Tip: The Intentional Timer

We are all swamped. There. I said it. Life in this day and age is busy for everyone. And the idea of decluttering is appealing because of the outcome but daunting because there is not enough time. And while now you know that I - Maura, your personal organizing superhero - am here to help, either 1) life is too busy right now (you can't even schedule your FREE 30 minute consultation until next month!); or 2) you're far, far away from Indianapolis and your organizing superhero... she can't fly.  

Let me help you in the interim.

Get out your stopwatch. (Kidding! Who still has those?!) Get out your smartphone and/ mobile device and open up the Timer. Set it at four minutes, press start, then go about your activities. Go ahead. I'll wait for you.

Four minutes is a nice little chunk of time, right? 

I propose setting that timer every morning and every night. I propose adding eight INTENTIONAL MINUTES to our day, divided in half, split between our waking hour and our wind-down hour. I propose using those minutes to return our possessions to their rightful place. A timer for tidiness, guys.

I’m not saying we don’t tidy up throughout the day. Maybe we do and maybe we don’t. I’m a pretty tidy lady but I still find things to put away first thing in the morning and last thing at night. And, I'm not saying that this little idea is rocket science. But when it comes to me and my to-do list there are certain things I put off then put off some more. When I finally get around to doing them, they take twice as long because I procrastinated. I find that timing activities is a great tool in general because it debunks the myth that the said activity "will take forever" to complete. Many activities don't take up nearly as much time in my day as they take up space in my head. Why don't I just do them instead of dread them?

Ok, so I have my timer ready. Where do I start? Great question. And the answer is simple. Scan your space and whatever area raises your stress levels just by looking at it, start there. Don’t overthink it. Just press 'start' and get to it. 

When the four minutes is up, whatever didn't make the cut: let it go. No big deal. We’ll get to it in the next four minute slot. The Intentional Timer isn't about being perfect. And it isn't about running around like a madwoman or madman to get everything done in a mere 240 seconds. It's about minimizing The Mess. And in four measly minutes, I venture to guess you just took a giant leap in that direction. Brava! Bravo!

The Intentional Timer asks so little of you – less than five minutes, c'mon now. Incorporating it adds serenity and subtracts stress. I believe that if we tackle tidiness regularly, The Mess doesn’t stand a chance at growing into unmanageability.

Four minutes in the a.m. Four minutes in the p.m. Try it for one week and let me know the results!