Probably one of the most hard things to do when you feel like giving up is to keep going but I swear, if you keep going you’ll achieve amazing results especially as it relates to homemaking and organising. Here’s how.
Create a plan
I love a good plan and I love writing these things down. There is scientific proof that hand writing or journaling your thoughts engages your brain and calms your body and nerves. It’s easy to see at a glance what your plan involves instead of having 100 hundred thoughts racing around your head, all needing to be done at once.
Break it down
If your plan is to declutter your whole home, break it down. Break it down room by room and then break it down even further. One shelf, one drawer, under the bed, hanging clothes, accessories etc if you were to start in your bedroom.
Write it down in your plan. This also gives you a good measure of how well you’re doing in achieving your goals and you can see how far you’ve got to go.
Set yourself a small goal
If you’ve been wanting to declutter and get your home organised, it’s so hard to make a start. If you set yourself a smaller goal instead of saying “I want my whole house decluttered”, you are more likely to see results immediately and keep going.
The smaller the goal, the easier it is to get it done and see a result. I find setting a timer for 15 to 30 minutes at a time is a great way to achieve a lot in a short amount of time.
Often our minds stop us from achieving our goals because of the time we think it’s going to take to achieve them. In reality, it doesn’t take that long, especially when your goals are broken down into smaller, more achievable tasks.
There will be setbacks
If I had a dollar for every time I said I was going to wake early and go for a walk first thing in the morning and by the time morning came around, I would be struck down with a cold overnight and not feel like going.
That’s okay. A cold only takes a week at most then you can start again. Don’t ever give up just because of a small setback.
I know what it’s like with children too. You can have all the expectations in the world to start your housework or decluttering and the kids will be sick or be temperamental on that day. Spend the time with the children. They’re small for only a short time. A few things on the floor will never replace that time you get to spend with your children.
Be grateful and remain positive
Something that I’ve noticed for many years and that is the more that I can be grateful for the small things in my life, the more good comes my way.
” Many more studies have examined possible connections between gratitude and various elements of psychological well-being. In general, more grateful people are happier, more satisfied with their lives, less materialistic, and less likely to suffer from burnout. Additionally, some studies have found that gratitude practices, like keeping a “gratitude journal” or writing a letter of gratitude, can increase people’s happiness and overall positive mood. “
Source
Just when you feel like giving up, be grateful. Show gratitude for what you do have. If you’re feeling down about the clutter in your home and you can’t find the motivation to start addressing it, express gratitude for what you can.
That could be a roof over your head, food on your table and family to love. If you continue to express gratitude daily, you will rewire your thought processes to be more positive and it will be easier to make a start and to keep going on your goals.
” When you run a marathon, you run against the distance, not against the other runners and not against the time.” What might seem like an distant goal, remember that it will take as long as it takes but by breaking it down into small manageable tasks is going to help you get over the finish line.
Keep going
Finishing the race will always give you a better result than if you didn’t make a start at all.
