Overcoming Obstacles in Organizing :: Finding the Time

by Heidi | Oct 19, 2012 | Uncategorized

This is the second installment of a series of articles where I’ll be presenting common obstacles in getting {and staying} organized. 

Do you ever find yourself wishing there were more hours in the day to dedicate toward your organizing goals?  

The way we spend our time is one of the biggest indicators of what we truly value in life.
If getting organized is a value and goal you want to achieve, it must become a priority – and it will require your time.

To understand where your time goes, it is important to assess how you actually spend it.

Try a TIME AUDIT…

Make an intentional effort to observe where your time is going by recording how you spend your time in a typical week.  For the next few days (or even a whole week), I encourage you to record everything you spend your time on with the help of  TIME USE CHART.
(click link for example)

By recording how much time you dedicate to your activities and accomplishments during a typical day/week, you’ll be able to observe your time usage (for better or worse) more objectively. You may be surprised to learn just how much (or little!) time certain activities really take day-to-day. 
 

Once your audit is complete, ask yourself if what you’re spending time on is truly aligned with your top life goals and priorities.

Is the time you are spending on____________ worth it?

Ask yourself,  “Will this help me accomplish my life (or organizational) goals?”


If not, it may be time to re-evaluate how you’re spending your time so that it’s more reflective of what your priorities are.

Need some help?

Organizing Expert, Maria Garcia, recommends making a comprehensive list of things you are actively spending your time on. (a time audit exercise will help with that).

Once your list is complete label each as follows:

• A. : Highly contributes to goals and dreams
• B. : Somewhat contributes
• C. : Doesn’t contribute to my goals and dreams at all

In order to achieve your goals and dreams, work hard to eliminate the C’s

Be especially mindful of how often you fall victim to ‘weapons of mass distraction‘  *smile*

Then, EVALUATE –
Take an honest look at your time audit, and work toward creating a time ‘budget’ by assigning pockets of time toward certain activities required for your top 5 life priorities. – Can you identify what activities and/or events are possibly a little too ‘heavy’ compared to the time and attention required somewhere else??

Need some help?  

Consider if you could/should;

1.  Moderate – can you simply lessen the time commitment you give to __________?

2. Delegate – Can someone else in the family take over the responsibility for ____________?
(could you possibly even pay someone to do_______, so you have more time for ___________?)

or

3.  Eliminate – Though painful, sometimes the best choice is to simply step away from an activity or commitment (even if it is a GOOD thing) in order to re-align how your time is spent to reflect the current priorities in your life.  Perhaps you will be able to return to it one day, but at least be willing to consider this option in the interest of the best balance within your family life…

While the initial process of ‘getting’ organized by setting up strategic systems and routines is admittedly large in the beginning, the time (and sanity!) that you’ll save in the long run as a result will have a much greater return.  Eventually you’re sure find even MORE time and energy to spend on the things you truly enjoy!