Leaning into struggles and getting a head start on whole home organization. How I’m doing it in 2018.
Sometimes when you’re not a natural at something, your first instinct is to shy away from it. It’s uncomfortable, a struggle – and no one enjoys struggling. But last year I heard someone use the phrase “lean into it” and it flipped a switch in me. Suddenly I saw those “struggle” items as a chance to better myself and improve my circumstances. Instead of walking away from difficult items, I’m leaning into them. Like, so seri0usly leaning into them.
Our lovely home in the Indiana woods was Dave’s bachelor pad and it’s been the bane of my existence since I moved in 3 years ago. It took almost a year just to purge it of 15 years worth of “stuff” and clean the place. The second year was spent moving my own things in and making the place more homey. We added rooms full of furniture and hey, there is even art on the walls. #adulting, right? But we are half-way through my third year here and I’m officially into the “thrive, not just survive” phase. There are closets where I’ve just thrown things and slammed the door shut. There’s a full basement where I’ve just stacked and shoved until I’m not even sure what’s there anymore. Our offices are full of paper and power cords – for two “paperless” real estate agents we have a LOT of paper. And the kitchen is just SO SMALL.
I’m not complaining. I am forever grateful for the blessing of a warm home, (especially today as it’s about -10 windchill here) and not just one home, but a couple great places we call ours. But I need this place to be a well-organized hub, and here’s how I’m (finally) making that happen.
Step 1. Go room to room and create a master list. Write down anything and everything that comes to mind to be done in 
that room. No particular order, just write it all down.
Step 2. Push yourself to choose one item from the lists for each day. If you’ve got tons of time, tackle a bigger item. If not, pick a small one. After all the small items are done, don’t let the bigger items get the best of you. Do half of it one day, and half the next.
It couldn’t be more simple. It took me about an hour to sit down in each room and make the lists. Some of the lists were 4 items, some were an entire page. But I feel confident that I’ve hit most the high and low points of each room. I started from top to bottom, looking around the room to see what needed done. I also added a list for the basement, one for the garage and another for the exterior of the house and grounds. They include things like dust the baseboards, wash the windows, reorganize the snack cabinet, clean out the pantry, hand clean the grout (yikes!) and dust the air returns.
I’m keeping these in a 3-ring binder so I can keep track of them easily. Do you have rooms that need an over-haul this coming year? Comment below and let me know what projects you’re tackling in 2018. And for accountability purposes, I’m planning a monthly post with updates on the master list!
Next up on the blog: A mini-series on goal setting and the tools I use for personal and business goals.
Cheers!
Stacey
