How to Organize Yourself to Happiness

I love to clean! I was born under the sun sign Virgo, and like my chart implies tidiness, order, and trying to achieve perfection have been running themes throughout my life. The pleasure center of my brain is truly stimulated by newly vacuumed lines running across a clean carpet; it's okay, you can laugh. The term "neat-freak" has always registered in my brain as a compliment not an insult, and I tend to find peace and solace in creating and maintaining a clutter-free lifestyle.

However, over the years I have come to learn that perfection, as an ideal is not only fictional but also that trying to achieve something that does not exist will completely negate your happiness and lead to a feeling of not being good enough, Every. Single. Time. Guess, what you and I are already enough! However, there are absolutely proven benefits to becoming a more organized human on every single level, from your handbag to your heart. I hope to share the wisdom I've gained in shifting my perspective from "perfection" to balance, while also giving you helpful tips and tricks you can apply to your own life without having to learn the hard way, like me.

SPRING CLEANING FOR EVERY SEASON

When we take on any task we ultimately do so to get a positive result. While scientists and psychologists alike tout the many positive benefits we can gain from de-cluttering our life and creating organization, often times this can seem like a daunting task. The rewards in doing so are prolific and include achieving better focus, improving mental and physical energy, reducing negative psychological effects like stress and anxiety, and promoting a internal locus of control by turning your external world into something more functional both aesthetically and emotionally. However, often times its difficult to know where to start.

According to WebMD, clutter can make it harder to focus and decluttering your life in a multitude of ways will produce the positive results that were mentioned above. It's getting there that is the hard part. Or is it?

BREAKING LARGE TASKS DOWN INTO SMALLER ONES

Let's start at the very beginning, as Maria, from the cinematic classic The Sound of Music tells us, "it's very good place to start". Looking at the big picture can be frightening, overwhelming, and downright off-putting. The key to creating more order in our lives is to be able to enjoy the process just as much as the final result. Breaking large tasks down into smaller ones allows you to focus on one thing at a time and gives us the mental freedom to creatively focus our mind on the task at hand. To figure out where to start, you just have to think about what areas of your home, finances, work, or self are causing you the most stress, and begin where it makes the most sense for you to find freedom and glean peace. Once you realize you can make small changes in an area of your life and gain great results, self-empowerment will become the fuel that motivates you into moving forward and keeping the organizational train going full speed ahead into other areas.

Since we could all benefit from some organization in our lives, but would probably choose different areas of key importance to start with, I have broken these tips and tricks down from the external to the internal to give you the full macro and micro overhaul of ideas you can try.

ORGANIZING OUR SPACE: THE EXTERNAL OVERHAUL

HANDBAGS, HOME, AND KIDS TOYS....OH MY

One thing we all have in common is the world that surrounds us. The external and tangible that we interact with daily and exist within. As a stay-at-home mother, writer, and reseller, who happens to always be on the go, I have found having what I take with me when I do travel out into the world is much more functional and efficient when it's minimalized and organized into what I will need, could possibly need, and what I just don't.

Gosh, I wish that I had been better about this years before, I became so. The main reason being, that I always had everything that I needed with me, as well as everything I didn't, swimming around in the abyss that was my purse. I'm not sure how many times divine intervention interceded in avoiding that potential car crash that could have happened when rummaging through my handbag to try to find something I was looking for, like a blind-folded child reaching into a sensory toy box.

Something, I have found most useful in being able to not only organize my purse, but to make changing the handbag I use to match my look easy are removable bag insert organizers.

These, inexpensive, divider-style, multi-pocket carryalls allow you to carry what you need, and sort out what you do not efficiently. As the insert becomes your main source of what is now your handbag, regardless of the one you place it inside, you can switch bags easily without every forgetting where you placed something you need, as you put it in it's tidy little designated spot. I got mine on Amazon for under $15 and they come in a many sizes too!

Another few areas that are extremely important to get organized in are the spaces within your home that you interact with the most. A huge tip I have found helpful in doing this is GETTING RID OF THAT WHICH NO LONGER SERVES YOU! Sound like a mantra that you would hear at the end of your yoga class? Well, we will get to the body, mind, and soul regarding organization soon enough, but for now, this absolutely applies to the physical spaces in our homes.

A huge rule of thumb that I have learned to follow is if you have not used an item you own in 6 months, then get rid of it. You can do this by donating it, or even profiting off of what you no longer need, but others might. In fact, that is exactly how I got into the reselling business. If you want to know more about how to make what you no longer need, make money for you, I will share the best pieces of advice that work in turning this hobby and organizational tool into a business, below.

