Out of Chaos an organizing newsletter
How Big is Your Life?
As a professional organizer, I have been privy to some of the most interesting lives and their underbellies. Yes, often they are chaotic. But it strikes me that the very thing that makes my clients lives so unruly is what just what makes their lives so great. And by great, I mean big, expansive, full and messy. And thus, I am called and I impose my order the best that I can.
Of course we all want to be running our lives rather than have our lives running us. And sometimes it runs us over and important deadlines are missed. But, given the choice, I imagine many of you would choose big and interesting over petite and perfect.
We all make choices in life. Some people have a low tolerance for disorganization, so they choose, consciously or unconsciously, to keep their lives smaller and simpler. Others may think they want small and simple, but in actuality, they make choices every day that lead to big and messy.
So, is it possible to have a life that is chock-full but doesn’t feel out of control? Maybe not entirely, but there are ways to slow the roller coaster down. Here’s how you do it.
Take an inventory of your time. Start with a list of your activities: the daily ones like work and taking the kids to school. Add in the social and familial obligations, the leisure activities that you care about, like theater or baseball or committee work. Include the activities you mean to get to, but often fall by the wayside, like dinner with friends or exercise.
Then you need to look at this list and decide if it is realistic. If you want full, go for it. Just do The Perfect Daughter a favor and plan for it by putting it down on a calendar. If you can’t fit it all in, you may have to weed an activity or two. Be honest about how long things take. Trust me: everything takes longer than you think. Block out your time on a calendar and it will be starkly apparent if you cannot manage it.
You can always take a brief hiatus from some activities while you evaluate your time. Try the morning exercise class or twice a month theater. See if you can find something to eliminate that doesn’t move you the way it once did and make room for the stuff that you are passionate about now. Once you streamline your day, or even try to streamline, you will begin to slow the roller coaster of your daily existence. Fewer activities means fewer decisions and that will leave you with more time to do all the many things you love to do.
See you at the opera!