Are you using the Marie Kondo book? How are you doing?
I said I'd share my experience of visualising the outcome of using The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying. The conversation with myself went something like this....
Why do I want to tidy?
Because I like an orderly environment.
Why do I like an orderly environment?
Because it makes me feel calm.
Why do I want to feel calm?
To balance the busyness inside my head. (I actually typed busymess!! Freudian slip there..)
Why do I want to balance the busyness....
And so on. In order to commit fully to this process says Kondo, you need to think more deeply than I want a tidy house. What I saw more clearly after this discussion with myself was that I get overwhelmed and stressed if both my outer and inner worlds are full/busy/cluttered/disorganised/clogged.
I'm an ideas person with lots of projects on the go. My head is very full!
My impatient self couldn't wait to get to 'click point' in the sitting room, just to feel what it is like. Let me tell you it feels great! The more I did it, the easier it got though I was surprised at just how much time it took. I fully accept Kondo's reasoning as to why you should deal with the sentimental stuff last, and so put the pile of letters upstairs with the photographs for now.
Gretchen Rubin in The Happiness Project wrote Outer order contributes to inner calm. I couldn't agree more. As I sit in the sitting room tonight it is silent in a beautiful way. Nothing is shouting at me, nothing, even inside the drawers and cupboards is niggling or nagging me. The woodburner hums quietly. So peaceful.
I love it, and the idea of the whole house feeling like this is exciting.
An important reminder - When she says quickly and all at once, Kondo means over six months!
I can do this.
Next - clothes, which shouldn't take too long as I cleared out and organised the wardrobe quite recently.
(There are more posts on this subject under Simpy Organise.)