I find that beginning by sorting through what you no longer want or need and creating garbage, recycling, and resell piles is a great way to organize every space from your closets, to your kitchen, and your children's toys. Once, you have completed this first task, you may find that you are having fun with this and you are on a roll. Now, what do you do with that which you wish to keep? Make it easy to find, label it, and assign it a spot of it's own!

Using bins with labels in my children's toy closet, not only makes things easy to grab out for them, but also easy for them to put away which creates responsibility and shows them how organization makes life easier. It's a win-win for all.

A few of my favorite labeled baskets for kids toys, clothing/shoes, are these super cute ones I found below.

For the kitchen and pantry, I found using a similar tactic works best for me, by putting my food items in containers or baskets as well. The only difference in the case of kitchen clean up, is that it's much easier to become and STAY organized if you can see where everything is instead of having to read labels. That's why I love open baskets for larger items and snacks, and clear containers for cereals, pastas, and other slow or non-perishables.

ORGANIZING YOUR WORK SPACE

For me, having a small organized workspace in which I can come to apply myself best without the distraction that clutter creates, is key to my success. Again, it is in my personal and astrological nature, I suppose, that having everything neat and tidy before beginning any project will ultimately serve me well better than having to dig through a pile and have a sorting session before beginning to problem-solve or focus on a writing piece. One tip that I suggest is to become a minimalist when organizing your work space. If you do not need it any longer, file it away if you may need it again another time, or if you won't neede it get rid of it.

For example, when I am going to write an article or story, I only want to be inspired by and drawn into that which is going to serve what I need in the present moment to complete my task at hand. So, I wouldn't allow my desk space to be scattered with outlines for previous or future material. I would ensure that I had what I need and ONLY WHAT I NEED out to maintain my focus, creativity, and concentration.

In doing this, you will create more energy to put towards your work goals as well as feel in control of your own domain.

BEFRIEND YOUR FINANCES

In this section I would love to share the way in which my relationship with money and ultimately my perspective about money changed and led to a freer and happier lifestyle. About a year ago, I was bombarded with credit card debt, even while working a good-paying full-time job. My husband and I did not see eye-to-eye regarding spending or saving and how to go about these tasks properly to ultimately begin making headway. We were circling a financial hamster wheel that lead to stress and contention between us on every level. While this was happening within our financial life and spilling out on our marriage in the most negative ways, not one, but both of our HVAC units broke.

I won't get into detail, but it was a large fix that wound up costing us close to $5000 that we just did not have. When I think about this now, a year or so later, it seems unbelievable to me how we even existed this way. However, I never could have imagined the blessing in disguise having our units break would become.

The heating and cooling repair man and I struck up a conversation that quickly turned into a money management lesson. He shared with me the way in which he and his wife, as well as so many others, changed their financial lives from surviving to thriving by using the Dave Ramsey Plan.

While, this is certainly a plan worth researching because it changed our lives exponentially, I will explain a few key points regarding the general credo of how we applied the lessons to our lives to find financial freedom. The general idea is that "cash is king", and abolishing debt will inevitably pave the way to wealth and freedom. Guess what? It works! Within a year we went from being swamped with feeling there was no way to get on top of our bills to having zero credit card debt between us, owning our cars outright, tackling students debt, being able to double down on our mortgage payments, and creating both a sinking fund for unexpected fixes, a savings fund which holds enough money at all times to keep us afloat for at least 6 months if we were to find ourselves with zero income, and introduced us to the idea of investing.

You can start the plan no matter how much money you make by changing your relationship to money and your lifestyle in the ways that the plan lays out. However, one KEY POINT found within the plan, is to make sure that you designate a spot for every dollar. So, for example, now that we are able to use "found" money more adventurously because we have gotten to a point of a higher level of freedom, I have already decided that when I win my first Vocal challenge, that money will be going into investing back into CRTD stock. Why? It's exciting to be able to circle something back into something that believed in you that you also believe in and get in at the right time, before this amazing growing company explodes and it's harder to attain shares.

DISCIPLINES TO DE-CLUTTER YOUR PSYCHE: THE HAPPY HOMEOSTATIC HUMAN

Often times when we think of getting organized we miss the biggest piece of the puzzle, us! We are so focused primarily on that which is external, that we forget to prioritize the internal. This is why I choose to save the best for last; because without centering and creating balance in yourself, the rest of it won't even matter.

GETTING RID OF THAT WHICH YOU SHOULD LET GO OF, AND GETTING MORE OF WHAT YOU NEED!

In this section, I will share with you just a few examples of life choices that have become habits, and how those positive habits have become my lifestyle for mind, body, and soul wellness.

