Do you struggle with procrastination? If so you may be wondering how to stop procrastinating in your home? After all, procrastination is one of the root causes of clutter in our homes.
Your home matters. Having a place you go to relieve the stresses of the day, put on some comfy clothes, and relax is everything! But if you walk through your door and feel that your to-do list just got a mile long because what you see is the clutter and messes, then you’ve just added more stress to your day.
Because your environment directly impacts how you feel, decluttering your space, and implementing some easy home organization ideas is a must. But it takes some proactive measures to reap the benefits a decluttered and organized home.
If you’ve been procrastinating putting things away when you’re done using them, thinking I’ll do it “later”. Or if you’ve been procrastinating on decluttering a space that feels overwhelmingly cluttered, it’s time to finally stop procrastinating in your home once and for all! Here are seven ideas, that will work if you do them!!
What Is Procrastination?
Before we get into how to stop procrastinating in your home, you need to be clear on what procrastination is. To be clear –procrastination is not the same as laziness!
Sometimes our homes have too much clutter or are messy because we’re lazy. We are making the choice to sit and do nothing, like watch TV, over washing the dinner dishes or throwing in that load of laundry. Laziness is more along the lines of inactivity.
On the other hand, procrastination is delaying or postponing something. It involves putting off an unpleasant task in favor of something that is more enjoyable.
Usually, when we procrastinate, it’s because we’re trying to avoid something uncomfortable or stressful that we associate with the task. Not because we’re being lazy!
Now that we’re clear on what procrastination is, it’s important to look at why we procrastinate if we’re going to overcome it.
Why Are You Procrastinating?
Why Are You Procrastinating?There are many reasons why you might be procrastinating in your home. It’s impossible to cover all of the reasons, so let’s look at some of the most common.
Are you overwhelmed?
If you’ve been procrastinating in your home for a while, I have no doubt you’re feeling overwhelmed. Procrastinating because we are overwhelmed is often a vicious cycle. We put things off because we’re overwhelmed, the more we put things off, the more overwhelmed we become, the more we procrastinate.
We become more overwhelmed the more we procrastinate when we could be doing simple tasks that would only take a moment and eliminate the overwhelm.
Are you disorganized and don’t know how to get started?
You are far more likely to procrastinate when you’re not sure what you should be doing. You know you need to declutter and organize your home, but that is a huge task. Where do you start decluttering? How do you identify your clutter? How do you find the time to declutter? What do you do with all the clutter?
Having a large vague or undefined task rather than a clearly defined plan leads to procrastination
Are You a perfectionist?
Perfectionism can lead to procrastination in a number of ways. You may be afraid of doing something wrong. You worry about decluttering the wrong items so you take no action at all. Or maybe your budget prevents you from having the decor you want so you do nothing.
While it’s a good thing to want your home to look beautiful and be functional, the problem arises when perfectionists aim for unattainable flawlessness. Your home is not a show palace, it’s the place you live and it’s going to get messy.
Are the decisions necessary to declutter your home too hard?
When you have to deal with too many choices and don’t know what to do, it’s easier to avoid them altogether. Often we fear failing at the task or making the “wrong” decision. The result is we sit in neutral and do nothing or we choose something easy instead of focusing on one decision at a time.
Whatever the reason, determine exactly why you’re putting off decluttering and other tasks in your home.
Once you have a clear understanding of why you keep procrastinating, you’ll be able to determine which solution is best to help you stop procrastinating in your home.
Which brings us to the question of why does it even matter, why go through all this work?
Why Does It Matter?
Why Does It Matter?As I said above, and it bears repeating here, your environment affects how you feel! If your home is a chaotic and cluttered mess, I can pretty much guarantee you your life is not doing much better.
Because your home matters recognizing how much procrastination contributes to the clutter in your home is an important part of stopping procrastination.
How often do you say to yourself:
- I’ll do it tomorrow
- I might need that at some point
- I’m to lose that 10 pounds and fit into those pants
- I’m not motivated
- t won’t make a difference anyway
- I don’t know where to start
All of these manners of procrastinating keep the clutter piles going strong. Your home is no longer a place of refuge and peace from a crazy and stressful world. Instead, it increases stress, the opposite of what you want.
When you get your home under control, everything else falls into place. You have a place to refresh and rejuvenate. This brings clarity of thought which is key to simplifying your entire life!
How To Finally Stop Procrastinating In Your Home
How To Finally Stop Procrastinating In Your HomeI know how tempting it can be to want to procrastinate when your home requires a major clean-out and clean-up. But the thing is, procrastination never works in the long run.
The good news is, you really can end the procrastination cycle with a simple step forward. That one step can help create the momentum to finally make significant progress.
