Get Organized to Benefit the Entire Family and Have More Success

You owe it to your kids to get organized. What if I told you that by doing so, you were able to make them into well-adjusted, successful adults? You will likely have more success too!

At surface level, it might not seem like a very logical conclusion to draw – that YOU getting organized might allow for your children to become more successful. However, if we dive just a bit deeper, there is some research (and a little bit of inference) which supports that notion.

A study by IKEA in the early 2000s on why it’s important to organize your office found the following:

“Men who organize their home offices are more likely to spend time playing with their children than men whose home offices are in disarray.”

Makes perfect sense. The less time we have to spend looking for lost items, the more time we will have to focus elsewhere.

The average American wastes almost an hour a day looking for lost items that they own but cannot find, according to Newsweek. With just a minimal amount of organization, we can easily cut that down to a less embarrassing number – maybe just a half hour a day, for starters.

We manage to save somewhere in the neighborhood of 2-3 hours per week simply by getting organized. How are we going to spend those hours? Often in our busy lives today, the kids can take a back seat. It is important to make a concerted effort to spend more quality time, present and undistracted.

The extra time that we can spend with the kids just might have a bigger impact than what you think. Concordia University recently published their findings from a study involving paternal involvement with children. The study found that…

“Fathers who actively engage in raising their children can help make their offspring smarter and better behaved.”

The long-term study examined how fathers can positively influence the development of their kids through hands-on parenting. While the focus of this study was paternal involvement, the same holds true when both parents are actively involved.

Children in early and middle childhood have fewer behavior problems and higher intellectual abilities as they grew older – even among socio-economically at-risk families.

Further research published by Psychology Today drives home this point, noting that active parental presence positively impacts children’s problem-solving while decreasing emotional problems, such as sadness, social withdrawal and anxiety. In addition, they experienced fewer behavioral problems, had a more positive mental attitude, and scored higher on reading achievement.

The next major benefit to becoming organized is the potential for better health for yourself. Home organization is one of the most universal stress triggers, according to a Huffington Post online survey. “84% of recently stressed Americans (81% of men) say they worry that their home isn’t clean or organized enough, and within that group, 55% called it out as a source of recent stress.” Research has also shown that clutter raises levels of the stress hormone cortisol.

               More: Read Why Entrepreneurs Should Meditate 

Stress has become an epidemic, as the CDC and the American Institute of Stress agree that somewhere in the neighborhood of 75-90% of all disease is now stress-related. Stress increases the risk of conditions like obesity, heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, depression, gastrointestinal problems, asthma and more. Chronic stress is now linked to the 6 leading causes of death, and furthermore, stress is a factor in as many as 110 million deaths each year.

The time to become organized is now. It will empower you to be more successful, achieve better health, and move toward work life balance. It also may encourage your children to be more successful too!

Children constantly process, and often emulate, what they see. Setting a good example by practicing success habits will be seen, noticed, and copied.

For the health and well-being of your family, take some steps towards greater control. Getting organized produces significant results – less stress, more quality family time, and greater chance for well-being and success.

Susan Sly is a best selling author, work life balance expert, speaker and entrepreneur. She has appeared on CNN, CNBC, Fox, Lifetime Television and the CBN. Susan is the mother of five children and resides in Scottsdale, Arizona.