What's Your Chaos Telling You?

The relationship we hold with our belongings in our homes is fascinating to me. After working with my organizing clients for the past 16 years – I've seen it all. I think our stuff can speak volumes about our personalities, values, priorities and where we’ve been. It can even show what’s going on in our lives and give clues as to how we’re doing right now.

Take a look around your house right now. Can you see your personality in the space? Do any themes emerge? Can you see a busy lifestyle or phase? Anything out of the norm? 

How do you feel about the current state? I've certainly seen a theme popping up in my house recently. Let me set the stage… 

Over the past month, I’ve been on a mission to completely declutter, reorganize, streamline and refresh every area of my life. Every. Single. Area. From my closets to my computer and everything in between, I’ve been burning it down and rebuilding in a fresh new way. On top of all of this, I’ve also got a complete bathroom remodel going, and had a plumbing leak that destroyed a ceiling and displaced a room full of belongings.

(A friend of mine dubbed this a “controlled burn,” like what’s done for prairie restoration, which feels like an accurate description. I’ll be sharing more on all of this in the future.) 

It’s not like anything was particularly difficult, but it required quite an investment of time, patience and brain power, and often learning about new resources or different options. As excited and energized as all of this has been, I've also experienced a number of waves of mental fatigue and downright overwhelm, which became very obvious by looking around my house. 

How I manage my stuff in my house changed. Let’s just say that there was a bit of an ebb. Things got messier and dirtier. I was slower to clean up after myself, and was often of the why bother mindset when it came to dealing with the floors or the dust with the ongoing construction.

There was a definite change that was the direct result of how much was going on. Even though I’d look straight at something that I should have picked up, and usually would have, I found myself actively deciding not to do it. So, what was happening within my house was a direct reflection of what was going on in my mind. 

Have you experienced anything similar?
Do you have any big projects going on right now that are impacting other areas of your life?

I knew that I was opening a giant can of worms with my very ambitious goals. And no matter how motivated I was, it was going to feel overwhelming at times. This wasn’t my typical downsizing or reorganizing. I was energized by the vision of feeling even lighter and having less to manage across ALL areas of my life. I hit the ground running fast with all of these projects.

With so much going on in my mind and in my house all at once, I knew that I had to double-down on the daily habits that would support my sanity. I had to be mindful of how I was feeling and adjust course as I went to make sure I was making actual progress.

So, you can see what I demonstrated in my own behavior, even though I've been a professional organizer for more than a decade and have always been an organized person – anyone can struggle based on what's going on in their world at any given time – it’s part of being human.
 
Of course, there are people who will say that they “need” to have chaos in their space, especially those who are creative. I’m not going to debate this or decide that it’s true for some and not true for others, but I will say that, in my experience, there’s a fine line between the effectiveness of chaos being true versus chaos simply being a long standing habit. 

I’ve heard from many people over the years that chaos and the clutter in their house doesn't bother them. They’ve settled into “that’s just who I am.” In these cases, though, it isn’t really who they are, but rather a habit that they’ve created.
 
A key detail in all of this is having the ability to recognize the source of chaos (internal or external), identify what needs to be done about it, do it, and then calm the chaos. In my case, I actively started the chaos, but I think it’s a lot more common that the chaos stealthily builds over time.

Ask yourself these questions:

• When chaos and clutter builds up in your home, do you notice chaos and clutter in your mind? What’s your chaos telling you? 
• Do you spend time clearing up the messes and loose ends left behind after a busy period, or do you get busy with the next thing?
• Do you take the time to be mindful about recognizing your patterns?
• Has chaos and clutter become a habit?
• Can you see your internal state of mind being reflected in your physical spaces?

Strive to develop the awareness to recognize and identify that uncomfortable internal feeling and to understand how it manifests in external ways. Use that external clue to help confront what may be really going on. Mastery of these observations will support you to find faster resolution and forward movement in your life with whatever goal or situation has presented itself.

My top 2 tips for reducing stress and overwhelm when you have a lot going on:

1. Take another look at your to-do lists, commitments and schedule. Figure out what can wait or what doesn't need to happen at all. It's easy to do things out of obligation or habit, so this mindful check-in can help clear some of that. It's okay to say no or change your mind.

2. Pick one area, project or type of thing to focus on and go for it. Listen to where you feel called to in that moment and go that direction, don't try to force it if it's not flowing. 

Here are 6 of my favorite daily habits that you can leverage to calm the chaos and avoid the mess and stress:

1. Start the Day with 15 minutes of Pick Up

Taking a few minutes at the beginning of each day not only sets a positive tone for the day but also helps you calm your space. As the coffee is brewing, empty the dishwasher, wash any dishes in the sink, go through the mail, put laundry away, or whatever else calls to you. This is about calming something, not getting everything done. Repeat this in the evening too. 

2. Get Outside for a Walk, Ideally in Nature

Your body was made to move! Getting outside for a walk everyday will do wonders for your mind, mood, energy, and, of course, your body. Build it into your schedule every day. Use this as time away from screens and to give your brain a break from your work. Listen to a podcast, audiobook, walking meditation or nothing at all.

3. Take a Midday Reset

By the time 1:00 or 2:00pm rolls around, you’ve likely already made a zillion decisions and stared at screens for most of the day so far, right? Set an alarm for 10-15 minutes and close your eyes to give your brain a few minutes to catch up on all that processing.

4. Set a Hard Stop for Your Work Day

Whether you work at home or not, set a hard stop for when it’s time to put the computer away. You’re here to live your life, not just work all the time. Plus, you’ll become less efficient as the day goes on, so why not go do other things that require less focused brainpower.

5. Clean the Kitchen Counter at Night

The kitchen is the hub in any home. Take a few minutes at the end of the day to load the dishwasher, hand wash any remaining dishes, put things away that were left on the counters, and wipe off the counters. Set yourself up for a good start in the morning. It’s such a great feeling to walk into a clean kitchen in the morning! 

(If you’re struggling with overloaded counters, simply start by focusing on the area closest to the sink and then branch out from there as you gain momentum with your morning and evening habits over time. If you’d like some more support, schedule a call right here and we can figure out the best way for you to get decluttered and organized.)

6. Stretch Before Bed

Add stretching to your nighttime routine and release the tension from the day! Not only does stretching feel good, it also helps improve circulation and activates your parasympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for your rest and digestive functions. You can easily incorporate stretching into your evening when you’re watching your favorite show or reading a book.

There’s enough chaos in the outer world right now. Wouldn’t it be amazing if your home and schedule were a bit more calm and peaceful?

If you know that something isn't working but can't quite articulate what it is, or if you’re struggling to figure out how or where to start, grab a spot on my calendar right here and I'll help you figure out the best plan to support you.

Enjoy the journey,
Julie