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Organization Is the Key to Happiness

Do you come home every night and feel a bit guilty about the stacks and piles of clutter? Is something blocking your creativity or the get-up-and-go you need for all your household projects? Does your energy feel “stuck” in certain rooms, even impeding a good night’s sleep in your own bed? Is your desk or workstation hopelessly cluttered? Do you go out or order in dinner all the time, not even wanting to cook in your own kitchen? If any of this rings true, I wrote this book for you.

Your home and office should feel like a sanctuary. We should be able to walk in the front door and immediately feel a sense of comfort, refuge, and safe haven. There are lots of things you can do, both large and small, that will make a tangible difference in the way your home feels and functions. Getting rid of anything you no longer use will increase the functionality of your home by making it easier to clean, increase orderliness, and improve energy. I made a breakthrough discovery two years ago when I decided to unpack boxes I had never opened since moving in six years before. While they were tucked away, unseen in the basement storage area, I knew they were there. One weekend, I decided to take the plunge and open those boxes. Going through our things can be an emotional experience; I remember finding a card from a friend who had passed away and immediately becoming misty-eyed. Powered by a triple latte, I plowed through the boxes and placed objects into three designated areas: Donate, Trash, and Keep. The goal was to have as little in the “Keep” zone as possible. I am proud to say that even less was in the trash, and that was only a few items that had broken during the move. “Donate” became several carloads to the Recycle and Reuse Center. Once I got the knack of it, most of the “Keep” pile ended up there, too. After the whirl of activity, something unexpected happened: I felt suddenly very buoyant and much lighter. I realized those unopened boxes had caused an invisible cloud of guilt; they had weighed me down. When the cloud lifted, I experienced a kind of effervescent joy. It was simply wonderful. I ask you, what might be holding you back from being utterly happy at home or at work?

If managing your life feels like a war, then half of every battle is getting things in order. For me, it’s no fun at all. I have this nagging feeling that I have two lives going on simultaneously: the fun stuff and the rest of it. For example, I love to cook but despise washing dishes. I love the feeling of paying off the monthly bills, but often can’t get myself together to do it until a week past the deadline, and then I feel miserable about the cumulative effect on my credit score. And any upheaval—a move, an emergency, or just getting a bad head cold—throws me for a loop. How did I let this go?! I ask myself, crazed. Why is my house filled with paper?! (One in every five pieces is really important, I swear.)

Well, it’s time for a detox, a deep cleansing, and a spring cleaning. Doing your taxes. Clearing and sorting your wardrobe. Getting rid of the magazines you’ve been unwittingly storing since college. What a wonderful release. Now, those are the big projects, and don’t worry yourself into trying to do them all at once. Just pick a project each month and do it a little at a time, or else set aside a whole weekend to blast through, whatever suits your style.

And for the rest of the month, take aim at the little, repetitive, everyday stuff. Work hard to make it a habit to sort your mail right away, clean out your pockets and purse every day, and dream up new ways to multitask effectively. Train yourself to make a difference in tiny ways all day long, and soon you’ll forget it’s an annoyance because when it all adds up, you’re way ahead of the game. If you can coax yourself into making the art of organization second nature, I promise it will serve you forever.

Find Your Focus

You may not be able to foresee what the universe has planned for you, but that doesn’t mean your own plans should be unpredictable.

SANDRA OLIVER

Sometimes I still lose my head, even though it is attached to my body. But if I’ve left myself a note,

I can usually find it again.

MARLO THOMAS

Detail is electric.

BONNI GOLDBERG

To know where you can find a thing is the

chief part of learning.

UNKNOWN

Only when your consciousness is totally focused on the moment you are in can you receive whatever gift, lesson, or delight that moment has to offer.

BARBARA DE ANGELIS

On clutter: chaos begets chaos in our homes,

and in our minds.

CAROL WISEMAN

A place for everything, and everything in its place.

ISABELLA MARY BEETON

Just before bedtime prayers, evaluate each day. Make plans for tomorrow that will move you toward your long-range goal.

FLORENCE S. JACOBSEN

Words are a lens to focus one’s mind.

AYN RAND

Most of what you obtain in life will be because of your discipline. Discipline is perhaps more important than ability.

CHRISTINE DARDEN

Never walk into or out of a meeting without

a clear agenda.

MARY JANE RYAN

Many a woman has a “to-do” list that resembles the phone book! Don’t overdo your “to-do” list. Keep it reasonable and keep it doable.

LESLIE ROSSMAN

Write out your problem on a piece of paper, stick the paper in a drawer, and close it. Do not allow yourself to look at or think about the list until the end of the week. By then, you may look at your problems differently and will have solutions.

MICHELLE STRONG

I don’t wait for moods. You accomplish nothing

if you do that. Your mind must know it has got to get down to work.

PEARL S. BUCK

Plan and Prepare

Look twice before you leap.

CHARLOTTE BRONTË

The very best impromptu speeches are the ones written well in advance.

RUTH GORDON

What I’ve learned from fairy tales: Invest in some good string rather than breadcrumbs. That way, you can always find the path back to the gingerbread house.

WENDY ST. CHARLES

Failing to plan is planning to fail.

EFFIE JONES

If one asks for success and prepares for failure, she will get the situation she has prepared for.

FLORENCE SCOVEL SHINN

Don’t agonize. Organize.

