“If you don’t know where you’re going, then any road will get you there.”– George Harrison (paraphrasing Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland)

This is true in organizing just as it’s true in the rest of our lives. If you don’t know what you want or how you intend your home to look, feel, and function at the end of your organizing project, then how will you know you’ve achieved your goal?

One of the most common challenges that we see for our clients is an inability to envision the end result of their organizing efforts. During our Exploration Sessions one of the key questions we ask is “How do you want this space to look, feel, function when we’re finished?” The most common answer is “uncluttered, less stuff.” … well, yeah, obviously! But, what if you went further to think about how it WOULD be rather than what it WOULDN’T be?

Many clients find this challenging, and our team is trained to help you find such answers, but the idea is that without a shared vision of success how will we know when we’ve achieved it?

Here are some great visions that clients have come up with in the past:

1. My bedroom will feel like a quiet, serene, sanctuary.
2. My kids’ playroom will be a fun space to play games and do crafts that is easy to clean up in a few minutes.
3. My bathroom will feel and smell like a spa.
4. My office will be a highly organized space dedicated to study and focused achievement.

Those statements say so much more about what you’re aiming to create than simply being “uncluttered,” right? That’s why creating a vision is the first of our 8 Steps to Organizing Success!

What do you want? What will be true about your home when you’re done? Start with the end in mind, then steer your course appropriately.

Image: Natureworks/ www.morguefile.com