It's been over a year since I left my 26 year relationship, and although I can function in my new space, I am just not as organized as I used to be. Anyone else find themselves with this problem?

Some of it (doing the taxes, managing the checkbook, paying the bills on time, etc.) are just chores I haven't done for years. Guess it's like juggling 3 pins and suddenly having a 4th added to the mix. Some of it is having too many choices, too much 'stuff', too little time, and doing things (moving furniture, etc.) by myself. Some of it is just feeling overwhelmed at times.

Any suggestions for organizing a functional home office, tools and gardening supplies would be greatly appreciated. Any advice on battling the inertia that comes with feeling overwhelmed would be invaluable!

The biggest problem with being disorganized is inertia. Just do it. Pick one thing, just one and do it. A closet, your desk, your calendar, a drawer, whatever, doesn't matter where you start, so long as you start. Do one thing at a time until it's completely done, don't start 15 projects at once. Throw away EVERYTHING you don't use regularly and, be honest, may never use, this includes clothes, shoes, makeup, bank statements from 15 years ago, junk mail, the fondue pot you got from your wedding shower EVERYTHING! If you hate it, pitch it. Or donate it. But get it out.

Baby steps

Hey, thank you! I am doing fairly well, actually. It's just the organizing stuff. But you are absolutely right, I need to quit looking at the whole. Breaking it down into baby steps. Shooting for finding the top of my desk today ;-)!

Remember, throw away what is not absolutely necessary and file the rest in labelled file folders.

Use a calender program, such as Outlook. Look at it at least on weekdays, and update due dates for bills, events, taxes, etc, set reminders, and use the task lists within the program. Once you get used to this, and this is just ONE change, the others won't seem so hard.

Good luck to you.

This is just my own experience, and may not apply, but I've found that if I'm feeling overwhelmed, it's usually because I'm focusing on the whole mountain rather than the immediate "must do" items. So, I started sorting things into "piles" - must do, can do, not necessary. Then I just focus on one at a time, and things seemed less intimidating. Again, though, that's just me.

I did learn after my divorce that friends were invaluable, and usually willing to help with things that I couldn't do myself. They -and family - can be a wonderful resource for those things you just can't handle on your own.

Things will get better, and become easier :)

I like the idea of baby steps. I was told if you have trouble with meeting your goals to break the goals down into smaller goals towards the bigger goal. Just like baby steps.

My suggestion is to schedule just 15 minutes a day to tackle a small project. What works best for me is to make a to-do list of every big and little thing I want to get done. Take care of the most important things first--like paying bills or balancing your checkbook. Then spend just 15 minutes a day tackling some other small chore on your to-do list. We can tolerate almost anything for only 15 minutes. When you can break it all down to small chores and can actually see yourself marking these chores off, you begin to feel like you've accomplished something. Then you don't feel so overwhelmed.

When you get it all organized, then just maintain it. Don't let the filing pile up; file daily so it doesn't become overwhelming. When you bring a new item into your home, get rid of an old item. Keeping things neat and orderly will save you time and money.

I discovered Freecycle.org years ago. You can check their site to see if there's a group near you. (If not, start one; they'll come!) It's a great way to give away things you don't need or want. And you can give away things that you may think no one else would want, like broken appliances and electronics. There are all sorters of tinkerers who will haul them away for you for free. Freecycle has been a wonderful force in my getting decluttered and organized.

Hope this helps.