What's Your Incentive to Get Organized?

If you never seem to achieve your goal of getting organized, perhaps the problem is that you don't truly understand your underlying motivation. Although most people have an underlying desire to become better organized, not everyone wants to achieve this goal for the exact same reason. If you'd like to become a more effective organizer, it can be helpful to better understand what actually motivates you. Once you do that, you'll probably find that you have far more incentive to actually achieve your goals.

What's in it For You?

In every situation in life, the human mind has a tendency to ask the question, "What's in it for me?" In fact, even though you might think that you are doing something for the benefit of others, deep down you probably also have an underlying personal motivation. Although on the surface this concept might make you feel a little selfish and self-serving, it's actually a normal and healthy part of being human. In fact, once you develop a better understanding of your personal motivation system, you'll probably find that you'll become much more effective at identifying and then achieving your personal goals.

If getting organized is one of your goals, try taking the time to figure out "what's in it for you." Perhaps you feel frustrated when you can never seem to find the things you need around your home. Or, you might feel that the clutter in your home makes it difficult to entertain friends and family members. You might even think that by having good organizational skills, you'll be serving as a good example and role model for your children. No matter what your underlying reasons are, it's important to identify them. After all, once you understand your motivation, you'll be in a much better position provide yourself with the encouragement and incentives you'll need in order to get the job done.

Utilizing Your Personal Motivations

Once you understand "what's in it for you," spend some time thinking about how you can best use this information. For example, if you enjoy entertaining friends and family and yet always feel as though your home is disorganized and messy, planning a future party or event might be just the motivation you need to get the job done quickly. Or, perhaps you'd like to use a cluttered spare bedroom as a sewing room, home office or craft room. If you plan to reward yourself with a useful new room, you'll probably find that you'll get the clutter cleared up in record time. If your reasons for becoming better organized include setting a better example for your children, perhaps the entire family could benefit from sharing the organizational chores. After all, although children definitely learn from watching, they can learn even more by doing some things themselves.

After you've learned the art of harnessing your personal motivations and incentives, you'll probably find plenty of ways to use this new skill in other areas of your life. After all, personal motivation plays a large role in almost every facet of both your personal and work life. In addition to finally getting your home organized, you might just find that you will become more effective in other areas of your life as well.