Organized Home = Organized Mind
Does your life feel scattered, frantic or out of control? Are you forgetful and disorganized?
If you answered yes to any or all of these questions, take a look at your home. What does it look like? Is everything tidy and in its place, or is it also scattered and disorganized?
Many people who feel like their lives are chaotic and busy notice that their physical home environment is often cluttered, disorganized and messy. Is this you? If it is, take a moment now to imagine your home when it is messy and disorganized.
Notice your emotions. How do you feel?
Now imagine your home clean and uncluttered.
Do you feel different? What emotions are you noticing? Which version of your home feels better to imagine? If you are like most people, chances are you prefer the home that's neat and tidy.
Imagine feeling calmer, happier and more organized on a regular basis, simply because your home is tidy. Such a simple fix, for so much mental and emotional benefit. This is something we can all easily incorporate in our lives. If there's something we can do to feel better, why not do it?
Keep a home clean and organized may seem like a huge job. While some people believe that doing a big clean up one in a while is the way to go, I prefer the "little bit at a time" method. This way, the work is broken down into manageable pieces that can easily be incorporated into your daily routine.
Here are some examples of things you can incorporate into your daily routine for a calmer mind:
Make your bed every morning.
Do your dishes daily, and stay on top of loading and unloading the dishwasher.
Put your laundry in the hamper right away.
Hang your clothes up in your closet as soon as you take them off, or no later than the next morning.
De-clutter for 10 minutes daily.
Don’t let mail, bills and paperwork pile up. Deal with them as soon as you get them from the mailbox.
Put your shoes away when you come in the door, don't let them pile up in your entry way.
If you notice your toilet is dirty, clean it. No need to do the whole bathroom at once.
You get the idea, right? My list is just a sample, add your own ideas to it and stick it up somewhere visible. Do 10-20 minutes tidying and cleaning daily, or at least one thing from your list a day, rather than several hours once a week (or once a month or more). If you view organizing and tidying as a big project, you're more likely to keep putting it off. It's much easier to keep on top of things when you do a little bit each day.
Try it for a week and the notice how you feel mentally and emotionally at the end of the week. You'll probably notice that you feel quite a bit calmer in all aspects of your life when your home is organized and clean.
For those of you who are really into tidying, or feel like you need more of a boost, there is a very popular book called The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo. I haven't read it myself, but I have heard a lot of rave reviews. She's quite well known for inspiring people to clean and get organized.
However we all wish to approach it, let's go forth, tidy, and de-clutter!
