The Clutter Fairy Weekly #172
Tick, Tock: Set Realistic Time Expectations for Organizing Projects
For those who’ve made the decision to declutter and get organized, time can be a source of confusion and frustration. There’s the time you want the job to take, the time you expect the job to take, and the time the job really takes—and those figures often have nothing to do with each other! In episode #172 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, explores the complexities of estimating and allocating time for organizing work and suggests ways to set realistic time expectations.
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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.
Only a Matter of Time
This week’s assignment is to examine a project through the filter of the various factors that complicate organizing work:
- Select a space, category of stuff, or collection that you’d like to declutter and/or organize.
- Jot down a rough-guess estimate of the time that the project will require (e.g., two 90-minute sessions).
- Now think about each of the following questions with respect to the project in question, and make a note of any complications might affect the time your project will require:
- How densely packed is the space?
- Can you walk around in the space, or is movement restricted?
- If movement is restricted, is there a space nearby where you can process items more comfortably?
- Is the space completely chaotic, or is there some sorting of the contents already?
- Are there a lot of small objects, or mostly larger items?
- Does the space contain a lot of similar items, or are the objects mostly dissimilar?
- Will you need to use the space every day while you’re working, or is it a space you can leave alone between work sessions?
- Is there any amount of paper clutter in the space, of any type?
- Are the contents of the space very sentimental to you? Are you going to find making choices particularly emotional or difficult?
- What is your stamina for this kind of work?
- Now revisit your initial estimate. Does it still seem about right, or do you need to adjust the time you’re allotting?
- When you’re ready to work on the project, keep track of the time you spend, then compare time spent on the completed project to your estimate.
This process will hone your skills at judging and estimating future projects. We’re not going for pinpoint accuracy—just trying to help you set realistic expectations of the time organizing projects take. The more realistic you are, the less discouraged you’ll become and the more you’ll be able to enjoy your progress!
For the full discussion of this week’s tittle, watch the Weekly Tittle segment on YouTube.
Tittle #172 TickTock…
Bought 2 hand wind timers> One stays on my fridge door and One I carry with me. My decisional stamina struggled with time limits above 30 minutes at one time OR more than 3 sessions x 30 minutes each in any one day. When I hit a pile of forgotten papers/pictures’ of my former Loves’ and Loss’, my emotions would just take over. With this powerful Tittle, I’ve now been able to freely re-negotiate the few minutes needed as I begin, listening to my inner self/needs: even to maybe just leaving some stuff alone. Restart my timer as I complete another area. OR just go eat ice cream. Rest until I feel stronger for…Physically AND Emotionally,
… I am the only one responsible for my mess’.
I’ve started to realistically reframe the actual time or timing for each pile/project which has begun to lessen my discouragement as I’m witnessing my good progress. I’m now creating clutter-free pathways as I begin to feel/see clearly my relationships with these multiple levels of my “stuff”. Simply honing IN that I alone “Own” setting the timer! I am finding a new commitment with renewed energy as I continue processing the many piles of my hand-held treasures, somewhat sorted items too my larger items i.e. two (2) portable dishwashers. Duh!
Thank You Gayle. Thank You Ed. Thank You @ all Clutter Fairy.
Marsh…