It’s that time of year, again, time for New Year’s resolutions. In a study conducted by the University of Scranton, published in the Journal of Clinical Psychology, the top 5 New Year’s Resolutions of 2015 were Losing Weight, Getting Organized, Spending Less & Saving More, Enjoying Life to the Fullest and Staying Fit.
Being organized can have a large impact on our everyday life. At work, “43% of Americans categorize themselves as disorganized, and 21% have missed vital work deadlines. Nearly half say disorganization causes them to work late at least 2 or times each week”, as summarized by Key Organization Systems. At home, according to Smead, “Disorganization is an insidious drain on your wallet”. And that doesn’t count the time wasted trying to find your keys. According to a British study people lose, on average, 10 minutes every day looking for things they’ve misplaced. That may not sound like much, but it adds up to 153 days of our lives, on average. And since time is something that you can never get back, you will see a clear improvement in your life by being more organized.
The top organization resolutions that are made each year by individuals and companies include:
- Downsizing: For every item that arrives, 3 things should go away.
- Labelling: Label all your boxes and bags before they go into storage. This is key to staying organized.
- Neat and Clean Area: When you are organized and neat, cleaning will be quick and easy. Clutter is what makes the job difficult and time consuming. Start each day with 15 minutes making progress towards a clean and organized environment.
The sad news is that making a New Year’s Resolution to be organized doesn’t help most people. In that University of Scranton study it was found that 45% of Americans usually make New Year’s resolutions, but only 8% of them are successful in keeping their resolutions. This is where calling for help is better than giving up on self improvement. A Professional Organizer can help you get organized and develop systems that help you to maintain that organization.