So how do you take that step to overcome procrastinating in your home and finally get that clutter under control? Here are 7 solutions that will get you to stop procrastinating once and for all!
Make A Plan
The very idea of having to tackle a huge home decluttering or organizing project is itself overwhelming. One of the best ways to make it more manageable is by starting with a plan. You’re going to take those big tasks and make a plan where you break the task down into bite-size small chunks.
Let’s say you need to get the kitchen decluttered and organized. Instead of trying to do it all at once, you’ll write out the specific things you need to do. For example, minimize the dishes, go through the small appliances, clean out the bottom row of cupboards, clear out the top row of cupboards, work on the pantry, etc. You can of course break each of these tasks down into even smaller tasks.
As you go through your kitchen write out each and every task. I know that list is going to look overwhelming. However, for the next step, start transferring all those tasks to various appointment slots on your calendar as you would any other appointment.
Come up with a plan where you only have to do 1-2 tasks a day. Making a clear plan of small steps will add up big time and before you know it, you’ll see major transformations.
Do Quick Tasks Right Away
When looking at how to stop procrastinating in your home, there’s an element of learning to form new habits. One of the best habits you can have is learning to do little tasks that take 5 minutes or less right away.
Fight the urge to procrastinate by putting things away as soon as you are done using them, it will only take you moments to complete.
You really can declutter a room 5 minutes at a time. Instead of tossing the mail on a flat surface, sort through it right away. Take those pants you don’t feel great in and place them in a donation box. When you come across an item in a drawer you know you don’t need, don’t put it back! Toss it out then and there.
You get the idea. You’ll be amazed at how much you can accomplish in 5 minutes.
Focus On The Task At Hand
Decluttering, organizing, or cleaning your home isn’t always fun. When working on any of these tasks it’s tempting to let every little thing distract you.
To make sure you stop procrastinating in your home, focus on the task you are working on! If you’re multitasking, stop, it’s the worst thing you can do. Put aside all other possible distractions until you are done.
It’s helpful to set a timer with a pre-determined amount of time you’re going to devote to the task. Whether it’s 5, 15, or 30 minutes or even an hour. Before you start, set the timer on your phone. This helps keep your focus on the task because you know when the timer goes off you are free to do all those other things!
Create Routines For Your Home
I don’t think I need to remind you that procrastinating in your home is a bad habit. The truth is you’ve probably been practicing this habit for years. Well — we all know how hard it can be to break habits.
However, by creating a few simple routines you’ll never feel the pressure of procrastinating again!
Morning and evening routines in our house are life-savers. My evening routine is what focuses on my home. I have a 15-minute pick-up where everything gets put away so the morning starts fresh.
Having a cleaning routine has been another life safer. My cleaning routine is so simple, I focus on one room each day of the week to keep things from becoming overwhelming. You can then add a decluttering task to the room you are cleaning that day. This way even if you can’t get to everything you’ll still know what your focus is for the next day.
Use The Tools You Have
Here is a hard truth, you’ll never stop procrastinating in your home if you don’t use the tools you have. What I mean here is you need to consistently apply what you’ve already learned.
We’ve talked about creating plans and schedules, setting alarms, building habits, and creating routines. Even 5 minutes of daily decluttering will make a tremendous impact. But you must commit to doing each of these things!
Take A Break
While yes, you have to do the work in order to see the results, sometimes the best thing you can do to stop procrastinating in your home is to take a little breather.
The last thing you want to do is overwhelm yourself. If you’ve been going all out, trying your absolute hardest you’re probably in need of a breather.
Energy and motivation need to be replenished. So take some time (two hours, a day, a week) and completely distance yourself from the decluttering or other home projects you are working on.
Do something fun, go out for lunch somewhere new. Go on a hike, or get outdoors. Take a weekend away and read things that have absolutely nothing to do with what you’re working on. Even just sitting and watching a fun mindless movie can do wonders.
Once you’ve relaxed and rejuvenated you’ll be re-energized and ready to get back to work!
Be Creative
After all the hard work you are doing to stop procrastinating in your home, take some time to appreciate it and do something creative for your home.
I love to decorate or work on little DIY decor projects. When you fix up an area of your home that you’ve been working hard on it helps keep up your motivation to stay on top of things.
If you’re not the creative type, purchase some new bedding for your bedroom and treat yourself for all your decluttering efforts. Or pick up a new plant or a beautifully scented candle.
Whatever it is that would reward you for all your hard work, do it!
We all know how beneficial and desirable a clutter-free home can be. Decluttering your home and your life can provide balance, peace, happiness, health, and freedom.
So instead of putting off your clutter until tomorrow, beginning today, try one of the suggestions we’ve talked about! Whether it’s coming up with a plan and schedule, creating routines, or staying on top of those quick tasks you’ll be glad you did it!
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