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Back to School.

Regardless of whether that phrase sends shivers of delight or terror down your spine, it’s here.

ALREADY.

Whatever happened to going back to school after Labor Day? You know, spending your last day of freedom lamenting that summer was over and that the Jerry Lewis Telethon was taking the place of all of your favorite regularly scheduled programs? The ones you wouldn’t see again until December.

And that means your routine IS going to change. For some people, the laid back easiness of summer is all coming to an end. In its place will be tight schedules, missed buses, forgotten lunches. For others, the chaos of the summer will finally be reined in. Structure will replace the frenetic free-for-all brought about by the warmer months.

5 Things to Remember When Getting Organized Makes You Feel Like a Failure

I wanna tell you something right now.

Something that, for the past few weeks, I’ve found myself repeating to multiple clients. Something that you probably already know, at least logically.

This whole process of getting organized?

It can make you feel like the biggest loser on the planet.

Like a complete and utter failure.

Worthless.

Defeated.

Pathetic.

It can make you think the absolute worst of yourself and beat yourself up for all the things you haven’t done or should’ve done or could’ve been doing all along for the past decade, so you didn’t end up in the mess you’re currently buried in.

It’s like you’ve got this evil troll who masquerades as the person you wish you were whispering in your ear. Whispering why you won’t ever be able to change. Whispering how you’re the only one who lives this way. Whispering so loudly about your undeniable failure that it blocks out all the other sounds in your life.

So when you find yourself in this situation, what’s a girl (or guy) supposed to do? Just surrender to it? Lie down and willingly drown in the mess?

Heck. No.

Staying Organized: 5 Must Haves to Ditch Old Habits and Maintain Zero

So.

Old habits.

Those suckers die hard, right?

I’m talking Bruce-Willis-circa-1988-kinda die hard. You can try to shove them off a building or pepper them with gunfire or push them down an elevator shaft. REPEATEDLY. And still? No dice.

Essentially, old habits are the cockroaches of our lives--ugly, stubborn, and kinda gag-inducing when you crunch one dead.

The thing is, it’s not a completely hopeless plight when it comes to ditching them. For good. What most people don’t realize is that it’s not as simple as just making a decision not to do them again and being done with. I mean, come on. Do you know how many times I’ve told myself I won’t bite my fingernails anymore? Do you know how many times I’ve cracked my front teeth (I’ve got some bad dental genetics, just FYI; no offense, Mom and Dad.) biting my nails after I’ve sworn to myself I’d never nibble again? It’s an embarrassingly high number of times.