Welcome to the Key Habit Challenge!! I’m so excited that you’ve decided to GET ORGANIZED with me! There are just a few easy steps to take this challenge and be on your way to creating positive organizational habits. I promise, YOU CAN DO THIS!
Getting organized does not need to be scary. Starting small with something attainable, like creating a “Home Base” for your keys, is great because it will show you that progress is POSSIBLE. Once organization is possible in one area of your home, you can take organization into every corner of your life!
Simply putting up a hook by the door or adding a small bowl to the table in your foyer doesn’t mean you’ll remember to use it. Habits are broken down into three parts: trigger- routine- reward. Triggers can be emotional, psychological, physical, a person, place or thing, walking into a room, really anything. A routine is the action you carry out because of that trigger. A reward is what you are craving because of that trigger.
My challenge is to help you cultivate a new trigger, that will engage a routine, to earn you the reward of never having to look for your keys again! Which will save you time, another reward, AND reduce stress, ANOTHER REWARD!
Pick a prominent spot by your door to add a hook or a small bowl for your keys to live. This will be the “home base” for your keys. To create an emotional trigger that makes you remember to put your keys there, I want you to pick a photo of something, someone, or somewhere that you love. It could be a photo of a loved one, a pet, from a vacation, a photo of the first house you bought, your wedding, your kids, anything that conjures deep feelings of joy, cheerfulness and positivity. You are welcome to frame the photo, if you like, or just have it sitting next to your hook or bowl.
Before placing it next to the hook on the wall or the bowl on the table, take some time to reminiscence about the moment in the photo. Lean in to the beautiful memories in the photo you chose. Think about the person, that vacation, the accomplishment, whatever it is, and the happiness it makes you feel.
Then, place the photo next to your key’s new “home base.” Take a few moments to go back and forth between your key’s new “home base” and the photo, keys - photo, keys - photo. You want to establish a psychological connection between the positivity you feel from the photo and the key’s new “home base.”
Every time you enter your home and see the photo, you want it to TRIGGER that positive emotion, which should remind you to engage in the ROUTINE of putting your keys in their “home base,” which gives you the REWARD of not only the positive emotions, but saving time and eliminating stress.
The more and more you make a connected, conscious effort to perpetuate the routine, it should eventually become a HABIT, without thought! Once this habit is established, you’ll continually benefit from the rewards of organization!
In theory, if I can help people see that organization is possible by creating a simple daily key-habit, you can apply new triggers-routines-rewards to anything!!
I’d love to know how your process is going, over the course of the next few weeks. Check in with me over on my Instagram page @sageorganization where I’ll be posting updates! See you there!