It’s a new year and many of us are ready to set some goals, commit to some awesome new years resolutions or at least get moving on those to do lists. If you are like me, sometimes those action items and lists can get overwhelming. Why not use SPACE, an acronym that defines the general process for any organizing project, to de-clutter and energize your goals and action items.
Virtually every organizing effort follows the same general “How To” to get things in organized:
Sort – Sort everything into categories.
Purge – Eliminate to only what is active and serves you.
Assign a Space – Consider priority and accessibility.
Containerize – Get containers if needed.
Energize – See how it works and tweak.
This will work for all your action items, to do lists, goals, projects, shopping lists and the like. Read this through before you begin. You can also check out this blog for a primer on S.P.A.C.E.
Sort – Bring together every note, every entry, every list. All of it. When you sort action items, the sort categories will be:
- Goals – long term endeavors, like “travel more”, “start a yoga practice”, or “get organized” 😉
- Action items – short term efforts like “hang art piece”, “fix bathroom cabinet door”, “schedule Dr. appt.”
- Shopping lists
- Project – write a book
- Project – Remodel the bathroom.
You may want each category in the same form for this work. So if most of your goals are in electronic format, you will want to enter hand-written goals into that same e-list. Organizing action items will be an effort of re-typing or re-writing these lists. Use a notebook, or other tangible if that’s what works for you. You can even put each entry onto a sticky note on the wall and resort and reprioritize them visually. Or use a big white board and different color pens.
Purge – Once you sort, you edit or purge your stuff. With this effort, you eliminate items from your lists. Really look at these lists and ask yourself the same questions you ask about stuff for each item: Does it serve me? Is it useful? Does it bring me joy? Be brutal to be kind. The more you eliminate, the shorter the lists! The more attainable the goals.
Pay special attention to items that have been on your list for years. It may be time to take it off the list or modify the goal to one that makes more sense. If it’s been a goal for years, do you really want to build a chicken coop? Maybe tweak the goal and turn it into an action item so now it reads “google search ready made chicken coops”. Or, do you really love yoga? If the goal is to get in shape, will hiking or walking be a preferred choice?
You can also break down goals, project or action items so they are not so daunting or to energize them. If you are serious about building that chicken coop, figure out the first step, and put that on your action item list. Now, instead of the daunting goal of “build chicken coop”, it’s a simple action item to “call bro’ in law to get the YouTube link he used for chicken coop” which is approachable and will launch action towards the goal.
Here is also where you prioritize, putting things in order of importance. I’ll say again here, if it doesn’t serve fabulous you, don’t push it down the list. Cross it off. Keep it on ONLY if it’s meaningful, realistic, important and joyful.
Assign a Space – At this organizing stage, you consider how items are used, how often, and accessibility in assigning a space. The “space” you assign in this effort is an electronic list, a paper list or both. Goals and resolutions would be reviewed less frequently, and may need to be printable to post. Action items need to be easily accessible on a daily basis. Pay attention to what has and has not worked to inform this decision. Obviously, storing things digitally on your computer or phone is ideal because it’s tiny, vs. paper, but if you are not inclined to go to your phone get the lists, or it isn’t easy or enjoyable for you to enter things in this way, it’s not a good choice. I keep my goals and resolutions in spreadsheet form so it can be quite extensive and historical. I use the spreadsheet to print the goals and post them. However, for grocery shopping lists, I allow myself the use of hand-written lists because I have paper/pen accessible in the kitchen and when ready, I grab the list with my shopping bags and go. It’s a habit. It works.
Consider your life flow and use what works within that flow.
Containerize – Now you are ready to consider the container you use. In stuff organizing, it’s a hook or a drawer divider. In this application, your container options are the bevy of choices available to you on time, calendar and list management systems, online services and apps. It is not my area of expertise to guide you on these tools. What I can advise is to be patient with yourself as you develop a system.
For years I have been carrying around these little memo books to jot my action items. I had a whole system for categorizing and managing it yet I never kept up and still ended up with little piles of lists. Now I am creating new habits with e-lists using my calendar system that works for managing clients. It’s taking time but I’m getting there. You, too, can address and eliminate your clutter challenges if you are realistic about the flow of your life, stay constant with it and are kind to yourself.
Energize – In this final step, you simply activate the system and then modify if it is not working. Use it throughout your year, get some things done, achieve some goals, make some plans and enjoy! And next year, at this time, you can celebrate your success and tweak where things need a refresh.