Simplifying A-Z: A-Accept
So begins my alphabet of organizing! I am going to teach you how to simplify your life one letter at a time! This will be fun(I promise)!!
A – Accept
Before you can do anything about your clutter, you have to acknowledge it and accept the fact that it’s a problem and needs to be dealt with. Without this first step, you won’t get very far. If you walk around your home and there are piles of things everywhere and you’re not sure why you’re unhappy all the time, accepting that it may be the clutter in your space can help turn things around.
Accepting help is the next step. I have had people call and tell me how much they need my services and even go as far as setting up and initial consultation, only to cancel right before the consultation because they can’t fully accept that they need help. When they cancel, it’s always with another time to reschedule, but they end up canceling the reschedule date as well. This cycle continues for several rounds until they can honestly accept the help.
I had a client who came to me for help organizing her home office. She said her daughter tried to help her, but it didn’t go very far because it led to a fight and her daughter yelled at her. This is a very familiar scenario! You’re ready to accept some help and turn to your family/friends first. This is very logical, but usually ends up backfiring, as in the case of this client. When she came to me she was a bit skeptical, because her daughters help left her feeling very disappointed and nowhere closer to organized. She asked me how working with me would be different, so I made her a promise that I wouldn’t yell at her (I didn’t mention that don’t yell at any of my clients), which put her at ease right away. We were successful and everyone walked away happy (including the daughter, who was relieved not to have to do any more organizing).
Accepting your limitations in all things actually helps to accomplish those things. Not everyone is good at everything and sometimes you have to ask for help! I have a brilliant client who’s a doctor, but she constantly marvels at my ability to see things in a way she can’t see them. I tell her that everyone has their skills and talents. I couldn’t do what she does and she can’t do what I do, which keeps us both in business!
Accept that you may have an issue with clutter!
Accept help from others to organize the clutter!
Accept your limitations in dealing with the clutter!