Just Do It
We all know that an object at rest stays at rest unless acted upon by an unbalanced force, according to Newton’s first law of motion. I have so many areas in my life where I know this to be true. Exercise, cleaning, writing and anything I’m procrastinating. It’s just so hard to start when we feel overwhelmed and don’t even know where to begin. That overwhelm causes a paralysis, so the issues just get bigger, making it even more challenging to know where to start. The sad part is that some of the things we put off are tasks that we make out to be much worse than they actually are, or we estimate they’re going to take much longer to accomplish than they actually do.
Unloading the dishwasher is a perfect example. It’s a tedious task that I like to put off, especially the silverware for some reason. In my head, I make it out to be this big chore, but when I actually roll up my sleeves and get to work, it takes less than 5 minutes. That goes for a lot of the chores around my house, laundry, emptying the garbage, cleaning out the fridge and too many tasks to list.
We’ve also all heard Nike’s ingenious slogan, Just Do it. It might seem cliché and over simplified, but it works. And not just with making yourself move your body and exercise. I can use the same slogan with so many things on my to-do list. Truthfully, I love the planning part of projects, the execution can sometimes be daunting. So daunting, that I put things off, which only makes matters worse. For me, I like to wait until I can do things ‘just right’ which we all know that time never comes. In order to get stuff done I need to stop with the excuses and just do it.
The smaller I start, the more likely I am to stick with it- that whole 1% better thing. Rather than researching endlessly for the best hacks to get things done, I need to just get things done. Having a bunch of books on how to organize doesn’t make you organized. Trust me, I’ve tried that path. I love to buy books to find a new system that I can follow better. They all have some great points and strategies, but it really comes down to you just doing the work.
I remember being at the house of another soccer mom that was a little scattered with everything in life, but her house took it to a whole new level. Four kids, a cat and dog and complete chaos. For her, priority was showing her kids love and I totally get that, the house would always be there, but kids grow up and that is SO TRUE. What struck me in all of that, though, was seeing her pile of books on how to get organized. It reminded me that It’s a challenge for most of us, some of us more than others.
There’s a reason FlyLady’s ‘shine your kitchen sink’ works. It’s something small that we all can get done. It’s an easy start and that’s just what we need. It’s the small steps that get us going. Little things with consistency create major results. Figure out what small step you’re going to take today to start your decluttering journey and just make it happen.