“Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.” -Helen Keller

I'm back!
It was a well-needed respite.
In the meantime, I've done a lot of things that needed to be done.

For one thing, I've made a few decisions.

1) The decision to do a blog post every morning was overly ambitious.  I see that now.  So, I've decided to be more realistic.  I want to send the blog out every Monday, and possibly one or two in between.  But I think I can commit to Mondays.  (We'll see!)

2) When I first decided to send out the blog, I wanted to send something short and inspirational every day.  Kind of like the TUT (Thoughts are Things) daily post.  It turned into a long, outpouring from my heart.  I loved writing to you, and from the feedback I received, you were loving receiving it.  For that I'm thankful.  I don't know how I'm going to structure the posts.  I'll keep trying things... something will fit.

3) I don't know how to work this program so that I can receive comments.  I'm going to try and fix that, or find a service that's more interactive.  The feedback helps.  But here's the amazing surprise.  2,153 people have read the blog!  Isn't that amazing?!!!  When I found out, I was so humbled that I made a commitment to start again.  For those of you who have read it / are reading it... Thank you!!!

4) I've decided to start each blog post with a quote.  So, if you have a favorite (preferably inspirational) quote that you'd  like for me to use, I'd love to receive it!  Please send it to me at: marshasims@sortitout.net.

5) You may know that I've created a program that's $27 per month. If you are struggling financially but still need to get organized, you may want to know about it.  Please feel free to check it out on my website: www.sortitout.net.

Now for the post:

“Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.” -Helen Keller

When we look around in our homes and feel a sense of despair and hopelessness, from that standpoint it's virtually impossible to organize.

We can't see possibilities.  We can't visualize.  We can't muster up the enthusiasm and ideas we need to get started.  We can barely put things in the correct areas.

In order to organize, we need to feel a sense of optimism.  But how do we achieve a sense of optimism, when we are looking into a sea of clutter and disorganization?

Two ways:

1) We have to organize from a "clean" perspective.  That's why I recommend using boxes temporarily to create a sense of order.  We're not organizing, we're simply creating the environment that will allow us to feel better enough that we can organize.  When your home looks neat, you'll feel inspired.  When it looks "junky," you'll feel demoralized.

But... what if you already have boxes from the last time you tried to organize, and the time before?  Well... that doesn't mean that boxing up things was the wrong thing to do.  It just means that you didn't follow through and empty the boxes once you had a neat environment.  You didn't do the next step.

I'll tell you the next step in a future post, but for now, boxes will allow you to create the environment that will allow you to think better and feel better, so that you can begin organizing.

2) "Act as if..."  Act as if your home were neat and organized.  If your table was completely cleared off, would you lay something on it?  No, you wouldn't, because you wouldn't want to mess it up.  If your clothes were all hung up neatly in the closet, would you take off your outfit and crumple it on the floor in a pile?  No, you wouldn't, because you wouldn't want to mess it up.  If your kitchen counters were clean and tidy, would you bring in the mail and pile it on the counter?  Again, you wouldn't.

If you "act as if," meaning to put yourself in the mindset of already having an organized home, you will start to change your behavior.  Acting as if will give you a sense of hope, and will give you the confidence to start thinking about how you want to live, and what you want for yourself.

The first step in organizing is to visualize.  What better way to visualize than by feeling optimistic, hopeful, and confident!

Try these ideas, and let me know how they work for you!

Happy organizing!

Marsha
marshasims@sortitout.net