Peggy W Barnes

Strategically Simplifying Lives

bad habits

10 Common Reasons You Can’t Get Organized

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I hear it all the time…HELP!  I work and I work and I work and I just cannot get organized. 

I can give you 10 of the most common reasons why you can’t get organized. 

1.  You are trying to organize like someone else thinks….not how you think.
2.  You are trying to organize too much at one time.
3.  You are not willing to let go.
4.  You are not staying focused for any length of time.
5.  You are not taking the next step….are you hanging up your robe, are you putting the trash in the trash can, the dirty dish in the dishwasher, are you taking the designated donate items to a donation location, etc.
6.  You do not have a home for everything
7.  You have not scheduled time to organize
8.  You have unreal expectations about how long it will take to undo what has taken years to do.
9.  You want to talk about getting organized more than you really want to exert the effort to change habits and ways of thinking.
10. You have life reasons such as sickness – physical or mental or you have way too many things on your life plate.  

All of the above are legitimate reasons but all can be overcome.  You just have to be honest enough, with yourself, to know the reasons why and see what you can do to combat those obstacles, because you truly can combat them.    I’ll tell you a little secret……..if you look at the top 9 reasons, just do the opposite of what the sentence says and you can overcome that obstacle.  
For example, #1 – You are trying to organize like someone else thinks….not how you think.
What you say to yourself is – how do I think and what will work for me?

#2 –  You are trying to organize too much at one time
What you say to yourself is – I am going to organize one shelf…..not the whole kitchen. 

See how that works.  The only one that will not work with is reason #10.  There are things in life that are really out of your control but even in those times, you do have more control than you think……sometimes you just have to do things you don’t really feel like doing.  

Take a look at the list above, do any of them ring true to you?  
There are other reasons, too, what are some of yours? 






Ever Had a One Sided Fight?

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                                    (photo courtesy of foto76/freedigitalphotos.net)


Several days ago I got my knickers in a knot wondering why someone hadn’t done something they were supposed to do.  Then my mind started racing.  Had I done something wrong?  Did this person not want to work with me?  What was I missing?  Why hadn’t she called back like she was supposed to?  

Do you ever do that?  Have things running through your head because someone didn’t text you back, email you back, call you back, invite you somewhere, posted something on a blog, FB page or Twitter?  

Those are one sided fights and conversations.  You end up pouring all your energy into something that is probably nothing.  The person probably forgot to call, email or text or didn’t see the need for a response. The person probably had something else come up or life just got in the way.  Your perception of their post on FB, the blog or twitter is completely wrong based on preconceived notions or ideas you have.  Rationally I know all these things are possibilities, but instead I let my mind get going and before you know it I am in a full out, full blown fight…….in my thoughts and in my head! 

One sided fights are usually really only one sided – the other person has no idea there is an issue of any kind and the fights are usually a huge waste of time and energy.  It pays to take the time to wait some things out, wait to see the real outcome, instead of the imagined outcome in your head, and deal only in facts, not perceived or imagined conversations or emotions. 

So what happened to my one sided fight?  The woman finally called back, her husband had a medical emergency, all was resolved and I felt……stupid.  


Magic Bullet

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                                 (photo courtesy of vectorolie/freedigitalphotos.net)

Several conversations, over the last couple of weeks and months, have prompted this post.  People, as a whole, are looking for a magic bullet.  We are all looking for the easiest way to get in shape, lose weight, get organized, feel more peaceful, get through rough times, have the perfect, romantic filled marriage/relationship, raise the perfect, well-adjusted child, the best work environment and a fabulous spiritual journey.

I, being the killjoy that others have claimed me to be, am here to tell you a secret…….there is no magic bullet. I do believe  there are great strategies, out of the box ideas and systems that will help you be successful in all of the above and one should seek out information and knowledge, but you have to be the one to actually implement the ideas, systems and strategies.  The bottom line is 99% of the time it takes hard work, tenacity, and the get-up and go to press in and press on

There is no magic bullet, but you can do what you need to do to have a better day, a better marriage/relationship, a healthier weight, a healthier lifestyle, a more organized home/office, a more well behaved child, a great spiritual life and a better work life.  You would be surprised just how much of your success is up to you.  You just have to do what you already know how to do.  Do what you know…..that is the magic bullet!

P.S. I really am not a killjoy….really I’m not 🙂

Take the Next Step

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The above photo is from a friend of mine, who shall remain nameless.  I received her permission to use it because it is a perfect example of a concept I want to write about today……the next step.  

Look around your house today and see how much less cluttered your home would be if you had just taken 1-5 minutes to complete the next step or steps.  The mail would be in it’s place.  The dishes would be put away.  The clothes would be in the hamper instead of on the floor.  The coat would be hung in the closet instead of draped over a chair.  The trash would be in the trash can and yes, the new roll of toilet paper would be on the holder. Just being aware and taking those few extra minutes, to complete a task, can make a huge difference in the look and feel of your home.  

I know, we are all in a hurry, at times, but many times we are simply not really paying attention.  We carelessly lay something on a counter, fully expecting to get back to it very soon and then suddenly a lot of those things carelessly laying around accumulate and the job becomes overwhelming instead of feeling manageable.  It is not going to take you any more or any less time to complete the task, so why not just go ahead and take the next steps.  
In the long run it will save you time, added steps and toilet paper will be on the roll when you need it!


Eating the Elephant – How to De-Clutter Your Space and Your Mind

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The thought of de-cluttering leaves many people totally paralyzed and totally overwhelmed. I have many clients, surrounded by clutter, physical clutter and emotional clutter, initially incapable of attacking the piles, stacks, worries and problems.  


One of the first steps I take, when working with a client, is to break things down into smaller sizes.  I take a stack of papers and divide them into categories.  In the closet we look at only the white shirts or black pants and make decisions about just those.  In the box with all the memories, we look at 10 pieces of memorabilia.  When looking at life, worries and problems, we look at next steps.  Breaking the large, gargantuan piles and clutter into small manageable piles, makes it much easier to get through the task. The process seems achievable when you look at a shelf, instead of a room, a cabinet, as opposed to a whole kitchen, a drawer as opposed to a whole chest of drawers, a next step instead of a huge problem, or a 30 day plan instead of the rest of your life.  

What things are overwhelming you that you can break into smaller, more bite sized pieces?  It literally is impossible to eat an elephant any other way than one bite at a time. 

That Alarm is Going Off – Do You Hear It?

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(photo courtesy of Rasmus Thomsen/freedigitalphotos.net) 

When car alarms were first introduced, they were intended to alert someone that their car was being broken into or tampered with.  Now, when we hear a car alarm, we just look around to see what schmuck has pushed the wrong button on his remote clicker or who has tried to get out of a car that has been locked from the outside.  The alarms sound, we turn to take a look, then quickly go back to what we are doing, not really paying attention to it and certainly not suspecting that someone is breaking into an automobile. 

We have some of the same alarms going off in our head.  Those alarms were intended to let us know we are headed in the wrong direction, we are not making a great choice or we need to get out of a situation or relationship.  We hear the alarm, but just like the car alarms, we pay little to no attention as to why the alarm is sounding.  We have an agenda so we quickly go back to what we are doing.  Many of us know so much more than we are willing to admit because alarms have been sounding but we refuse to act on them out of fear of change or out of fear of the unknown. 

What alarms are sounding for you today?  What do you know you should do that you have been unwilling to do? 

Alarms certainly can be annoying but they also serve a very useful purpose, if only we would pay close attention to them.