Break Down Organizing Into Manageable Tasks

I used to be very disorganized; that wasn't the problem. The problem was I had no way to sort things out that felt comfortable to me. But in 1991, I was unemployed for a few weeks and decided to occupy myself by solving the problem once and for all. I had my bedroom in a large family room with all my hobby stuff, intermingled with my personal things. It gave me a headache to approach the mess and I felt inadequate. But this one day, the light bulb went on, and life has been better ever since.

I started to gather my hair things and felt overwhelmed by all the categories. I had three sizes and types of bobby pins alone. Even that felt like too much. So I picked the medium brown ones, and literally went around the room and gathered each one I found until I had them all and put a rubber band around them and put them in a small box. Then I picked the second kind, searched them all out, rubberbanded them, and added them to the box.

I found I needed to break the categories down to one at a time, taking it through the gathering, securing, and placing, otherwise I felt overwhelmed. I had been postponing this day of reckoning for a long time. I let my feelings be my guide. If I didn't feel confused or overwhelmed, I continued. I went by size, category, attachment, conflict, etc. If I felt conflicted, I put it down and worked on something else or broke the task down to yet smaller tasks.

This room contained sewing things, a knitting machine, two spinning wheels, wool, yarn, dyes, a loom, clothing, books, and all the equipment which went with these hobbies. It took me two long, long days, probably 8-9 hours per day, plus a bit of a 3rd day to get things hung up, sorted and given a place, categorized, thrown away, and so on.

Afterward, I let things go for a while again until it got messy, perhaps to test myself. When it reached a degree of clutter I couldn't abide, not as bad as the first time, I did the same thing. I had to break it down, just as before, to get the job done with any degree of inner peace. But after that second round, organizing anything was never a problem again, and in fact, I do it to relax. I am more than happy to help clean up disorganization in my grandchildren's houses when they are at work, and very little dismays me. I have been lost, and found my own way out.

Chaos does not unnerve me anymore, as long as I can help do something about it. So I suggest being the feeling creatures we are, use your feelings as your guide and break it down until you feel all right, and clutter just magically disappears.

By PENNY K from Westminster, CO