Flick The Switch From Procrastination To Action

Do you beat yourself up for not being better organized?

Tell yourself off for poor time management?

Self-flagellate over household clutter?

It’s time to step away from the whip.

There’s a better way to motivate yourself to do the things you wish you did more of…

Shoulds And Procrastination

Few of us rush headlong toward the things we ought to do. 

‘I really should’ just isn’t a great motivator.

If it were, the diet industry would collapse overnight under a stampede to the salad bar.

Instead of thinking about your goals to declutter and simplify as the organizing equivalent of steamed vegetables, try de-shouldifying them.

By removing the nagging must, you also quiet the childish resistance. Resistance that looks a lot like procrastination.

When you stop berating yourself about what you should do, you liberate other stuff:

1. Motivation
2. Energy
3. Momentum.

You flick the switch from procrastination to action. You outsmart your self-sabotage.

Here’s how it works…

1. You Discover What You Want To Organize

When you silence the I-should-clean-out-the-garage-perfectly-in-one-exhausting-afternoon-and-get-totally-filthy voice, you hear the You-know-I’d-really-like-to-organize-my-shoes/files/confetti-collection whisper.

Wanting to organize – now that is motivating! No nagging required.

‘I really should’ just isn’t a great motivator.

2. You Free Up Energy – And Actually Get Stuff Done

Procrastinating requires you to split your energy between the shrewish nag (You should do it now!) and the passive-aggressive avoider (I’ll do it later…mutter, mutter).

It’s exhausting!

Stop fighting yourself and you can release that wasted energy to do actual, productive tasks.

Sure, you may only feel like doing simple or fun organizing tasks at first. But that’s just fine, because…

3. You Use Little Victories To Build Momentum

Once you organize something you want to organize, you get a taste for it.

Quite simply, doing anything that brings you a positive outcome – neat shoes, tidy files, um, organized confetti – makes you feel great.

Confident, proud, light, pleased with yourself.

And you’ll want more of that!

So you’ll quite naturally move on to another project for your next organizing high. And – as long as you stay away from shoulds – the one after that.

Will You Try It?

If you’re stroking your chin dubiously, I understand. You have to try this for yourself and see if it works.

Simply look for an organizing task you’d like to do. Shoes, music, photographs are all good places to start.

But as soon as you hear a should scratching about (I really should put those shoes in color-coded boxes with typed labels) look for a want instead (I’d love to hand-write multi-colored labels).

Let me know what happens!

Note: A version of this article originally appeared in the Get Organized Wizard newsletter.