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Introduction

I praise thee, for thou art fearful and wonderful. Wonderful are thy works! Thou knowest me right well.

PSALM 139:14

When it comes to organizing, there are two kinds of people. There are Type A organizers, for whom organizing is easy and automatic. Practical, time-tested tools work for them. They’ve successfully (and consistently) mastered the use of three-ring binders, file cabinets, and pocket folders. Type A organizers are the embodiment of the phrase “a place for everything and everything in its place.”

And then there are the rest of us.

We want to get organized, we really do. Tired of feeling scattered, we buy three-hole punches so we can corral all those loose papers into binders. We buy boxes of multi-colored file folders in an effort to restore order; and we spend hours setting up filing systems only to be stymied by them later and revert to stuffing, cramming, jamming, and putting things in “safe places.”

We know that getting organized is a worthwhile goal — a life skill we should cultivate. We understand that we save time and energy when we can find what we need when we need it. We secretly (or not so secretly) envy our put-together, Type A organized friends who make it look so simple.

But for us, it’s not. In our best moments, we trust that we’re smart enough to master this skill, creative enough to cook up new solutions, and fabulous enough to make our homes look stylish in the process. In our moments of weakness, however, we wonder if we somehow got in the wrong line on the day God was handing out organizational skills.

And it makes us feel lousy. And maybe even broken.

But we’re not broken; we are wonderfully made, and we each organize differently. Traditional tools might not be a good fit for us, but that’s a technicality, because organization is more than just the tools we choose. Successful organization requires three components working together:

styles + strategies + tools = organization

Did you notice what came first in that equation? Styles — your styles, your very self. God has created each of us to be just the way he wants us to be. If we can tap into the skills and talents he has given us, not only can we organize in a way that’s sustainable, but we can also be the best version of ourselves. Instead of trying to mold ourselves to the tools and strategies we think should work, we can look for tools and strategies that fit the way we think and the way we organize. We can use our gifts, double-edged swords though they may be, to develop a life skill that saves time and energy and helps us to appreciate how wonderfully made we really are.

When we are organized, we can find what we need when we need it. We have systems that work, and we know where things go. We even develop a sense of peace about our surroundings because we feel in charge of our stuff, not the other way around.

Does all this sound just a little too good to be true? Then, in the spirit of full disclosure, I need to let you know that this is a process — one that takes time and effort. But organization is also more than a process. At its core it’s a feeling, one that ebbs and flows as we endeavor to maintain balance between the stuff that comes in and the stuff that goes out. It’s possible to look organized without feeling organized (as anyone can attest who’s ever tossed stuff into a closet when company’s coming), to manage the stuff without creating a system but, when we do, we cheat ourselves. When we feel organized, we worry less about how we look and more about how we function, which is what makes the process worth the time and energy it requires.

You’ve probably already figured out that the process in this book is a little different from the usual approaches to getting organized. The first step is to look at who you already are and what you already do — the gifts God has given you. Though at first those gifts might look like stumbling blocks, they actually hold the key to getting organized in a way that’s true to who you are. Organizing by STYLE (we’ll delve into that acronym later) doesn’t seek to change your styles but rather to embrace them and to use them as tools to form the foundation of a sustainable system of organization.

Reading this book is the beginning of a journey. Within these pages you’ll find tools and strategies that work for your styles so you can relax into a plan that feels like a fit instead of making you want to throw one.

Who knows? It might even be fun.

So, pack your sense of humor, leave all your preconceived notions behind, and join me on the road to organization.