ORGANIZING
Tips for Tuesday
One
of the ways God has gifted me is in the area of organization. But allow me to let you in on a little secret
– even an organized woman’s house can get out of control, it’s just that we can
still find things (most of the time!)
I have some ladies coming over tonight so we’re going to start where I am - in a crunch. This isn’t my normal cleaning and organizing. This is how can I get this place looking presentable quickly.
1.
START. Where?
Anywhere, just start somewhere.
When? Now!
Sometimes
the task seems overwhelming, and we can waste a lot of our time just figuring
out where to start. Here are a few
questions to point you to the starting line.
- What is urgent? Maybe you have bills coming due or papers that need to be filled out for your child at school. That means it’s time to hit that mountain of paper on the counter and sort it. At the very least, sort it into three categories: 1. Urgent 2. Important. 3. Other. If time allows, tackle the urgent now, and work on the rest when you have more time. If you’re planning on shoving it all out of sight, keep the urgent on top so it doesn’t get lost in the shuffle.
- What’s visible? With guests coming over tonight I need to focus on what they will see, even if it means leaving other things undone. For instance, I washed the big picture window in the living room for the first time this summer, but I’m skipping the dusting because that’s something they won’t notice anyway (unless they’re reading this!)
- What’s
driving you crazy? For
me, it’s the windows, which is why I started there. Taking care of what’s bothering you the
most will help you to feel better about the rest of it.
2.
STOP
- Doing
it alone. Recruit, recruit, recruit! I caught my 23-year-old son passing
through yesterday and recruited him to sweep the floors for me. My children had responsibilities in the
home from an early age. When they’re
young, their work might not be up to your standards, but patience and
perseverance pay off in the long run.
- Doing
it all. If you have time to clean, it makes
sense to take the logical next step, but if you’re in a pinch, let it
go. Normally, I wash my floors
after they’re swept, but thanks to Ryan my floors are looking pretty good. I skipped washing everything but the
bathroom floors, freeing me up to take care of some of the other important
things like sinks and toilets.
- Stressing
out. Unless your house is for sale, it’s you
they’re coming to see.
3.
KEEP
- Your focus on what's truly important. There are 3 things that are eternal:
God, God’s Word, and people. (See In the Scheme of all Eternity) Make
sure those things come first. Don’t
skip spending time with God to do something no one else may notice
anyway.
- Your priorities straight. In the scheme of all eternity, a perfect house is not even a blip on the radar. (Besides, there is no such thing as the perfect house.) See Digging Out or Digging In
I’d
love to hear from you on this new feature.
Let me know if you have any questions you’d like answered or any tips
you’d like to share with others.
Blessings,
Lisa
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These are great tips, Lisa. Your points in #1 make me think of the advice I give - do the easy stuff first. Once you've taken care of that, you find you've made good progress and it gets the momentum going.
Your post reminds me to step back and take in the big picture.
Stopping in from R&R link party - have a blessed weekend!