Get Organized Now!

In Less Than 5 Minutes!

by Maria Gracia

August 16, 2026

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Pick one organizing task you’ve been putting off and decide on your reward before you begin. Give yourself something small to look forward to when the job is done...and then be sure to actually enjoy it!

The Power of Rewards

A few days ago, I stopped at Glorioso’s Italian Market in Milwaukee, one of those places where it’s very easy to walk in for one or two things and come out with a bag full of Italian goodies you suddenly decided you absolutely needed.

When I was checking out, the cashier asked if I had their rewards app. I didn’t. Normally, I’m a little hesitant to download yet another app. But I shop at Glorioso’s often enough that it made sense, so I downloaded it right there.

And I immediately saved $5. Now, every time I shop there, I can earn points toward future discounts. I’m buying things I would buy anyway. There’s something surprisingly satisfying about knowing those purchases are adding up to a little reward down the road.

It got me thinking about rewards in general.
Businesses have figured this out beautifully. Buy coffee, earn stars. Shop at a store, collect points. Stay at a hotel, earn a free night. Spend a certain amount, get a coupon. There’s a reason rewards programs are everywhere: rewards motivate us.

So why don’t we use that same idea more often when we’re trying to get organized? We tend to approach organizing as something we should do. Clean out the closet. Sort through the paperwork. Organize the garage. Go through the basement. Deal with that kitchen cabinet where opening the door requires standing slightly to the side in case something falls out.

And when we finish? Usually, we just move on to the next thing. But what if we rewarded ourselves instead? I’m not suggesting that every time you put a pair of shoes away, you deserve a weekend at a spa. The reward doesn’t have to be expensive...or cost anything at all. It simply needs to be something you genuinely enjoy and can look forward to.

Maybe you decide that after spending 30 minutes sorting paperwork, you’re going to sit outside with a cup of coffee and the book you’ve been reading.
Maybe when you finally clean out the hall closet,

you’ll watch a movie...guilt-free.

Maybe you’ve been putting off organizing the garage, so you create your own little rewards program: every hour you spend working on it earns you $5 toward something fun you’ve been wanting.

You can even use rewards for larger organizing goals. Finish going through all the closets in the house, and you’ll plan a day trip somewhere you’ve wanted to visit. Get the basement completely cleaned out, and maybe you’ll treat yourself to dinner at a favorite restaurant. The important thing is that the reward should match the effort. Small accomplishment, small reward. Big accomplishment, bigger reward.

There’s also something psychologically powerful about having something pleasant waiting on the other side of a task. Instead of thinking, Ugh, I have to spend Saturday morning cleaning out the garage, the thought becomes, Once I finish two hours in the garage, I’m going to that coffee shop I love.

Same garage. Same work. Completely different feeling.

There’s another benefit that I think is just as important: rewarding ourselves forces us to acknowledge what we accomplished. We’re often very quick to notice what still needs to be done. We cleaned the kitchen, but the laundry is waiting. We organized the closet, but the garage is still a mess. We sorted the paperwork, but there’s another stack upstairs.

There will always be something else. A reward creates a little punctuation mark at the end of an accomplishment. It says, I did that. It mattered. And I’m going to enjoy the fact that it’s done.

You could even make organizing more fun by creating your own personal rewards program. Give yourself points for tasks you’ve been avoiding. Ten points for cleaning out a drawer. Twenty-five for a closet. Fifty for tackling a particularly unpleasant pile of paperwork. Decide ahead of time what those points can be redeemed for.

Yes, it’s a little silly. But so is getting excited because an app tells me I’ve earned enough points for a discount on Italian groceries.

We don’t have to make everything in life about productivity. Sometimes the best motivation is simply knowing that after we do something that needs to be done, something enjoyable is waiting for us.

The next time you’re staring at an organizing project you’ve been avoiding, don’t just decide what you’re going to accomplish. Decide what you’re going to earn.

Because if Glorioso’s can reward me for buying Italian food, I see absolutely no reason why we can’t reward ourselves for finally cleaning out the linen closet.

P.S. Home Improvement Finds That Make Your Home Work Better
Freshen up your space with practical home improvement finds that help you organize, update, repair, and simplify everyday life. This list focuses on highly rated products that can make small projects feel easier and help your home look and function better! Access here

Venice...The City on Water

Venice is one of those places that almost doesn’t make sense. A city filled with magnificent buildings, churches, shops, restaurants and homes is sitting in the middle of a lagoon in northeastern Italy...where you might reasonably expect to find water, not an entire city. So how did it get there?

Venice is actually made up of more than 100 small islands. Beginning many centuries ago, builders drove enormous numbers of wooden pilings deep into the soft, muddy ground beneath the water. On top of those pilings, they created foundations strong enough to support substantial buildings.

Here’s the fascinating part: many of those wooden pilings are still down there. Normally, you’d expect submerged wood to rot. But buried deep in oxygen-poor mud, the wood was largely protected from the microorganisms that cause decay.

You may have heard that Venice is sinking. It is. The land beneath the city has gradually settled over the centuries, and groundwater pumping during the 20th century made the problem worse. At the same time, sea levels are rising, so Venice is dealing with trouble from both directions: the land is getting lower while the water around it is getting higher.

The Italians certainly aren’t just standing by watching it happen. Groundwater extraction that contributed to the severe sinking of the past was curtailed, and an enormous amount of work has gone into protecting Venice from flooding. The most famous project is MOSE, a system of 78 movable gates installed at the entrances to the Venetian Lagoon. When a dangerously high tide is expected, the barriers can rise from the seabed and temporarily separate the lagoon from the Adriatic Sea.

Other projects have raised and reinforced waterfronts and walkways in vulnerable areas and worked to prevent water from seeping up from below. The goal isn’t so much to magically lift Venice back up as it is to protect this extraordinary city as conditions continue to change.

Then there are the streets...or rather, the lack of them. Venice’s famous canals serve as transportation routes, and the historic center has no ordinary car traffic. People get around on foot or by boat. Need an ambulance? There are ambulance boats. Delivering groceries? Boat. Moving furniture? Boat. The garbage? You guessed it...a boat handles taking it away.

Venice has survived for centuries in a place where building a city seems nearly impossible. And today, Italians are still engineering ways to help it survive for centuries more.

I visited Venice years ago and loved it. I think I'll add a return trip to my bucket list today.

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August Web Poll:
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Monthly Organizing Challenges:
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Warmly,

Maria Gracia
GetOrganizedNow.com

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In this newsletter, you will find stories, ideas, inspiration, links and more to help you live a less stressful, more organized, more fulfilling life.

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-- Maria

Maria Gracia,

Get Organized Now!

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