As you begin the process of organizing your household, you may ask yourself what the best way is to motivate your family members to become and stay actively involved in the process. Each family member is unique and so is their method for organizing and prioritizing. But if you approach it from a coaching standpoint, it is possible to motivate your family to get on the organizational bandwagon.
First of all, remember that your family will get involved in the process for their own reasons, not necessarily just to please you. Help each family member pinpoint their own motivations for wanting to get organized.
Each of us has a strong suit when it comes to being organized. Find that about each family member and emphasize it. Take the opportunity to share your organizational strengths and tips, and ask them to do the same. Offer praise, not criticism.
Organizing isn’t about getting rid of things at all. It is about identifying what’s important to you and giving those things a reliable, consistent home. Don’t try to force your family member to get rid of their things, but to prioritize which things holds the most importance and to focus their organizational goals around that.
Finally, being organized is about being responsible. If your child or family member has worked hard to get organized and stay organized, recognize this feat and reward it. Perhaps you can come up with a family reward such as a new croquet set for the backyard that everyone can play, or purchasing three or four new board games the family can play together. And remember, the best teacher for your family is you, so lead by example. Maintain your personal organization systems and consistently strive to improve and find new ways to keep on top of the clutter so chaos doesn’t overrun your life. They’ll learn by your example.
Get Your Act Together With Kitchen Drawer Organizers
Kitchen drawer organizers save more than time – they can also save your sanity! Have you ever had one of those moments when you know you just bought a great kitchen gadget the other day, but can’t find it now to save your life? Well, that’s the great thing about kitchen drawer organizers. If you’d had one or two (or more for those of us chronically compelled to misplace things!) and had put whatever it was you just bought into it, you’d have said item right at your fingertips! So, we’ve done the legwork – or rather, surf work – for you and found some cool places to order kitchen drawer organizers online without even venturing away from your home.
Kitchen drawer organizers can be found in the multitudes at Stacks and Stacks (www.StacksandStacks.com). This site sells everything from silver- and flatware organizers to cutlery inserts, knife trays, expandable in-drawer spice racks, and more. For just about anything you can put in a drawer to be organized, Stacks and Stacks makes an organizer – in wood, bamboo, plastic, or chrome! Not only does this online retailer sell kitchen drawer organizers, but all other different types of space-saving, organizing goodies for those with an agenda for order.
Another place to snag a deal on kitchen drawer organizers can be found at Always Organized (www.AlwaysOrganized.com). One favorite is their Perfect Fit drawer organizers that come in three sizes and can be trimmed to fit any drawer – perfect for those odd-sized drawers!
And kitchen drawer organizers from the queen of the kitchen herself, Betty Crocker (www.BettyCrocker.com), include something not often seen. This site features an all-wood adjustable tray for utensils with a special section for large knives that keeps them separated and in their own protective slots. Other kitchen drawer organizers include one made from heavy-gauge, rust-resistant steel – sure to last a lifetime!
Kitchen drawer organizers can be found at many sites throughout the World Wide Web, but if you can’t find what you want at one of these online retailers – well, we’d be surprised. So quit procrastinating and get organized! Find yourself some kitchen drawer organizers and save time, hassle, and yes, maybe even a little bit of your sanity!
Clutter is a big problem for many people. At a lecture that I gave, I asked for a show of hands regarding how many people had problems with clutter and disorganization. I was surprised to find that at least half the people raised their hands.
One of my clients told me that she was trying to help her sister get back on her feet after her sister had been laid up with an illness and lost her job. Her sister’s house had always been a mess, and had become so filled with clutter that there was no place to walk or sit. My client, Rebecca, offered to buy her sister a car if she would clean up her house. Rebecca even offered to help her sister clean up the house. Rebecca was shocked when her sister refused the offer, even though she desperately needed the car. He sister was unwilling to get rid of the clutter.
Why? Why was the “stuff” so important to her?
Underneath all addictions lies fear – of emptiness, helplessness, loneliness and aloneness. Addictions are a way to feel safe from feeling these difficult and painful feelings, and an addiction to clutter is no exception. It’s all about having a sense of control over feeling safe. Clutter, like all addictions, provides a momentary feeling of comfort. However, as with any addiction, the clutterer needs more and more clutter to maintain the illusion of safety and comfort.
When my mother died and my son was cleaning out her house, he discovered huge amounts of clutter. While my mother’s house always looked neat and clean, the cupboards and drawers were filled with clutter. My son told me he found 6 broken hair dryers in one cabinet. Why would my mother want to keep six broken hair dryers?
My mother grew up during the depression and always had a fear of not having enough. No matter how much she accumulated materially, she never felt that she had enough. The six hair dryers made her feel safe from her fear, even if they didn’t work.
Carrie has trouble throwing things away, especially magazines with “important’ information in them. She subscribes to many magazines but, being the mother of three small children, doesn’t often have the time to read them. So the magazines pile up and pile up. Carrie hopes at some point to have the time to read them, but that time never seems to come. When asked why she won’t throw them out, her answer is, “Because there might be something important in them and I don’t want to miss it.” Carrie fears missing out on some important piece of information – information that may give her the peace she is seeking. It makes her feel safer and in control to have all the magazines around her with their important information, even if she never gets to read them.
When we don’t feel safe on the inner level, then we try to make ourselves feel safe on the outer level, and clutter is one way of doing that. Whether it’s things, such as hair dryers, or information, such as in magazines and newspapers, clutterers do not trust that they will have what they need. In addition, clutterers may be resistant people who see messiness and clutter as a way of not being controlled by someone who wants them to be neat.
HEALING THE ADDICTION TO CLUTTER
Clutter is created and maintained by a wounded, frightened part of oneself, the wounded self – the part that operates from the illusion of having control over people, events, and outcomes. As long as this wounded self is in charge of the decisions, the clutterer will continue to accumulate clutter as a way to provide comfort and the illusion of control over feeling safe, or continue to be messy as a way to resist being controlled.
Healing occurs when the individual does the inner work necessary to develop a strong, loving adult self. A loving adult is the aspect of us that opens to and connects with a spiritual source of wisdom, strength, and love. A loving adult is capable of taking loving action in our own behalf. The loving adult operates from truth rather than from the false beliefs of the wounded self, and knows that the comfort and safety that clutter seems to provide is an illusion – that no matter how much clutter accumulates, the clutterer still feels afraid. The loving Adult knows that safety and integrity do not lie in resistance. Only a loving adult who is tuned in to the guidance provided by a spiritual source and capable of taking loving action in one’s own behalf can create a sense of inner safety.
Who else wants to relieve stress by bringing order to your life once and for all?
Are You Pulling Your Hair Out Because Your Life is a Disorganized Mess?
Feel like a chicken running around with your head cut off?
Is your house a mess? Papers piling up on your kitchen counter. You can no longer see what color the top of your desk is. And it’s getting harder and harder to feel comfortable in your own home with the mess. The hectic schedule. And the unorganized life.
There comes a point when you must say, “Enough! I need to get organized now if it kills me!”
Sometimes all it takes is a little push in the right direction to get started. To make just a few changes to a busy life that makes it more manageable.
Where can you get that push? Let me help you with my guide…
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