Bouncing Back Like Bozo. Part 2

Another thing that is helpful when life's various assaults hit us hard, is to be organized.  When we have too much clutter, too many demands, too many things scheduled, too many obligations, too many of anything we become overwhelmed.  Once overwhelmed have no extra reserves to bounce back to center.  There can be such a feeling of helplessness and hopelessness.  We forget that much of the disorganization is part of our own doing.  If we contributed to it, we can also reverse the situation. 

Being organized is subjective to your personality and temperament. There is a spectrum of disorganization on which some people can withstand more disorganization than another.  For those people leaning more towards the obsessive compulsive side, a kitchen sink not wiped out dry with every use is considered a major stressor. While others on the hoarders side of the continuum see nothing amiss with cardboard boxes and newspaper piles stacked over the entire area of the living, dining, kitchen and bedrooms.  No matter what is the trigger, eventually the clutter and disorganization will impact one's outlook and outcomes. 

There have been studies that children and older individuals (ones with dementia) do well with the concepts of simplicity and organization for the simple fact that it causes less stress whether one recognizes it as such.  When I was designing wellness programs for companies, many of the speakers on stress would talk about organizing one's workspace and keeping it (relatively) clutter free. It takes a lot of time and energy to try and find things when there is much to look through and things are not easily found.

Same can be said of our home keeping.  Having a home that is organized with our stuff makes things so much easier.  Even if chaos is swirling around us, we can rest among some semblance of peace and tranquility. Organization can spill over to how we plan our calendars, our meals, and our days.

Here are just a few suggestions that might help you get started in an effort to be organized:

  • Make your bed in the morning.  I heard a pretty highly ranked military man speak to a college graduation and his one word of advice, "make your bed every morning."  The idea is that you have accomplished one thing already in your day.  A bed is the largest piece of real estate in your bedroom.  When it is unmade, it makes everything else disorganized.  But once made, you can go forth knowing you already did something for the day plus you will have a more restful sleep that night with smooth sheets and blankets.
  • Get rid of 1/4 of your stuff.   Most people have way too much junk in their houses.  I know that we do.  If, God forbid, we had a fire and most of our stuff were ruined, I probably wouldn't replace it.  Telling huh?  I try and routinely go through sections of the house with a ruthless eye, "If I lost this in a fire, would I replace it?"  If the answer is no and it is something that isn't useful or beautiful- out it goes.
  • One thing in, one thing out.  My mother-in-law has had this rule.  For anything she brought into the house, she got rid of something from the house.  Makes sense when you have limited space. 
  • Straighten your desk before you leave work for the day.  You will come into your space the next morning prepared to tackle the day.
  • Take time each week to plan the following week.  This might include your food menu for the following week, your work schedule, items to complete on your to- do list.  You should also put down your plan for balancing the needs of others (volunteer times) and your needs (your activity that brings you joy).  If you are still in the mode of changing your exercise, eating and sleeping habits, add that to your weekly plan. Part of being organized is to let wiggle room in your schedule.  Give yourself permission to not have the day completely jammed packed.  You can always fill it up, but it is more difficult to eliminate things that take your time.
  • Keep under notes all things pertinent and important.  There are many different systems out there to help in organization of lists and files- charts, apps, documents, etc.  If you google "organizing important documents" you can find one that fits your needs, personality and budget. Can be as simple as a piece of paper with a list kept in a folder.  The point is to keep in one place the information of important documents: Doctors names and contact information. Prescriptions.  Medical history.  Passwords. Financial information. Tax information. Receipts for major purchases. 

What about you?  Do you feel overwhelmed with your schedule and obligations?  What areas of your life?  What do you need to do to get organized?  What small steps can you take to achieve it?  If you feel pretty organized in your life, what things do you do to stay organized?  

 Simplifying our lives and organizing what we have is another way to bolster our resilience to the onslaught of life.   It is a way that we can bounce back like Bozo. 

 

Closets, closets, closets

Last time I wrote about my plan to declutter our home.  It is definitely a work in progress.  But like all home projects, one thing leads to another.

It started with my switching my summer and winter clothes.  I was going through my clothing closet as I usually do, culling out the items that were too big, too worn, or that I really wouldn't wear again.  I am trying to be ruthless in my purging. 

Things were going well and then I realized that it had been over twenty years since I had everything out of the closet and had it painted.  So, on Sunday night I painted the interior of my closet. (My husband gave me a questioning look as to starting mixing the paint after dinner.  The look dissolved after I explained it was either I do it now or at 5 o'clock the next morning when I generally do home projects.  Seeing that the opening of the closet is close to the head of the bed, he wisely choose to remain silent with any other suggestions.) 

