January 2022 appears to be starting out just like January of 2021 and that might have you feeling down. Yet another Covid related new year has begun but let’s face it, if we are being honest – doesn’t January almost always start the same way?
We vow to do things like get fit, get organized and perhaps even attempt to organize our financial files! The only thing we’ve added to the list these past three years is to also avoid getting sick. Again, while not making light of what’s been an extremely difficult time for all of us, I’d venture to say that most of us also start out every new year with a commitment to staying healthy.
So if you look at the dilemma of getting organized and NOT getting omicron from this revised perspective – the challenges may not seem so daunting.
At thE Concierge, we can help.
The hard truth about “Getting Organized.”
Many folks rush out soon after the holidays, purchase a bunch of plastic totes with lids and return home ready to tackle the task of getting organized. Then, they begin to look around the house and at what needs to be done and quickly become overwhelmed. Where to start? Where to store all these big, bulky boxes? On and on the questions go until you abandon the project altogether and “get fit” be darned, you pour yourself a glass of wine instead! Add in the worries about shopping and exposure to Omicron and you may decide this isn’t the year to get organized after all! Here are some of our top tips for starting the process.
Your list of “To Do’s” Includes:
PLAN, plan, plan! Take a good, hard look around your house with a pen and paper in hand. What bothers you? Is there too much clutter? Is it the linen closet that’s driving you crazy or the basement that is a disaster? If it’s all three, your next step is to…..
PRIORITIZE! Deal with the items in your home in order of what will bring you the most joy immediately. Quick wins will encourage you to keep going and have an immediate impact on your psyche. Research tells us that stress increases cortisol and that clutter causes stress. We spend time looking for items, we waste time cleaning around excess household items and this (again according to research) leads to irritability and even things like being late for work or school! Decluttering your home simplifies your life.
Have Patience! Take just one step at a time. One project is doable, three projects at the same time is not! You have the entire year ahead of you. It’s unreasonable to expect your organization project to be done in one weekend when it’s often taken you a lifetime to accumulate belongings. Be gentle with yourself and be patient!
Start! You STILL don’t need those storage boxes. Start with some basic cardboard boxes you can source from just about anywhere, for free, and then start the process. Your boxes should be labelled simply; Keep, Donate and Trash. If you need extra time or have difficulty making decisions, consider a fourth box labelled “maybe,” for those items you’re just not sure you’re ready to part with. Let’s assume you started with your closet. Once your boxes are full, then you can set about the process of actually organizing your available space, hanging clothes, folding sweaters and returning items to your shelves. Now you can do a re-assessment and make decisions about whether you even need storage boxes and if so, how many.
Helpful hint: The one purchase you might want to make is hangers. Using the same hanger style will actually increase your storage space and make clothing easier to access and store!
Once you’ve completed one project, you’ll be motivated to move on to the next knowing how good it makes you feel. If it all seems a little overwhelming however, that’s where we come in.
At thE Concierge, we take both the planning AND the doing off your hands. We’re the experts at task completion whether the task is organization, grocery shopping, helping your small business to sort, file and archive important papers or simply running errands that you don’t want to do because of time constraints or concerns about Omicron. Perhaps you have a vulnerable family member and need to be extra cautious OR you are currently isolating and need some help!
Whether it’s a non-contact delivery to your front door step, helping an elderly family member on your behalf because you can’t or in this post holiday time you have a long list of returns to complete – we can help!
Servicing Dufferin, Halton, Peel, Wellington and the surrounding areas you can book our services with a simple call, text or email.
Whatever your family or business needs this January – from avoiding omicron, helping you to cope with omicron OR to get organized,
thE Concierge is your personal partner committed to your success!
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