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Have you ever heard the idea that as you work to become better at something specific, then as a side effect, you also become good at unrelated things? For instance, when my daughter was 8, she told me “I’m not good at spelling. I’m good at math, but not spelling.” But a year later when she was 9, she won her class spelling bee and got to participate in the school-wide spelling bee. She didn’t spend the last year practicing her spelling, she spent the last year absorbed in reading. As she read, her spelling improved as a side effect.

I love seeing the side effects of getting organized, which are often things people don’t expect. Though we don’t see it from the start, in hindsight we can usually see clearly how it does all relate.

Years ago, one of my clients was compulsively disorganized. She hired me to help clear out and organize two closets. I only ever helped her with those two closets, but she has emailed me several times since about the places she has tackled organizing since then. The side effect of the organizing during our time together was that she realized how capable she was of working on her own messes. That result is a much bigger deal than two organized closets.

I’ve seen people lose weight, develop new hobbies or rekindle old ones, heal relationships, and go after big goals: all as a side effect of getting organized.

The kind of organizing that I teach my clients and readers here is the kind of organizing that makes every part of life better, the kind of organizing that sets off positive domino effects in several directions.

If you’re reading this blog post right now, you are considering trying to get organized. You want to make your life better in some way. I think you can do it. Your spelling may not improve drastically after reading just one book, but keep reading, and it will.

There is not a single tip that will cause you to wake up tomorrow and suddenly live a perfectly organized life. But maybe there is a tip that will help you wake up tomorrow and make progress, then tomorrow you will learn something that will help you wake up the next day and make a little more progress. Bit by bit, you can continue making small steps towards getting organized, and later when you look back, you will see how each of those small steps you took had positive ripples that eventually changed everything for the better.

Here are 3 areas you can focus on that will make a huge difference!

3 PLACES YOU CAN START

And in the spirit of trying to give you what you want, I will tell you two common starting places. Maybe one of these is right for you:

Declutter

• Join the 91 Day Declutter Challenge!

Solve your Paper Problem 

• Taming the Paper Trail of Clutter
• Change Your Life with Weekly H.M. Sessions
• Organize Home Office Files
• Organize Memory Boxes

Start a Cleaning and Laundry Routine

• How to have a perfectly clean house all the time … or something like that.
• 6 Daily Habits to Keep A Clean Home
• Kids Chores and Routines Checklist
• Beyond Killing the Laundry Monster
• The Easiest Way to Do Kid’s Laundry

You can’t go wrong working on any of these areas. They’ll all make it easier to tackle something else on this list. Master all of these things and you are on your way to a much easier life!

You can do this! Just pick up a book and start reading, or pick a starting place and start organizing. The organizing, and all the positive ripples, are worth it. So worth it.

… Of course I have to mention that ordering one of my planners is a good place to start too! 😉 Shop my planners HERE.

From my home to yours,
Mary

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