Did your desk throw up?

In my classroom last week I learned a valuable lesson. And oddly enough, I discovered it while helping a student clean up her very messy desk. 

Organization has been a problem for this student all year. There is also a bit of a lackadaisical attitude thrown in there for good measure. She would have been a great hippie.   I finally realized that she just didn't have any idea how to start working on this mess. 

How to start a big project

1. Take a deep breath. Okay. This may be a sucky task that you don't want to do, but you know you have to do it.  Whether it is exercise, laundry or a work project, it is your responsibility. Gird your loins. 

2. Get a buddy to help. Everything is better with a friend.  For example, cleaning the house can be fun if it's turned into a friendly competition to see who can get their job done first.  An accountability partner will keep you on track at the gym and a work buddy will be helpful to bounce ideas off of. In the case of the messy desk, I was the buddy!

3. Do the next right thing. Looking at the mess, it did indeed look overwhelming. I realized that she had no idea how to start. So I told her to just do one thing at a time. Gather up the pencils and crayons. Put the papers in the folder. Throw away the trash, etc. This was when I realized that I would probably learn more from this than she would. For her this was just about a desk. For me this was about life.  Trying to lose 20 pounds is overwhelming (20, seriously?) Writing a blog is a bit daunting (what if I run out of ideas?). But I know that it will be worth it, so I keep trying.

4. Keep going until it's done. This step is where a lot of people quit. They realize it is hard work, or worse, that even if they finish, it will never be perfect so why bother?  Let me tell you, my student and I both wanted to quit. But since I'm the teacher, I had to keep going!  We finished cleaning up together. 

Sad to say, I still have to remind her to clean up several times each day. And several times each day I have to give myself a pep talk. No candy!  You want to lose weight. And, go to the gym so that you don't throttle your teenage children. And my favorite, it's okay if nobody likes your blog. You're doing this for you. 

The moral of the story:  encourage yourself to take things one step at a time, even if your desk throws up.