Tiny Habits

Any time I'm able to clean up my kitchen before hopping into bed at night, I think to myself, "Well, that was fun pretending I am a clean person. Look how on top of things I am! It would be great if I was actually a clean person!"

Why have I convinced myself that just because I don't clean up my kitchen every night, I'm not a clean person? Building a good habit takes time! Breaking a bad habit takes time! Every small step toward becoming a clean person, an organized person, a healthy person is still a step!

Every time you embody the habits of a tidy person, you are working your way to becoming a tidy person. Author James Clear explores this idea of habits in his book Atomic Habits. Basically, the more you tell yourself, "What would an organized person do?" and follow suit, the more you'll become an organized person.

"The best way to build a habit is to make it part of your identity." James Clear, Atomic Habits

Here is a very simple tip/starting point, if you're looking to making changes to get organized: make your bed every morning. When you make your bed every morning, you are embodying the habits of a tidy person. The more you do it, the more it becomes a part of who you are. The moment your bed is made, your room will instantly look tidier...even if everything else is a mess.

Maybe you start to make your bed every day and like the way it makes your room look. You like the way it starts your morning. You start taking your dirty clothes from the floor and you put them into your laundry basket. You like the clear space on the floor. You start folding clean laundry and put it away immediately. You stop leaving water glasses on your nightstand. You open your mail in a different spot, responding to it right away, and now your desk is clean as well. One small habit can spin off a bunch of new habits.

Tiny habits build into big habits. Start small. And just start.

Try starting small. One small habit can build to big ones! Make your bed!