I visited orgjunkie.com this morning. This is the site that hosts Menu Plan Monday, which is always so fun to visit. She also has great organizing tips and is extremely encouraging.
But . . . she’s one of them. You know, the people who actually get excited over organizing something. They buy adorable little organizing tools, and then, get this, they actually USE them. Generally, people like that intimidate me. I love little organizing tools too. I used to buy them a lot. I had big plans in my head, but then I wouldn’t actually do it. They would sit in my trunk for a month. Then on my messy dresser for another month. Finally, I would make an attempt to clear that dresser, and would find them. So of course at that point I would stop clearing the dresser and go organize something. Put all of my cotton balls, extra pens, whatever in them.
It felt good at the moment, but then when I would quit using them, leaving pens, cotton balls laying wherever, I would feel like a failure.
The thought of getting everything organized sounds wonderful. I dream of having someone from Oprah or Dr. Phil come to my house and get it all perfect. But the KEEPING it that way is the problem. It actually scares me to think of someone doing all of that for me (not that they’ve offered) because I don’t believe that I could keep it up. If I had every organizational tool imaginable, and still couldn’t do it, I would be a complete failure.
So I read this post by Laura at orgjunkie. She’s good at this stuff. Her post is about organizing toothbrushes. She talks about having had one way of doing it that worked for a while, but then her family went back to throwing them on the counter. So she found a new way that worked. And she seems to be totally fine about it. She says that when this quits working, she’ll just find another method.
Wow. She’s awesome. When my great idea stops working after a while, I want to completely give up. If my kids stop putting things away in the cute little way I had given them, I feel like a failure, because I obviously haven’t done a good enough job of teaching them responsibility and organization.
But she just comes up with another great idea and fully expects it to fizzle after a while. In parenting, I generally get the “long haul” concept. Rarely does one discipline method work every time. Rarely do you explain something to your kid only once. Rarely do you only have to teach a concept once. It’s all by consistency.
What have I learned? It is normal for an organization method to work for a while and then lose its steam. I can’t give up. Be creative and come up with another method.
Okay are you my twin?!?! I just read through your entire blog and I could of written it! I also am extremely messy and un-organized. I have tried many "fun" tools and yeah, they all fail! I have several clutter areas as well that I never get to, one of these days right! I am also really trying to keep the kitchen counters clutter-free and the sink dish free. It really does help. I do have a question though, I see you are really doing well with the kitchen but what about other rooms like the bathrooms or bedrooms?
I am so excited to get your comment. I'm not the only one?!?!
In my post today, I talked about moving to working on the bathroom. I am trying to be slow and methodical, to develop habits. I tend to be an "all or nothing" kind of girl, so I'm adding one non-negotiable task a week, to keep myself from getting overwhelmed and quitting. You're definitely joining me at the beginning of this process. I hope to someday have answers, but right now it's just about me figuring this out for myself.
I just came across your blog YESTERDAY and I have been reading through all of it. You and I are a lot alike. I was reading about the granola bar wrapper that you had sitting by your computer and how it took you 3 days to finally throw it away. I know that feeling! I started a blog about 2 weeks ago, that no one reads, but holds me accountable in a weird sort of way. I'm looking forward to future posts of yours. /cheer!
I think I found my people.
Okay, you are so like me, I had to pin this post as a reminder not to give up when something doesn’t work. Bless simple mom for her declutter challenge this month or I may never have found you. Your posts are so encouraging, and yes, I’m reading this backwards as you suggested. :0
Again this is just like me. I’m sometimes so afraid that I’ll be like one of those people on TLC’s Hoarders.
Love, love, LOVE this blog! I sometimes wonder, when reading it, if you have hidden a camera in my home.
I’m a 3 time flylady flunkie, married almost 13 years, with 3 kids… and I’m thrilled to pieces to find other people with the same struggles I have… Even more so that it can, in fact, be conquered.
BTW, the second paragraph made me laugh–no, cackle– out loud!
Thanks for saying what I’ve needed to hear for a long time. 🙂
Another “just-found-you-and-reading-backwards gal…”
Let me just say that I think my problem (as a working mom, married 22 years and with 2 teenagers) is, as you said, the “KEEPING it that way.” I don’t have the need, or the disposable income, to buy a bunch of cute organizing products, so sites that show the cute things I can buy to organize my home are of little help to me. (Though I may or may not have a Pinterest board full of cute organizing things I can MAKE in my spare time.) I can come up with checklists and systems with no problem…. just the day-to-day keeping up is what defeats me.
I’m glad to see I’m not the only one.
It’s not just you! I talk to my husband all the time about redoing my office/spare bedroom into an office//spare bedroom/ art room for my daughter! Love this blog! I am going to stick with this project. And just like you, probably hold myself accountable by blogging about it!
Hallelujah, I have found my tribe!
Thanks for your inspiration (& your humor)!