Organizing Goals and Habits

Have you read the book Atomic Habits by James Clear? It is wildly popular and continues to be a bestselling book since its introduction in 2018. I recently got around to reading it myself after hearing so much about it in numerous circles, both professional and personal.

The premise of the book is that tiny changes yield remarkable results and it offers ‘an easy and proven way to build good habits and break bad ones’. It is a very easy and quick read. The tone is conversational and explanations about the ‘how’ of habits makes sense. I was pleased to learn that I have been practicing some of the methods for some time now. But this is not a book review.

In the early pages, a few phrases struck me as so relatable to organizing. We organizers often ask clients to name their goals at the beginning of any project. We then put a plan together to help achieve those goals. The plan always includes creating the system to support how to arrive at the goal. And it must include maintenance to ensure that it remains workable.

 Mr. Clear suggests forgetting about setting goals and going straight to focusing on the systems instead, because once you’ve achieved your goal, then what? He notes that while we tend to focus on the result, what we really need to do is change or create the systems that cause the result. It was very interesting to see that he used a messy room as the backdrop to explain. It is so true with decluttering and organizing a home, a room, or any space, that without the system and maintenance, a decluttered room will remain so for a while. Then, you will find yourself right back to square one in a cluttered room. 

While I get what he’s saying, I still believe in setting goals. In home organizing projects, they often come in the form of envisioning an area and how you want to feel there. How do you want the space to work for you? I also wholeheartedly agree that systems and maintenance are the backbones of any organizing project and the means to reach your goals. 

A Plan for your SPACE

Creating systems and supporting habits prompted me to think about another book, Organizing from the Inside Out. Authored by pioneering organizing maven Julie Morgenstern, it also outlines a foolproof system to organize your home. Known by the acronym SPACE, it's a simple and effective method that provides a blueprint for organizing any area and keeping it that way.

Sort: group similar items together

Purge: discard anything not important to you

Assign a home: where the item will be permanently stored

Contain: select appropriate size and style containers

Equalize: evaluate and maintain

Within the pages of these books, an important message is shared: Whether creating a habit or breaking one, or keeping a home organized, it is a continuous process. Incremental changes add up to big changes over the long term and systems are necessary elements within the process. Understanding how habits and systems are created and practicing them leads to mastery. These are skills that anyone can learn. 

What goals do you have for an organized home, and which habits will be needed to achieve those goals? Let me know how it goes.