Try this if you hate sorting papers, decluttering, and making decisions
I hate this! {declared my client}
Excuse me? This is NOT something I want to hear while organizing with a client.
I saw she was overwhelmed, annoyed and frustrated about the boxes of memorabilia, mostly papers, we discovered. It felt like an impossible feat for her to sort it all out.
She wanted to quit because there were too many decisions to make.
I told her to take a deep breath, and pick up one piece of paper, decide if she’ll keep or toss it. Repeat.
She still wasn’t lovin’ it. I told her that it’s okay to hate the process. No one likes sorting papers–well except for me. Especially if they aren’t my papers.
I encouraged and supported her, I was her personal cheerleader. I KNEW she could do it.
SHE DIDN’T give up. See, I was right!
She got to the bottom of the box. And emptying a box felt satisfying, to say the least. We celebrated her persistence with a high five. Then she surprised me and herself by willingly choosing to sort out another box of mixed up stuff and papers, a.k.a. awfulness.
By the end of our session, she had sorted out 2 boxes and felt empowered and motivated to continue, all with a see-what-I-just-accomplished-smile.
YOU can feel hopeful too. When you want to give up, take ONE deep breath and make ONE decision about ONE item at a time. Let’s call it the 1-1-1 RULE to push through.
