Any words of wisdom for the helplessly disorganized?
 

I have been trying to reorganize my sewing room for the past four days. This is my job, I have my products in five shops on the coast of Maine. I should be sewing, but my sewing room is such a mess I have no room to work. I have to do it.

I decided to refold my fabric to make better use of the space I have. I have been folding fabric for three days straight for at least 3 hours a day and I'm so sick of looking at it I just want to quit. I know it will look great when I'm done, but it seems never ending. Anyone else felt like this? How did you stay motivated?

Once, I helped my sister fold all her fabric just so I could fondle and enjoy it. Having a friend over to help might make it easier and faster.

My studio was a mess before I decided I HAD to get in there and reorganize etc. What a blessing it has been since I donated some things and gave away other things. Getting new furnishings didn't hurt either!! Take it one day at a time and soon your room will be looking great and you will be SO glad you took the time to do it.

I am not an organized person and have to really work hard at it. I follow Flylady and one of her motto's is "You can do anything for 15 minutes." So I set a timer for 15 mins and work. Then I can take a little break or set the timer for 15 mins longer and maybe move on to another task that I don't like and take the break after that. You can get more done in 15 mins than you realize. One of the keys is to FINISH after the 15 mins, if you have something to finish putting away or throw away etc make sure you do it before moving on. That doesn't mean the entire project - just what I worked on organizing during that 15 mins. It's still a struggle but it's helped me a lot! Good luck, you can do it!!

Don't be so hard on yourself. Some people can only create in chaos. I had to completely empty out my sewing room for new flooring to go in, then I went to the hospital to have both knees replaced. I thought I would never get my new sewing space back in order because I wanted to strip wallpaper and repaint before I started moving stuff back in. I just started setting small goals for each day based on what I could physically handle. So, you could just set aside an area each day you will get organized before you do anything else that day. If you find things in that one area that belong somewhere you haven't yet organized yet, just put it somewhere in the area it belongs and get right back to the area of the day. If something belongs in an already cleaned area, put it where it belongs. Most of all, enjoy the process.

A very long time ago I was given one of the best life lessons I could ever receive. Do the most distasteul task first whenever you can. The rest is icing. I put things back where they are stored when I am done with them. I practice this in just about any task I have to do from cooking to housework, gardening and at work. It follows me through my sewing too although there is nothing I dislike about sewing! I do have the most problem with selecting fabrics for projects, pulling lots of trial pieces from the stash wall and then not choosing them. I have found over the years that waiting till the end of the selection process to put all the fabric away works for me. I put the chosen pile in one basket then take my time to enjoy refolding and returning the rejects back to the shelf for another time. It is sort of a self perpetuating rotation of the fabric stash wall.

It is not a chore if you love it!

peace

My suggestions to use if they work for you:
Play music. It makes time go faster (even when getting cavities drilled... Don't ask how I know)
Grab 3 boxes: junk, donations and homeless items so they don't get handled a million times or clutter where you have already cleaned
Use those new temporary/removeable hooks to hang things like stencils
make a list of goals and a cleaning schedule. Do the room one section at a time.v
make your reorganization as functional as possible.
get rid of decorations that take up space you need for storage.
get rid of stuff that you reasonably believe you will never use and don't feel guilty about it.
post pictures of progress to get encouragement

Thank you everyone who gave me encouragement. I am trying to do some of it every day, but I am starting to dread going in there. I think I may end up taking a day off and sewing for a while. I will have to make decisions about getting rid of some of it. I could never use all of it if I sewed all day every day for the rest of my life, and I keep buying more!!

Eeek! I'm a very different organizer. Actually I like organizing but hate cleaning...go figure. I try to mix them up and do them together so that I don't "suffer" the cleaning so much. Sometimes I do have to make myself stop sewing to clean and put stuff away so I can find space to work. Mostly, I just try to have fun, if I get messy having fun......oh well!
Mary