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We all could use a little help organizing at least some area of our life, couldn’t we?
We Want a Quick Fix
I know that most of us are used to seeking and finding “quick fix” tips in glossy magazines. Just like in our dieting habits, the quick fix feels so good and productive. It feels like we’re doing at least something to address our problem. Unfortunately, though, in all my experience, I’ve never seen a quick fix radically transform a disordered household. I know this may be disappointing to hear, but shortcuts can’t address our mess nor do they help us dig out of it. Since they don’t work in the real world—as much as we’d like them to—I won’t be sharing simpleton tricks; instead I’m offering you some strategies and principles that will help you create sustainable change.The post I responded to last week was a page out of someone’s life … it could have come from almost any client my organizers are working with at this very moment. The person had a limited space and budget, had donated some of her overage, and had used plastic bins to containerize her belongings. She really had tried to get organized. Even so, she was searching for a better answer. I shared with her some specific suggestions on navigating closets and some low-budget solutions and I reminded our brave subject that organizing is a process and a lifestyle.
Our next message board visitor was asking for a “magical cure” for paper; she suffers from the “dash and stash” I discussed in my prior article. (I will answer this post specifically in the future since no one knows what to do with the onslaught of paper and everyone seems to be drowning in it. Dealing with paper is the number one request I receive.) Here we are again, though, looking for a magical cure for something that I think deep down we know is going to take longer than we’d like. Sure, I could give you a quickie “cure” for paper … but resorting to arson isn’t recommended! When we get practical, we all recognize that we need strategies for digging out that really work and a new set of behaviors. We need to understand authentic organizing.
The Pruning Principle
Since both of our posts this week dealt with overage (you know: pile-up, backlog, extra stuff) I’d like to focus on one of my favorite organizing principles here: The Pruning Principle™. It’s a principle you can apply in any room of the home, at the office, and even in your schedule.Something about eliminating useless stuff just feels right. When we disentangle dead branches from a growing tree, we pull out the matter that is no longer good. When we cut back the yellowed reeds of a perennial flower, we know that its energy returns to the bulb. Ridding plants of the superfluous material makes us feel good about restoring them to health.
That kind of trimming feels good for a reason. Cutting out that which isn’t useful in our life is a spiritual experience! The gardener’s purpose for cutting out deadwood and pruning back living stock is to produce more life and fruit.
The Pruning Principle is this: We will flourish in our personal, spiritual, and physical life when we expose ourselves and our environment to frequent pruning. Organizing, then, is not simply sorting, categorizing, and tossing, as many believe. Authentic organizing includes a purposeful and ongoing process of elimination and refinement. It’s a perspective before it is an activity.
So, how do we apply this principle to gain a more organized life?
First, we cut out the deadwood from our space. We get realistic about the amount of stuff we’re keeping and whether we really use it and love it. Isn’t it sad that America is one of the only places in the world where we actually get stressed out because we have too much stuff? Donate your overage and take a healthy tax deduction this year. Share things you don’t need or have outgrown with another family. I ask my clients that hesitate to let go of their overage “could someone else really be blessed by this?” and they brighten up with the thought of passing their goods along to someone in need.
Next, we assess the “opportunity cost” of keeping all our stuff. Opportunity cost is the trade-off for keeping something. What is it costing you to save it, group it, store it, label it, insure it, dust it, stuff it, cram it, or lose it? In the case of a storage unit, we can spend thousands per year to store stuff we forgot about, don’t like, and don’t use.
Moving onto our schedule, we then can trim a crowded calendar. We can prune our commitments and activities as well as our belongings. When we cut out extraneous activities, we can focus on investing our time with the people who really matter to us. If you can’t find time to discover and live your God-given purpose, exercise your gifts, and pursue your passions, it’s time to cut back less important activities to make room for your calling!
We must learn to say no. How can saying no help us get more organized? A crowded life (and space) make it hard for us to focus on our priorities because we are doing too much and confused by the noise of clutter. Organizing is about making room in your life for the things that truly matter. By resisting that bargain at the discount store, or by opting out of that fourth committee or volunteer group, we are in fact saying “yes” to our core values.
Now, applying The Pruning Principle in your life doesn’t mean that you must throw everything away. A lot of people fear organizing because they think it will involve parting with their favorite things. On the contrary, I advocate being surrounded by those special treasures and collections that you love and I never prod anyone to toss anything unless they’re ready to do so. The Pruning Principle allows you to zoom out and gain perspective. It allows you to see the relative value of your belongings and your time in relation to other more important things.
I hope you can take this therapeutic principle and run with it. As you prune back your space, belongings, and time, may you bear more fruit and strive for what is ahead!
Adapted from: Restoring Order™ copyright © 2006 by Vicki Norris (available now at www.RestoringOrder.com and in July 2007 as Reclaim Your Life™. Copyright © 2007). Published by Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, OR. Used by permission.