1. LETTING GO OF WHAT IS TOXIC IN YOUR LIFE

Pain is a natural signal we get from our minds and bodies that something is not right! It is a warning sign that is telling you to listen to your intuition and make a change. So, if something is hurting you it's time to be over with it. This can apply to tasks that need completion to stop weighing on your mind as well as it can apply to people who stifle you and your personal growth process. If it's not helping and it is hurting, then to hell with it!

Making positive choices about what you will and won't allow into your life is a way to create empowerment and encourages further successes instead of set-backs.

2. STOP DOING AND JUST BE: DEVELOPING A HEALTHY MEDITATION PRACTICE

Often times we are so consumed in such a fast-paced world that is full of stimuli, distraction, and the idea that we must be set to "go" all the time to achieve success but, this is counter intuitive thinking that we have been negatively programmed with. Now, obviously creating goals and working to achieve them is important, but how can you expect to be able to successfully do that if you don't get into yourself before getting out in the world and putting plans into action?

By meditating you quiet your mind and learn how to take the time just BE. If we do this for even just 15 minutes per day we improve our mental health, psychical well-being, sleep, and notice a change in our perspective on how we see and interact with the world.

Personally, I enjoy transcendental meditation, lately. However, when I was first starting out I tried different methods to find what I liked and what worked best for me. Some find it helpful to stare at a flickering candle, to listen to music that is calming and wordless, or using a guided relaxation technique to decompress and center themselves. You can even start by getting in touch with and learning about your Chakra system and how you can get closer to the parts of your whole. A great meditation regarding understanding and aligning with your heart Chakra has been provided below. I created this a while back when I was first learning about the importance of spiritual alignment and how our body systems relate to us by exploring not only Western but also Eastern modicums of well-being.

3. MAGICAL MANTRAS AND SUCCESSFUL SELF-TALK

The way in which we speak to ourselves creates our mental goals that manifest into the reality of our lives. By taking note to consciously speak to yourself kindly, with strong belief, and become your own biggest cheerleader in life, you will find that your subconscious will begin to match what you are telling yourself and your dreams will start becoming your reality.

A good trick that I learned a while back when I was soul-searching and noticed how often I was my own worst critic was to talk to envision myself as I was as a child, innocent. Think about it, it's much harder to mentally and verbally accost or tear yourself down when you are speaking to a child, now isn't it? Remember we become what we practice most! Creating a loving, trusting relationship with yourself by affirming your worth through cultivating strong positive beliefs about yourself is the first step in becoming who you want to be.

While there is always room for improvement, learning, and growth in all stages of our lives, organizing our thoughts about ourselves allows us to practice discipline in choosing to water our flowers instead of our weeds. This allows us to manifest the proper harvest for our best health, home, and happiness.

4. REKINDLE YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH NATURE

If you were an 80's child, like myself, or experienced your childhood within the generations that preceded this time period, one thing we all have in common is that looking back, most of our memories were created in the great outdoors. Now-a-days it seems like technology killed childhood creativity and our innate desire to be in nature, like video killed the radio star. This has certainly taken a toll on the mental and emotional well-being of our youth generation as I read recently that the average elementary school-aged child has comparative degrees of depression and anxiety to that of an inpatient psych ward client of the 1960's. I found this to not only ring true, as I find my own children immersed in their technology sources to find some kind of connection since the days of riding bikes until it was time for dinner, or going exploring, creating forest forts, and adventuring in general seems to have been overshadowed with that which feigns instant gratification through modern day technology and it's promise to give you what you want when you want it. However, some of the best treasures are the ones that you have to go searching for! Now, I make time to ensure my family is off an outdoor adventures, experiencing the world instead of just looking at a screen watching other people do it.

I am not shaming technology, I would be hypocritical to do so. I personally use my PC for my job daily, I enjoy jotting writing ideas down in my iPhone, and I like the niftiness in which my favorite playlist can accompany me anywhere, effortlessly and pleasantly setting the score of my choosing to my life's tasks. However, there is a fine line we walk in allowing the technology to consume us and consciously making time to get back into nature!

Something that we humans tend to forget is how purifying just being in nature is for us. We can better organize our thoughts, naturally and positively enhance how we feel physically, and improve our mental state just by immersing ourselves in what is right outside our doors.

FINDING YOUR SWEET SPOT IN ALL YOU DO

In getting our home, work, and head-spaces clear from unnecessary debris that holds us back; we are able to live our best lives moving forward and the best thing about this is you can begin at any time!

SO FIND YOUR SWEET SPOT IN ALL OF LIFE...LET'S GET ORGANIZED!