Reap what you Sow! Cultivate Good Habits Now and Harvest an Organized Lifestyle All Year
It’s springtime, and gardeners are sowing seeds for abundant harvests later in the season and throughout the year. Did you know that you can apply the same principles to organizing? We can cultivate good habits now to stay organized more easily throughout the year and long term.
Let’s look at several levels of habits and behavior and what one can expect from each of them when gardening. Then we’ll apply this to organizing!
Do NothingI sow nothing, I reap nothing.
GoodAnything is better than nothing. This is how I tend to garden. I find some dirt and maybe add some compost if I have it. I plant some seeds and try to remember to water them. It’s even less likely that I will fertilize them. I just kind of expect things to grow on their own. It’s nature, right?
What I reap is sometimes nothing, and sometimes a few herbs, spices, greens, or a small vegetable. I’m still delighted because I feel like I grew something, but I wishfully see my neighbors harvesting at least 20 times the produce.
BetterIf I got motivated by my neighbor’s bounty or even encouraged by my own meager pickings, I might spend some time each day taking care of my plants. I would water and fertilize regularly and perhaps spray for pests and amend the soil as well. I’m quite sure I would reap more crops if I did this.
BestGrowing plants would be a top priority. I would study and follow directions. I would sow seeds at the appropriate time and make a significant investment of time tending them as I see my proficient neighbors doing. I would have an amazing composting system and gardening would be a top priority. The abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables would be my reward.
No Let’s Apply This to Organizing Your Entryway
Do NothingNo organizing systems at all! Life would be quite chaotic each time you entered or left the house.
Good You have some systems for cleaning and organizing like a hook or a container near the door for keys that you sometimes use and sometimes forget. Cleaning and organizing would happen when you just can’t stand the mess anymore!
Better You establish storage systems that make sense for all belongings and assign each item a “home”. You create a landing strip inside and outside your main entrance with good lighting, containers, and/or hooks for outdoor apparel, and whatever else you take with you each day.
BestYou not only have the organizing systems, you use the organizing systems. Maintaining them is a top priority. You put everything in its place every time. You know where everything “lives”. If you see an item misplaced, you immediately put it back in its place, even when you are tired. You don’t let storage become overcrowded with last season’s belongings.
Consistent behavior in conjunction with efficient infrastructure is what allows you to cultivate an optimized lifestyle. Happy Spring and Happy Organizing!
Founded in 2009, Ideal Organizing + Design offers professional services in Downsizing, Move Management, Home Organizing, Personal Business Organizing, Office Organizing, Product Services and Interior Space Planning and Styling. Our team of talented and dedicated experts has decades of experience helping countless clients to love their spaces and lifestyles again.
