I have posted on here before about how I was always the hopelessly disorganized kid who was constantly stressed out and never knew where anything was. I mean, just downright gross at times. There's still some of that in me, but I've been changing my perspective on myself, letting go of the labels. I read somewhere that it would help me to think of organization as a skill I can practice and learn, and become better at without having to do it perfectly. As I learn more, I think of more ways I can help myself function better in life, at work, and as a parent. I've been working on spatial organization and time management lately. And I've been learning to stop trying to cram so much in - both stuff and tasks.
Recently, I decided that if I wanted a radical change in our family's environment, I was the one holding us back. So I'd have to make a radical change in myself.
So for the past four months, I've been working on it. Cleaning stuff out, donating, trashing. Saying good bye to stuff I didn't really use. Organizing papers I was afraid to look at. Getting into a laundry routine. Learning to pick up after myself. DP began putting his dirty clothes in the basket instead of leaving them on the floor where ever he took them off. Taking his dishes to the sink. He hung up his instruments and organized his cables. He threw out clothes that didn't fit him and we agreed to get him some stuff that would. We both found places for everything. I began doing dishes right away instead of letting them build up. I got rid of lots of dishes so I didn't have to wash so many. He hung up curtain rods so I could hang up curtains. I should have subtitled this, "A love story." We've been inspiring each other to keep stuff neat, building new habits, and decreasing our tolerance for mess.
In the process of all this, I also got rid of the idea that picking stuff up or putting stuff away was a waste of my time because I was just going to mess it up again or get it out again. I replaced it with a new idea: that picking up after myself shows respect for myself, my environment, and my family. Putting away my tools and materials shows respect for my work and my craft. Being mindful and careful in everything I do elevates even my everyday work to art. I started to accept that I'm not going to be able to do every cool thing I want to do, and that I do need to just pick a few things and focus, and I will be happier finishing something, that doing multiple things and never finishing them.
Well, a few nights ago, I tackled the piles on the kitchen table and around my workspace. And they're gone. I have a load of stuff waiting to go to goodwill/a clothing swap this week. And then they're gone. All the piles are gone.
Now that everything has a place, picking up is so easy for anyone to do. We can decorate a little - hang up some art, get a houseplant.
I think we could trim down just a tiny little more - I think that Crayfish's idea that storage should only be 70% full for ideal usability and I think that's true for us.
But I just wanted to jump for joy today when I woke up and walked out into our living room and saw that it was "a mess" because DD had pulled some fabric out of a basket and put it on the floor. That was our mess! It was cleaner than our clean two months ago, where everything was swept and picked up and there were still piles and piles of fabric, papers, books, and god knows what.
I know where all my materials are when I want to create something. I don't hang on to every little thing because I "might be able to use it" - I let a lot of that go so that it could find someone else who would use it, instead of languishing in a box in my house because I thought it had potential.
So now comes the hard part, or maybe it'll be the easy part: maintaining all our new habits and refraining from bringing more stuff into the house.
Recently, I decided that if I wanted a radical change in our family's environment, I was the one holding us back. So I'd have to make a radical change in myself.
So for the past four months, I've been working on it. Cleaning stuff out, donating, trashing. Saying good bye to stuff I didn't really use. Organizing papers I was afraid to look at. Getting into a laundry routine. Learning to pick up after myself. DP began putting his dirty clothes in the basket instead of leaving them on the floor where ever he took them off. Taking his dishes to the sink. He hung up his instruments and organized his cables. He threw out clothes that didn't fit him and we agreed to get him some stuff that would. We both found places for everything. I began doing dishes right away instead of letting them build up. I got rid of lots of dishes so I didn't have to wash so many. He hung up curtain rods so I could hang up curtains. I should have subtitled this, "A love story." We've been inspiring each other to keep stuff neat, building new habits, and decreasing our tolerance for mess.
In the process of all this, I also got rid of the idea that picking stuff up or putting stuff away was a waste of my time because I was just going to mess it up again or get it out again. I replaced it with a new idea: that picking up after myself shows respect for myself, my environment, and my family. Putting away my tools and materials shows respect for my work and my craft. Being mindful and careful in everything I do elevates even my everyday work to art. I started to accept that I'm not going to be able to do every cool thing I want to do, and that I do need to just pick a few things and focus, and I will be happier finishing something, that doing multiple things and never finishing them.
Well, a few nights ago, I tackled the piles on the kitchen table and around my workspace. And they're gone. I have a load of stuff waiting to go to goodwill/a clothing swap this week. And then they're gone. All the piles are gone.
Now that everything has a place, picking up is so easy for anyone to do. We can decorate a little - hang up some art, get a houseplant.
I think we could trim down just a tiny little more - I think that Crayfish's idea that storage should only be 70% full for ideal usability and I think that's true for us.
But I just wanted to jump for joy today when I woke up and walked out into our living room and saw that it was "a mess" because DD had pulled some fabric out of a basket and put it on the floor. That was our mess! It was cleaner than our clean two months ago, where everything was swept and picked up and there were still piles and piles of fabric, papers, books, and god knows what.
I know where all my materials are when I want to create something. I don't hang on to every little thing because I "might be able to use it" - I let a lot of that go so that it could find someone else who would use it, instead of languishing in a box in my house because I thought it had potential.
So now comes the hard part, or maybe it'll be the easy part: maintaining all our new habits and refraining from bringing more stuff into the house.