HOME IMPROVEMENT: Powering Through Projects – Start Small and End Big!
by Marcia Ramsland, author of
Simplify Your Life: Get Organized and Stay that Way!
“Powering Through Projects” is the secret to creating the momentum to bring
about positive change. It is the vision and energy carrying us from the
beginning of an idea to the completion of a desire. Projects take deliberate
effort and are the lifeblood of changing your life.
"Projects" are tasks outside your daily routine that make life easier, accomplish
something
of value, or prepare you for your future.
“Powering Through” is the momentum to start and finish a project. It is about
finding the
motivation to move ahead and remove the obstacles that hold you back.
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Most problems in doing a project are two-fold:
- taking risks to pursue a project
- knowing how to engage and complete a project
If you acquire the skill of powering through projects, you can simplify your
lifestyle sooner than you think. Then you can initiate change anytime you want.
Organizing Small, Medium, and Large Projects
Recognize the time frame of the project and see where it will fit in your life.
- Small: fifteen minutes to a full day
Example: cleaning out a shelf, set of drawers, or a pantry
- Medium: four days to four weeks
Example: organizing a whole closet, bedroom, or kitchen
- Large: one to six months.
Example: redecorating a bedroom, organizing the garage,
or redoing your filing
system
Small Projects: Success in a Nutshell
Doing small projects can build the momentum for tackling larger ones. Warm up
your project skills by completing something small that will simplify your life.
For example:
- Simplify your purse by tossing receipts and corralling useful “little stuff”
into a Ziploc bag.
- Clean out the kitchen “junk drawer” and keep quality items, not junk, in
there.
- Spend five minutes and polish your favorite shoes.
- Clean out your makeup drawer by washing the hairbrushes and getting rid of old
lipsticks and nail polishes.
- Use up laundry samples.
- Simplify your pantry by donating food items no one eats.
- Give the garbage cans a good scrub so they look clean.
I know of several success stories:
- One lady, who got frustrated losing her keys when it was time to leave, bought
a key hook that day and hung it herself.
- A clergyman got tired of writing out his sermons with any old pen. Instead of
putting up with it any longer, he stopped in the middle of writing a sermon and
went out and purchased a good quality pen that he was pleased with.
- A busy mom got her photos organized by buying drawers for her pictures and
tossing the boxes that always had clutter sitting on the lids.
- An office manager confessed she spent the weekend sorting and purchasing the
right color nylons just to make the workweek go smoother.
These people know the value of tackling small projects to simplify their
personal space. It’s a great feeling opening your kitchen drawer to find a
working pen and a pad of paper to take down a phone message.
Small Projects: Time and Benefits
Don’t overlook the long-term value of doing smaller projects. These projects
will reduce stress and simplify your life today. This is the time to go back to
the “Clean Up Clutter” projects in the last chapter and follow through. Those
small projects will make your life a breeze.
Your time frame to do a project should be no longer than two hours, or fifteen
minutes daily over a week or two. It’s amazing how good you’ll feel from
organizing one small area that you use quite often.
Medium Projects: “The Black Hole”
When you ignore small
projects around you, they can turn into medium-size projects seemingly overnight
and become a big headache. Plenty of folks have tons of stuff in cardboard boxes
that they vow to deal with later, but later never comes—until
they finally decide to do something, like Jennifer did.
Jennifer lived in a mobile home and put everything she didn’t know what to do
with inside her screened-in porch. When Jennifer
called me to organize this extended storage area, my first question was, “What
do you call this room?”
“I don’t tell anyone, but secretly my daughter and I call it ‘The Black Hole,’ ”
she whispered with a laugh.
“Well, first we have to change it’s name,” I insisted. After some debate,
Jennifer’s eyes lit up. “I know—let’s call it the ‘Sun Porch,’ ” she
said.
We rolled up our sleeves and spent the first
weekend going through boxes, most of which contained old items that could be
tossed or given away. Her new vision of how she would use the room carried her
through sorting all the old boxes, bags, and clutter. The next weekend, Jennifer
purchased attractive but inexpensive furniture. During the summer months, she
and her daughter began eating dinner outside. After years of accumulation and
dread, it only took two weekends to transform a cluttered catch-all to an
attractive porch by Memorial Day.
Large
Project: Organizing the Garage
Organizing your garage, attic, basement, or extra bedroom begins with
several simple steps. Beginning at the entrance to the room, start creating a
path through the center of the room, attending to each item as you
encounter it.Your choices
are:
·
TOSS
broken or old items. Make sure you have a large wastebasket or recycling
container at your side.
·
GIVE AWAY
useful items. Put them into boxes or bags marked for the organization or person
who will receive the items. Then, make sure you actually donate your used items
right away, or they will pile up somewhere else in your house.
·
PUT AWAY
items that you plan to keep. You might want to build or buy special organizing
systems for the walls or closets. Then put things away so that they are easy to
find and get to.
If you make sure to do it
right the first time, you won’t be going back every few months to do it all over
again.
Next, after the center of the
room is “reclaimed,” go back to the entrance and systematically go around the
perimeter of the room, making a decision to toss, give away, or put away each
item.
Talk Out Loud as You Organize
The toughest part of organizing a garage,
attic, basement, or spare room is to stay on task. Professional organizers
can do it for or with you and speed up the process because they are trained
in space management. They work with people to see “old” things in a new way.
But, if you would rather do it yourself, here are some important questions
to ask regarding each item.
1. Do I use it
2. Do I like it?
3. Would I be happier if someone else were
storing it or putting it to good use?
4. If I were moving, would I pay to have it
packed and moved?
5. Would my life be happier without this?
(If improved, then
you know what to do – let it go!)
Rewards for Getting Your Organizing Projects Done
One of the challenges to get yourself going is finding your motivation. I once
asked a class of mine why they would want to accomplish their projects. Here are
some of their answers:
- “I wouldn’t have to waste time looking for things.”
- “Things will look much neater.”
- “I’ll have more time to play with the kids.”
- “Our home will be nicer for the family.”
- “I’ll be a happier person.”
Do projects make a difference? You bet they do, especially if you can reap one
of the above rewards.
Personal Reflection: If you had the choice of doing some meaningful small
projects, what would they be? Spontaneously (or methodically) make these changes
and enjoy your first steps to simplifying your life.
(Excerpt from Simplify Your Life: Get Organized and Stay that Way!)
Marcia’s popular book, Simplify Your Life – Get Organized and Stay that Way!
is available in bookstores everywhere. It is the first in the Women of Faith
Lifestyles product line and
you can
order
your
autographed copy of
Simplify Your Life:Get
Organized and Stay that Way!
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