The Clutter Fairy Weekly #119
Race Against the Clock: Time Issues and Organizing
To those of us who struggle with clutter, it can feel as if Time itself is our one insurmountable obstacle. As we work to declutter our lives and spaces, we have difficulty balancing and allocating our time—and there’s never quite enough. In episode #119 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, discusses procrastination, estimating time for big projects, budgeting time for maintenance, and other areas where organizing intersects our perception and management of time.
Watch on YouTube
Listen to the Podcast
Click the share button (
) at the bottom right to share the podcast or to subscribe through your favorite podcast platform.
The Weekly Tittle is an exercise designed to focus your attention on a specific space, aspect, or challenge of decluttering and organizing your home. We assign a new tittle in each webcast/podcast, then check on your progress the following week.
Make the Time
This week’s assignment is to evaluate your recurring commitment of time toward either routine decluttering maintenance or longer-term organizing projects:
- Reflect on how much time you typically spend in the average week (or whatever timeframe makes the most sense to you) on your organizing efforts. On which days and at what time(s) do you usually do the work?
- Ask yourself, “Am I moving steadily toward my goals?” If the time you spend feels manageable and appropriate and you’re reaching your targets, you’re right on track. Your tittle assignment for this week is complete!
- If you feel like you’re falling short of your organizing objectives, consider how much more time you would be willing and able to commit. It’s okay to aim high, but don’t shoot for the moon. If you’re spending half an hour a week, try for an hour a week instead.
- Schedule a recurring appointment with yourself to work on either routine decluttering maintenance or a long-term project (or make an appointment for each, if you’re feeling ambitious). Put the appointment into your day planner, calendar app, or whatever system you use for critical events. Schedule your appointments for the next three or four weeks.
- Now here’s the hard part: Hold yourself accountable! Show up ready to work at the designated time. Keep notes or photos to document your accomplishments. When you’ve completed all the dates you scheduled, revisit the plan and schedule another round of appointments.
For the full discussion of this week’s tittle, watch the Weekly Tittle segment on YouTube.
Chat Transcript
Download a transcript of the chat that took place during the live event.
Note: For best results, we suggest you right-click (Windows) or control-click (Mac OS) the link above to download the chat transcript text file, then read it in your text-reader or word-processing app of choice. If you click the link directly, you may get quirky results viewing the text file in your browser.
OK Tittle #119 held me accountable along with my powerful Virtual w/Gayle! We punched a hole in my year=old paper hoard.GOT TO see wood of my desk top! ..then I kept “punching” Now my carport is 1/4 empty along with the van moved to driveway for cleaning and re sale! THANK YOU GAYLE< ED N ALL!…Happy Up coming Memorial Day! Marsh Mellow.