To Keep On Keeping On

"Sometimes thinking too much can destroy your momentum."
  - Tom Watson

Very cool - you got busy and cleared off that desk, or pulled all of the old clothes out of the closet to donate, or dived into the filing cabinet to scan and shred... you put in an entire day and you are amazed and pleased with the results.  Maybe you even hired a professional organizer who helped you to see the light at the end of the tunnel, serving as cheerleader, teacher and occasional tough-love coach.

Now what?

What will motivate you to keep things in a workable system going forward?  Or, if you didn't quite get through all of the piles and stacks (perhaps the more likely scenario), what will see you through to the end of the project?  I've been struggling with this a bit myself as I recently started reorganizing my office.  I once had a client tell me something along the lines of "I'm really not disorganized - I keep my files at work in perfect shape.  I just don't feel like doing the same thing when I get home."  I feel her pain sometimes. 

Anyway, I got through everything except the "To Be Filed" pile, and it's not even really that much to do.  But yet, I procrastinate.   I am torn between wanting to get a consistent scanning system put into place or re-labeling and re-arranging the current paper files.  Or, in my best world, both.  My indecision is related to the whole "what would be more perfect?" thing - and Perfectionism is a best friend of Procrastination.

There's also the "if I start this, then I have to do that" dilemma.  If I get to going through all of the files, then I should probably also go through the latest batch of kids' school stuff, and the scrapbook that I never quite finished for my dad, and the prints that have not been framed, and... (I also call this Putting it Off by Piling it On).

While there are all kinds of reasons for procrastinating on maintenance tasks there are four concrete methods I use to get (and keep) myself going that hopefully might help you too:

1. Setting a timer.  I often use my Phocus app to go for 25 minutes of concentrated effort, followed by 5 minutes of break.  Rinse, repeat.  I am always surprised at how much gets done in 25 minutes.  You don't have to have the app (although there are numerous free options for this kind of productivity timing)  - you just need a reliable timing device.
2. Making the atmosphere as pleasant and workable as possible.  I put on a podcast (music works too of course, but for me personally it's distracting), get the temperature in the space just right, and open up blinds for plenty of light.  I gather everything I need together and have it close by.  Nothing shuts a project down quicker for me than having to leave the space to go get what's needed.
3. Reminding myself over and over, "Good and done is better than none."  I just need to be able to find things quickly when I need them - I don't need for my office to look like a page out of Real Simple (doesn't it just kill you when you see office spaces in magazines and there are no cords in sight?).  While it's nice to see everything looking perfectly neat and attractive, I have to keep my mind on the functionality first.
4. Knowing that freeing my files and other spaces of unneeded and out of date "stuff" opens up the best energy for new opportunities.  I listened to a lecture about Feng Shui principals for organizing where the speaker talked about a person's environment being equal to their current consciousness.  It works both ways - I have to admit that walking into a disorganized workspace makes me feel less than successful.  And it seems like more than coincidence that when I take several boxes of junk out or shred a whole stack of papers, I receive a few inquiries that I wasn't expecting.

And so, as I write this post the final few files are stacked on the floor behind me calling my name.  Time to quit thinking so much, grab a glass of tea, and get the label maker fired up.

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