18 Slacker Organizing Tips That Make It Easy!

Let’s face it, many people dislike getting organized at all. In fact, for many it’s overwhelming. This post provides easy to implement organizing tips specially designed for slackers. These simple solutions can kick start your organizing efforts, even if you’re a slacker. If you’re truly dissatisfied due to disorganization, following these tips will make it easier.

“I’m too busy,”  “I’m overwhelmed”, “I can’t afford a Professional Organizer,” “It’ll never change, I can’t do it!” —

Whatever your excuse for being a slacker is it boils down to one thing.  A disorganized mess is usually due to some variation of: “I’m not doing anything about my messy space right now”.

Check it out…

What do you complain about most often?

Your health, eating too much, your weight, your partner, no free time?

Whatever your complaint – state it out loud.

Now, ask yourself “What am I doing currently about this complaint now?”

What’s your answer?

If you’re doing nothing now, consider taking action. When you do, it will begin to shift this self-perception.

In other words, you’re really dissatisfied with life right now, and you have a sense that it’s due to disorganization these slacker organizing tips are simple solutions and ideas you can implement today.

Slackers, Get Real & Feel

One of the first slacker organizing tips that will help you induce change is to stop running away from your mess. Instead, try to actually lean into your mess. This will allow you to feel your negative feelings.

You see, dissatisfaction is a powerful motivator. It comes from getting real and doing a reality check.  So the first slacker organizing tip is really easy. All you need to do is a reality check.

Claim Your Mess!

The second really simple slacker organizing tip is to claim your mess. By standing in your mess, and saying ‘This is my mess, and I need to do something about it” you’re claiming it.

If you never name a problem, you can ignore it. If you never claim that you’re responsible, you really can avoid making a change. You can stay unconsciously unaware of what’s going on in your life. However, when you name a problem, you actually do claim it.

Claiming your disorganized situation boldly to yourself and others makes it real. Once it’s real – you can move toward accepting what is so. Once you do, it will help you get motivated to do something about it.

Ditch Dissatisfaction

Let’s face it. You are more motivated to STOP the things that dissatisfy us before we pursue more of what we like. Your level of pain, dislike, and disgust will more quickly drive you to shift and take action than being satisfied. When it’s more painful to keep things as they are, you move into action. As soon as the pain outweighs the benefits of doing nothing, you’ll do something.

So, if you’re a slacker you need simple solutions and ideas when it comes to getting your space and systems working. And even if you’re not a self-proclaimed slacker, these simple realistic tips can help the slacker in all of us, get started, and get organized.

Paper Bag Drop

Put a sturdy paper bag in your closet labeled “Outgoing”, “Donate”, “Too Small”.

Whatever words motivate you, label the bag, and then use it! If you try something on and it doesn’t work – toss it in the bag. When the bag fills up put it immediately in your car. These immediate actions will help you move forward.

Make a Habit Goal

Instead of focusing on your disorganized space and the overwhelm, focus on habits and behaviors you’ll put in place to get organized. Create a  “behavioral goal” that is already established as a “best practice” or “winning behavior”. Here’s an example of a winning organizing approach, “I’ll put items back after I use them” or, “I’ll sort the mail BEFORE I put it down“. These are what I consider “behavior goals” or  “outcome goals.”

A clear goal helps you take baby steps forward. A behavioral goal is something actionable you can do right now (and tomorrow, and the next day, and next week).  You can’t lose 10 pounds tomorrow, but you can get up and go on a walk for 20 minutes today, tomorrow and next week. Each time you do, you’re demonstrating success – and action toward your goal.

Start Small

If you’re organizing after a long period of inaction, start small. DO NOT bite off more than you can chew. Instead of overcommitting yourself, or jumping in too far and never finding your way out, start small. Find an organizing project that is small.

For example, start with a drawer or a SECTION of a room.  One thing to remember though: the smaller the items you’re organizing, the LONGER it generally takes. (This may be opposite from what you’d think, but a stack of papers can take much longer than a kitchen counter for instance.)  Practical, doable and, most importantly, something you know you will complete in one sitting is a great way to keep your energy positive and stay motivated to do more.

Schedule Time To Organize

Schedule organizing time regularly. Pencil “10 Minute Tidy Tuneups” into your day so you can anticipate and look forward to this brief break in your busy life. Make sure you set the timer, and stop organizing when it rings. It will turn into a game and be really fun.  Better yet, try to reframe this as a “distraction-free” respite. In other words, set a date with yourself to meet your goals.