That led me to thinking perhaps I should reconfigure the space better.   In viewing the space, and short of having a contractor come in and knock down a few walls in order to widen it, I started looking at another upstairs closet.  That led to a thought, "Should I redo that closet to be my main closet and switch the items around?" That will probably lead to another project and so on and so on...

What is so difficult is that neither closet is a "normal" or average closet space. I have looked at the myriad of closets on Pinterest (and there are thousands more that I can peruse). I can not find any other closets that would match the size and scope of what I want to do.   So, it is hard to imagine how best to maximize the space without feeling overly cluttered.  Of course, after looking at all these pictures, I am wondering if people actually live in any of these pictures.  Are they seriously suggesting that people stack and keep stacked their color coordinated t-shirts on wire shelves with only slim wire dividers to hold things in place? 

I am still researching ideas as I am continuing to cull out the closets.  I really want to live into the quality not quantity ideal.  In putting the actual decision off for a bit while I am still sorting, I am hoping to eventually have an actual plan for the two closets and not just my wing and a prayer type of DIY.   I'll let you know how it goes.

What about you?  Have you ever redone a closet?  Did you use a closet system?  Is it still working?  What would you suggest as a plan for our main closet?  I would welcome your comments below. We don't plan on reconfiguring any walls or doing any major renovation, just want to reconfigure the interior to house hanging clothing (shirts, skirts, pants, dresses, blazers), shoes and handbags.  It is narrow- 30 inches across but deep- 88 inches deep. About 55 inches into the closet the 88 inch tall ceiling slopes down so that the back of the closet is only about 48 inches tall.  There had been two shelves in the back of the closet (you can see the wood side bars that held them up.  Also the two rods are the same height.  One of the issues I have is that currently I use both rods.  In order to access anything behind the first set of clothing rods, I have to duck down and waddle into the closet. I feel like I am going "to ground" like our terriers when they enter the wood pile after spotting their prey.  

Closet Project Number 1...

Closet Project Number 1...

 

 

Voices

Ever have the battle between two voices in your head?  This is not the schizophrenic, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" type of voices but just the little things we tell ourselves that generally trip us up.  They are the voices of two differing opinions.

For instance, I have either the Nike "Just Do It"  or Scarlett O'Hara's voice "tomorrow is another day", clammering in my head especially when I have tasks that I am not too keen on beginning. 

In my immediate family this head battle appears to be played out especially in the realm of straightening and putting away household items.  There is the battery operated bicycle reflector that hasn't quite made it to the basement for a fresh battery.  There are the piles of extra Christmas cards that are making the room rounds.  There is the bag of to-be-recycled wine corks that are on their way to their final destination (back to the wine store) yet has somehow moved from kitchen to basement to bedroom.  

Scarlett's mindset is winning.  

In 2016 I plan on being more determined to finish what I start, when I start it.

Many years ago when I worked on a very busy and stressful oncology floor in the hospital I learned that if I had time to do some task, e.g. straighten a room for the next admission, I better do it when I thought about it.  If not, the time and thought would be long gone due to the next pressing event taking its place.  When I didn't accomplish something when I thought about it, I would regret the time lost.

So many times I have not felt like straightening up only to have someone stop by unexpected or I am asked about an item at the bottom of one of my floating piles.  Either way  I am caught unawares and realize that had I only taken care of what I needed to do at the time it needed to be done, I wouldn't feel frazzled.

I have heard that one of the Montessori school program tenets  is to encourage children to learn how to pick up after themselves.  If a preschooler gets out another toy, he/she has to put away the first toy with which he/she was playing.  

Clean up after yourself as you go along.  Not a bad philosophy.

Some time management/organizing gurus suggest taking fifteen minutes each day to put away miscellaneous and stray items.  Keep a basket on each floor of your home.  Anything that is found during the day that is not in its normal place and needs to be returned to its "home" is placed in the basket.  At a specific time during the day (before dinner or bedtime) take fifteen minutes to return the items to its proper location.  

Next time I will unlock the basement door, open it and put the recycling into its container rather than walking past the pile of papers on the floor by the door.  All it takes is a few extra seconds to be done and finished.  Why, I don't do it at the time, I have no idea.

What about you?  Any small, niggling tasks that you tell yourself "tomorrow is another day" and you will start tomorrow?  How long has that conversation been exchanged?  What is preventing you?  Is the task overwhelming?  Would doing one small thing get you started?  Are you too tired to start? 

What refrains are playing through your head?