I’ve had a lifelong struggle with disorganisation. I changed my attitude to myself by understanding my strengths better.
I’ve been on several rounds of “how to get organised” because my strengths lie elsewhere and I’ve had to learn it from the ground up.
I’ve noticed along my way that getting organised is a commitment. You have to make it a priority.
In this post, I’m going to look at the reasons why we avoid getting organised – why we fail to make it a priority – and what to do about it.
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But before I go any further, I just want to be clear about what I mean when I talk about “getting organised”.
I mean creating space and time in your life so that you can GET ON WITH YOUR MOJO while knowing that the walls are NOT going to fall around your ears. The bills get paid, the washing up gets done, and you consistently deliver high quality work people love, without losing your mind, your health or your loved ones.
You learn what you need to learn, and it isn’t a big drama to do that. In fact, the only drama is the celebration day when you hit your big win. That’s what I call getting organised.
So here we go, the 5 big thoughts stopping you from getting organised and reaching your potential.
#5: I feel trapped when I hear the word “system”.
(I need spontaneity)
We have a tendency to run away from organisation, because it takes such a different part of the brain to that meandering, intuitive connection part of ourselves. We’re terrified that if we start trying to be organised, the inspiration djinn will vanish into thin air.
Well, let’s unpack that for a minute. What would need to be true for that to be the case?
Your inspiration and creativity is something you have no control over, and you must be at its mercy 24/7.
Your inspiration is fragile: just a slight shift to the left and “crunch.” There goes your big idea!
Getting organised means getting busy and doing all the stuff I’ve been avoiding, which will leave no time for being creative.
But hang on, what about all those amazing books, paintings, albums, sculptures, buildings and poems that have been created over the millenia? How did they get made? Those statues didn’t just drop into Leonardo da Vinci’s lap. He got up every single day and went “chip, chip, chip” at the stone until it was made.
“Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration”
Yes, you need to be ready to let in that djinny when she comes knocking. If you really want to honour her visit, you’ve got to get organised so you can ACT.
#4 If I get organised I won’t be creative anymore.
This is a very close cousin to #5. You equate creativity with freedom, nonchalance, a happy go-lucky attitude. You equate organisation with tedium, rules and no choice. You’re afraid that if you “get organised” you’ll become this horrendously dull individual, tapping her clipboard and frowning at the schedule.
This comes up a lot around the idea of routine, too.
But you know what? I bet you have a place where you keep the cutlery in your house? And I bet you brush your teeth everyday? And I’d be fairly confident that you put your pants on under your trousers, and not on your head, right? The point is we all have systems. And the point is we get to choose. If it doesn’t work you can ditch it. The purpose of getting organised is that you get more done in LESS time and it leaves you with MORE time to play.
#3 Don’t want to. (Booring!)
Otherwise known as Resistance.
Steven Pressfield, in the brilliant book The War of Art, spends some considerable time talking about resistance, the nature of the beast and how to tame it. He points out, rather tartly, that the mark of a professional is not that she doesn’t experience resistance, but that she “wakes up primed and ready to tackle whatever resistance has to throw at her” every single day.
Whatever you want to do, you have to MEAN it. You’ve got to commit, and be willing to go through your resistance in order to win the prize. And yes, that means you have to leave the world of childhood and get the tough stuff done. Or employ someone else to do it. But taking responsibility is the first step to anywhere, and you can’t pay anyone to do THAT for you.
#2 No time. (or I’ll waste time)
Now, we know that if we get organised, it’ll free up more time, right? But we’re scared that once we embrace all those “little jobs” that need doing, it will be like this time sucking vortex and we’ll never get out and actually do something that matters.
Equally, we’re aware there’s a huge backlog that needs taking care of, and that it really is going to take some time to get to grips with things and “set up a system”.
We also feel we don’t have time to learn how to be organised, or to waste time trying (and failing) to learn how to do it.
If this is you, sometimes you actually need to clear some of that emotional backlog by simply sitting with yourself. Click here to download my free self-soothing audio which is an effective tool for creating more time in our outer world by taking care of our inner world.
#1 Your big bad self sabotage monster. (or, if I do this, I might actually get good, and my lord that scares the hell out of me).
Let’s face it, this is really the big one, isn’t it? Because while we’re hanging out in the “I’m so free I don’t need to be organised” space or the “oh my god I just don’t know where to start I’m too small to take this on” what we’re really doing is running squeaking for the hills AWAY from what we really know we’re called to do.
When you get really committed you’ll do anything – and that includes getting organised – to share your dream, express your vision and make your big difference in the world.
Until you’re up close and personal with your vision, your why, you are NEVER going to get your pretty stuff together, because that would look too much like business!
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Are you ready to get organised?
Download my free guide: DO LESS. BETTER. 11 tools for success without burnout. For highly-sensitive, ambitious women.This will help you to put these lessons into practice.