Organize
She looks well to how things go in her household, and the bread of idleness (gossip, discontent, and self-pity) she will not eat.
—Proverbs 31:27
When my surroundings are organized, I feel organized. Likewise, when they are disorganized and cluttered, I feel the same way. My life feels very complicated if I don’t keep my schedule organized as well as my home, clothes closet, work space, and… the list can keep going. In an effort to simplify my life and relieve stress, I decided I needed to be more organized, especially in the mornings. Getting out of the house on time in the mornings has been quite a challenge and if I do manage to leave on time, I am usually rushing, making me feel hot, irritable, and definitely not in a positive mood for starting the day! I finally decided a while back I would take some time the night before and pick out my clothes for the next day including shoes, purse, and jewelry. I now make a list of what I need to leave the house with and get as much of it together ahead of time as possible.
By doing these things in the evening when I do have time, my mornings are simpler and more relaxed. Starting the day all stressed out is not a good choice. If we begin that way, sometimes it can stay like that all day. We have kicked everything off in high gear to get going, and it seems virtually impossible to shift to a slower gear once that happens.
Recently I was leaving on a three-week trip, which requires a lot of getting ready; and with this particular trip, we were on a shorter timeline than usual so it was even more vital for me to be really organized. We had two people coming at 6:00 a.m. the next morning to help us get everything loaded and to the airport. I had a lot of last-minute instructions to give them so I decided I would call each of them the night before and give them their list of duties so I did not have to deal with all those details in addition to getting ready myself the next morning. As it happened, one of them overslept and was late, but because I had covered so many of the details the previous evening we still got out on time and without feeling stressed. I also spent plenty of time getting all of my personal items packed throughout the week instead of rushing around at the last minute. Because I planned ahead, I was able to stay organized and it was a much different result than it could have been.
Some people say, “I’m just not organized.” But I think anyone can be if they get a plan and discipline themselves to stick to it. Not leaving everything to the last minute is one of the first rules of being organized, so I suggest you start there and grow. You’ll be amazed at how much you can accomplish and how good you’ll feel doing it.