Use What You Already Have!

If you’re not ready to “invest” in new stuff to get the job done, NO problem!  It really doesn’t take much to get organized.  If you struggle with organizing you probably have many more containers, bins, boxes, barrels, and baskets than you ever need.

Don’t wait, They’re missing the first steps, planning, and decision making that comes before the containers.  When you decide to get started – that is the beginning… DECIDING. Use items you have on hand to ‘containerize’ and keep organizing affordable. Many a cardboard box, plastic food tray, or packaging good have been repurposed in my house! Figure out what you’re trying to organize first, and the right size container will show up.

Don’t Buy Anything (Yet)

Picture if you will – The classic disorganized person’s plight as they ponder all the organizing and storage items available at their average big box store. After 20 minutes of staring blankly at all their options, they fill their cart with lucite trays, baskets, bins, wall-mounts, drawer sorters, and any options they can find in a desperate effort to finally get organized! But listen up! Products don’t solve organizing problems. Figuring out what the problem is and then figuring out a good solution is the only way to break free and move forward.

Slackers Really Need To Write It Down

Even slackers need to remember things. There’s no doubt that writing things down helps you remember. Also, there is a chemical shift in your brain when you write something down. In fact, if you’re over the age of 25, it’s likely that you learned by writing. That means that your brain actually works better for you when you write.

So, when you take this step out, your brain does not record or remember efficiently. Writing creates a physical action and a visual path for your brain to remember too!  Speaking and writing out your goals makes them more “real” than when they live in your head. Writing it down helps you get up and get moving on your projects.

Create A NOT List

A “NOT” List is what I refer to is a negative criterion. How does it work? Instead of listing everything you need TO DO, instead articulate everything you need to STOP DOING. This is a simple technique to help you recognize and hold your boundaries. I use it often with clients who are wide open to possibilities and struggle with finding limits and boundaries. For those who struggle with decision-making, it’s often easier to articulate what they don’t want prior to making decisions.

Recently I was helping a client purge her wardrobe, and she was stuck with all the “shoulds” she had in her thoughts. Her shoulds were making her keep EVERYTHING in her closet. She never let things go. Instead of focusing on possibilities, I asked her to focus on what she didn’t want. Her list exploded: clothing that’s dated, not flattering, not my colors, stained,  more than 2 years old, too revealing… suddenly we had criterion to help her let go of things. It was magical. Focusing on what you DON’T want is often easier and more specific than trying to find out what you do want.

Set Up an External Support Network

Another slacker organizing tip is DO NOT go at it alone. Working in isolation is one of the fastest ways to sabotage your efforts. Find other people who are like you, that don’t like to organize alone.  It motivates you, it inspires you and it helps you to come back to finish when you have a partner there to accompany you along the way and to cheer for you at the finish line! Committing to a support system helps you feel accountable, and the sense of community of like-minded people will provide motivation when it’s hard to find your own.

Vary Your Approach

My Flowmaster friend, author, and coach, Sunny Schlenger taught me this by living it. To manage her energy levels, she listens to herself and her own cues and takes breaks whenever she feels tension.  Some people identify as slackers, instead, they really struggle with organizing because the process bores them out of their minds.

Get Moving

If you’re a slacker, instead of fighting boredom, get moving. Use your boredom productively. When you’re bored get out of your chair and move around. You need to take breaks. Set a timer for short bursts of time, and work in small segments so that you can reset, get a drink, walk around and stay fresh. Your body rewards activity and exercise by releasing Adrenaline, dopamine, and other endorphins. Those are the feel-good hormones, so movement is an extremely important component.

Slacker Organizing Toolbox

Doing Something Is Better Than Nothing

This slacker organizing tip is simple – Positive behavior creates more positive behavior. A reward feels good and refreshes your energy. The bonus payoff is that doing so makes it easier to keep going. Muster your effort to take the first step. It is the hardest because until you take the first step, you’re stuck alone in your head. Circulating thoughts feed that ‘monster in your head’ that keeps you stuck and miserable. Once you take the first step, it makes it easier the next day to do it again. Build on your positive organizing success and keep going.

Set Goals, Meet Them, Repeat!

Set an organizing goal daily for one week. Meet your daily goals. Then set a week’s more. Once you’ve repeated 3 weeks, you should already have made a big bite into things and see the fruits of your labor.

Take It Easy