FLORYNCE KENNEDY

Plans are necessary to life and achievement in any sphere. But they should never overcome our powers of flexibility.

DIXIE MARTIN

Lack of confidence is born from a lack of preparation.

SHANNON WILBURN

Luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity.

OPRAH WINFREY

You had better live your best and act your best and think your best today; for today is the sure preparation for tomorrow and all the other tomorrows that follow.

HARRIET MARTINEAU

Winning is the science of being totally prepared.

GRACIE ALLEN

Preparation, I have often said, is rightly two-thirds of any venture.

AMELIA EARHART

Dream On!

Fantasies are more than substitutes for unpleasant reality; they are also dress rehearsals, plans. All acts performed in the world begin in the imagination.

BARBARA GRIZZUTI HARRISON

What the world really needs is more love

and less paperwork.

PEARL BAILEY

If we would only give, just once, the same amount of reflection to what we want to get out of life that we give to the question of what to do with a two weeks’ vacation, we would be startled at the aimless procession of our busy days.

DOROTHY CANFIELD FISHER

I want to so order my life that its impression, its impact, might always be positive and spiritually constructive.

DOROTHY BROWN

For the happiest life, days should be rigorously planned, nights left open to chance.

MIGNON MCLAUGHLIN

To stay ahead, you must have your next idea waiting in the wings.

ROSABETH MOSS KANTER

All the flowers of all the tomorrows are in the seeds of today.

PROVERB

Make big plans; aim high in hope and work, remembering that a noble and logical

plan never dies, but long after we are gone

will be a living thing.

LITA BANE

It’s never too late—in fiction or in life—to revise.

NANCY THAYER

Take Your Life in Your Own Hands

It’s true that life’s gifts come with responsibilities. When I don’t feel like cleaning up my desk or my car or my house or my general existence, I try to remember the people who would be desperate to have all the things I take for granted.

RACHEL CLARKSON

You take your life in your own hands, and what happens? A terrible thing: no one to blame.

ERICA JONG

Make decisions in a timely fashion—rarely does waiting improve the quality of the decision.

ODETTE POLLAR

This is a wonderful world for women. The richness, the hope, the promise of life today…are exciting beyond belief. Nonetheless, we need stout hearts and strong characters; we need knowledge and training; we need organized effort to meet the future.

BELLE S. SPAFFORD

When planning for a year, plant corn.When planning for a decade, plant trees. When planning for life, train and educate people.

CHINESE PROVERB

I don’t know that there are any shortcuts

to doing a good job.

SANDRA DAY O’CONNOR

I was taught the way of progress is neither swift nor easy.

MARIE CURIE

Some Helpful How-Tos

I must govern the clock, not be governed by it.

GOLDA MEIR

If only everything were as easily organized as, say, my shoe collection. And even that can sometimes be a losing battle.

SASHA MORROW

There are so many options, so much to do, so many demands on women. There is no point in taking one hour to do a ten-minute task, nor should we slap together an hour-worthy project in ten minutes.

ELAINE CANNON

Arrange whatever pieces come your way.

VIRGINIA WOOLF

A team is more than a collection of people. It is a process of give and take.

BARBARA GLACEL

Effective teamwork is all about making a good, well-balanced salad, not whipping individuals into a single batch of V8.

SANDRA RICHARDSON

Take just a few minutes each day to sort through any miscellaneous papers on your desk at home or the office, rather than letting unorganized piles multiply and grow.

GLADYS MORISSON

To achieve your dreams, remember your ABC’s: Avoid negative sources, people, places, things, and habits. Believe in yourself. Consider things from every angle.

WANDA HOPE CARTER

Keep things as simple as possible…nobody wants to reorganize their system of reorganization!

CASSIE LAWRENCE

If a problem has no solution,

it’s not a problem, just a fact.

BJ GALLAGHER

There are two ways of meeting difficulties. You alter the difficulties or you alter yourself to meet them.

PHYLLIS BOTTOMED

Adopt the highly effective SAW inbox system:

[“S” for] STAT (as in a hospital emergency room) means “do it now!” and is for urgent tasks with a deadline of today. “A” stands for “as soon as possible” and goes on your to-do list with doable deadlines. “W” stands for “whenever” and is only for ideas and wishes for the future.

ROBERTA LEFFLER

I always say don’t make plans, make options.

JENNIFER ANISTON

One way to keep control over the paper in your life is to get it back in circulation. Do you have a stack of magazines that you are almost done with? Take a few moments to go through them, and then pass them on to friends, a library, a school, a hospital, or a charity thrift shop. I have a magazine “trade” system set up with some girlfriends!

LILLIAN CRIST

Get a 3-ring binder with pocketed dividers for receipts and user manuals, and organize by need such as “birthdays,” “utility bills,” “credit cards and reports,” “computer info,” and most importantly, “taxes!”

NINA LESOWITZ

The most successful people in the world break big tasks down into doable pieces. If you have a major goal that feels overwhelming to you—slice and dice it. One step at a time and the mountain is climbed—now, doesn’t that feel great?

DEENA PATEL-WINE

I make the most of all that comes and the

least of all that goes.

SARA TEASDALE

Never rely just on your smartphone or a file on your computer to safely store your mailing addresses, numbers, and email addresses. Just one computer crash or loss of your smartphone can render you helpless if you lack backups, whether to the cloud, a hard copy, or thumb drives in safe remote locations!

SUZANNA HARWELL

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