Adjust Your Zoom Lens to Get Organized

One of the most valuable skills to develop to get and stay organized is the ability to see a macro view as opposed to a micro view.

Step back to get the bigger picture…

Before you start organizing ask yourself questions such as:

• What’s important to me?
• Why am I getting organized in the first place?
• How do I want to feel when this project is done?

During organizing ask:

• In my typical day, how often do I need this?
• What other objects relate to this object I want to put away?
• How does it fit into my regular routine?
• What else is living in the space where this should really live?

Here’s a very simple example to illustrate the concept: There’s a pen laying out on the counter and you want to put it away. Before you just shove it in the first available drawer or pen cup think about it for a second – does the pen work well? If not, toss it. If it works but you don’t like how it writes, does someone else in the family love it? Maybe it should go live where they can find it easily again.

Adjusting your zoom lens out to a wider view provides context and perspective. It’s easy to get lost in the details. Thinking in the bigger picture helps simplify the process of figuring out what to keep and where to put things. Living in this conscious way results in less clutter.