one hour cleaning out and organizing the garage to prepare for our move. We broke it down into bite-sized chunks:
- We started by breaking down all the cardboard boxes for recycling. It was amazing how that cleared out a lot of the clutter!
- We organized and containerized loose items according to category - gardening, car, painting, etc.
- We put all boxes that were packed and ready to move along the side and front walls.
- We took everything that still needed to be sorted into our office as a staging ground.
- We sorted other things into trash and giveaway.
- And we consolidated a few boxes.
We "accidentally" spent two hours out there - it seemed a lot less because we were so encouraged by what we were accomplishing. We still have a few things to do out there, but we got too cold!
Apply this same principle to your area of greatest need. Break it up into small tasks and determine how much time you want to spend on it each day. For example, spending 15 minutes a day for the next five days will allow you to make significant headway as you see task after task completed.
Celebrate and congratulate yourself on the accomplishment of each task! Even if the task is huge, over time you will be able to chip away at it.
For more on cleaning, downsizing, and decluttering, check out our 1-2-3...Get Organized series.
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