Have you ever read something at a sort of perfect storm moment? When it seems like it’s the ideal time to read it and it makes you reevaluate your whole life? I read a post on the Alt blog a couple of months ago called “Staying Creative Over the Long Haul.” There were lots of great tidbits in the post but one part totally resonated with me—and totally blew my mind.

One of the tips was “Keep your life organized.” The blogger (Rebecca Beach from A Daily Something) talked about how messiness made her less motivated. Simple, really. But it totally opened my eyes.

I’m the kind of person who generally has six different projects going on at once, two kids climbing her like a jungle gym, and a house that looks like the epicenter of an earthquake. With so much going on I generally don’t know where to even begin. I start things, my mind racing about all of the other things on my list, and stop in the middle of it to tackle something else that might (might) be more important.

But what if it didn’t have to be that way? What if something as simple as organization could completely change my little universe? I knew I had to at least attempt it, so I accepted this new mission and sort of changed my life in the process.

Here’s a little glimpse at what I learned along the way…

I decided to put my money where my mouth is.

Note: what the hell does that even mean? And why would I ever want money anywhere near my mouth–especially when the flu is running rampant?

I digress, but in this little scenario, it means that this week’s Pintervention is not only focusing on making one of my thousands of pins happen, but it’s focusing on making an organizational pin that I featured yesterday come to life.

Yes, my friends. I’m pinning something and actually doing it. I’m also posting about organization and actually using one of the things I posted about in real life. And it means my organization train is rolling full steam ahead.

That’s a whole lot of mind blowing in one place, so let’s just take a breath and get right to it.

The pin that I speak of is the super awesome DIY marker caddy posted by Aunt Peaches. I am totally and completely jealous that I didn’t think of this on my own. It’s also slightly silly that I’m doing a Pintervention post about it because it is so easy. When she said it took her ten minutes, she wasn’t kidding.

Still, I decided to give it a go to see if it really was that easy and functional. Plus, I’m a big fan of repurposing instead of throwing things out. Such a big fan, in fact, that I actually had a shoe box and a bunch of paper towel rolls sitting around waiting to be used (I know. I have a problem).

Alright kids. We have a little more than a week left in January and statistics say that most of us have fallen off the resolution wagon already.

Amazingly, this whole setting one goal per month thing has worked out pretty well for me. Instead of feeling overwhelmed by my need to tame the mess that was my house, I broke it up into little bits and started tackling one (or sometimes more) organization project a day.

It could be as complex as weeding through my basement or as simple as organizing the space under my bathroom sink. The point is, I didn’t feel so overwhelmed when I had mini-goals to pat myself on the back for in the midst of trying to reach my big goal.

I really think I’m on the right track to be totally organized by the end of the month. Of course it’s something that I have to continue working at, but it makes me feel so much better to get rid of the clutter and not have a big fat mess breathing down my neck whenever I set out to accomplish something.

That said, there are still some areas that need some help in the old organization department. One of the major areas that need help are our craft supplies. So, I poked around my favorite time warp (aka Pinterest) and found a few ideas to kick start my latest mission.

So, last year my resolutions were more like a big ol’ to-do list. And, as my husband will tell you, like most of my to-do lists less than half of the items got ticked off the imaginary sheet of paper they were so beautifully written on (in case you were wondering, I accomplished numbers three and five out of six and that’s pretty much it). Boo.

While I’m pretty sure most people are in the same boat, I’m not really OK with this. One of my major flaws is not coming through on the big goals I set for myself. I’ll be all excited and full throttle about a particular idea and then, somewhere, somehow, something shiny will come along and distract me and I suddenly have another amazingly fantastic unbelievably awesome goal that I want to accomplish. Simultaneously, of course. Because why would I do one thing at a time if I’m capable of doing four or five?

Because I’m not capable of doing four or five things at once, if I want to do them all well!

I’m sorry. But no one is. You can try and fool yourself, but something will always be lacking if you’re spread out that thin. You just can’t possibly give something your full attention if there are a million other things floating around your brain, pulling at you for attention.

So this year, I’m trying something new. I still have a list that I want to tackle, but to make it more manageable, I’m going to set a goal for myself each month. This month? Organization.

This is what my desk looks like right now. I took this picture yesterday and the calendar was still on November. There are probably important pieces of mail under that bag of supplies from the dollar store that I was going to make a wreath with. So, uh, yeah. I think it’s safe to say I might need a bit of organization in my life.

I read a post on the Alt blog a few months ago that was giving advice on staying creative. One of the tips in particular really grabbed me:

Keep your life organized
This is a big one for me. The more organized my mind/ home/ office/ schedule/ props/ supplies are, the easier it will be for me to experiment and create. If my work table is messy, I find myself less motivated to bring out more supplies and try a new DIY. If my prop shelves are cluttered, I won’t end up styling the photo shoot as well as I had envisioned. It’s possible to be organized and creative; it just takes a little extra effort!

It’s so true, right? When my house is a mess all of the little things that need my attention explode into a big fat ball of WTF should I do next?! I get overwhelmed and do a tiny bit of this, a little of that in an attempt to tackle everything at once. And you know what? I inevitably fail at all of them.

So my thought for January is this: if I organize my life from top to bottom (and give myself a whole month to do it), I’ll be so much more ready to take this year by storm.

I’ve got old blog posts on kitchen organization, bathroom organization, office organization, purse organization, creative organization solutions, and cheap and easy organization tips plus a Pinterest board full of ideas (that also needs to be organized) to turn to for inspiration. The only problem? It’s January first and if I hear the word “organization” one more time I might bust out the crazy eyes.

Anyway, I’m off. I just have no idea where to start.

What are your resolutions this year?

It’s been awhile since I’ve done an organizational post–and you can tell if you take a peek inside my house. I always think summer will be when I get myself together. You know: clean out the basement, organize the closets, get rid of kids toys that never get played with. But this seldom happens. Who wants to stay inside when we can be at the pool or running around in the sunshine? Who wants to do manual labor when you’re sweating just sitting on the couch? Not this girl!

Still, I need to find some way to wrangle the mess that is my house. Since I’m both cheap and always looking for ways to be eco-friendly, I love the idea of organizational pieces that can easily be made from things I already own (or things that would only cost me a few dollars).

So off to Pinterest I go…