Here are some wonderful responses from our members regarding the "Analyzing" message. Karen
I think I suffer from a little bit of all of these at one time or another. Right now it's most of them at once. Frankly, I've found that too much clutter is burdensome and draining. It takes energy (both physical and emotional) to maintain all this stuff. You are right when you say we'll have more peace of mind when we get organized. I've been hit by several whammies as my daughter moved back home with all her gear from college and I've brought home a bunch of "treasures" from my mother as she is downsizing into a one level condo. It looks like The Junk Army needs to come for a pick-up!. I was surprisingly cheered, however, as I cleaned out my mom's home to put it on the market. It looked gorgeous as we painted walls and reduced clutter but then it got past that point and I realized that some things "make a house a home." Mom's agent had her do so much decluttering that it really doesn't seem like "Mom's place" anymore - it's now a showplace. You certainly wouldn't say that about my home but I guess the goal would be to make it functional and "me". And I'm chipping away at the "junk army" pile. The wine rack I brought back doesn't fit in where I had hoped so it will either get to live in the shed for a while or I'll be asking you guys if you want one. AND even better our son just found an apartment so there will be a whole new room and closet for storage. Do you think a wine rack would look good in a bedroom? Maybe I can make people think it's a shoe rack or beanie baby holder.
I think I consistently prioritize other things above cleaning my messy areas, mostly because it seems they'll just get that way again tomorrow (i.e. dining room table and bedroom) or it'll take too long to even make a dent. I think I have convinced myself I just don't have anywhere else to put the mail, etc. except on the table. Maybe I could start putting mail in the desk in the other room but then I'd have to deal with that clutter to make room for the mail.... I can feel barriers of hopelessness and an 'overwhelmed' feeling keeping me from really making the change. Although, I do get inspired reading the emails, and I'm certainly thinking about it more...
I probably analyze my clutter every day in a quick way. Thank you so much for spurring me on in this area. God's Word has been the biggest encourager to me in this whole area of organizing and having time to spend on things that count for eternity which is people. These few verses are out of context but they always help me. There's a time to keep, a time to throw away in Ecclesiastes. Forget what lies behind. Do not store up treasures on earth where moths and rust consume. Throw off everything that hinders! That's my favorite.
I think you forgot an important reason for messiness: Things you cannot control. i.e. Husbands, children or DOGS. Sometimes you have to set your "standards" a bit lower even though it maybe temporary (18-20 years!)Did you ever wonder why clutter reflects the "messiest" person in the family? Sometimes you just have to be happy with--good enough.Did you ever wonder why when you get one "hot spot" cleaned up---for me the baker's rack--another one just seems to pop up somewhere else. Is it like a girdle? On a serious note, my baker's rack looks much better. At the townwide garage sale I picked up some tins and replaced the cookie tin and the dog food tin with new (not advertising Danish cookies or left over Christmas popcorn tin with dancing Christmas bears on it) color coordinated tins. I moved some of my most used cookbooks and my ceramic chickens over there. Now I wish I took a before picture so that I could send an after picture. Keep up the good work K & Ga and keep us posted!
I think I consistently prioritize other things above cleaning my messy areas, mostly because it seems they'll just get that way again tomorrow (i.e. dining room table and bedroom) or it'll take too long to even make a dent. I think I have convinced myself I just don't have anywhere else to put the mail, etc. except on the table. Maybe I could start putting mail in the desk in the other room but then I'd have to deal with that clutter to make room for the mail.... I can feel barriers of hopelessness and an 'overwhelmed' feeling keeping me from really making the change. Although, I do get inspired reading the emails, and I'm certainly thinking about it more...
I probably analyze my clutter every day in a quick way. Thank you so much for spurring me on in this area. God's Word has been the biggest encourager to me in this whole area of organizing and having time to spend on things that count for eternity which is people. These few verses are out of context but they always help me. There's a time to keep, a time to throw away in Ecclesiastes. Forget what lies behind. Do not store up treasures on earth where moths and rust consume. Throw off everything that hinders! That's my favorite.
I think you forgot an important reason for messiness: Things you cannot control. i.e. Husbands, children or DOGS. Sometimes you have to set your "standards" a bit lower even though it maybe temporary (18-20 years!)Did you ever wonder why clutter reflects the "messiest" person in the family? Sometimes you just have to be happy with--good enough.Did you ever wonder why when you get one "hot spot" cleaned up---for me the baker's rack--another one just seems to pop up somewhere else. Is it like a girdle? On a serious note, my baker's rack looks much better. At the townwide garage sale I picked up some tins and replaced the cookie tin and the dog food tin with new (not advertising Danish cookies or left over Christmas popcorn tin with dancing Christmas bears on it) color coordinated tins. I moved some of my most used cookbooks and my ceramic chickens over there. Now I wish I took a before picture so that I could send an after picture. Keep up the good work K & Ga and keep us posted!
I've spent some time during the past two days purging my childrens'school papers. I had kept files from the older children hoping that theyounger ones would find them useful. In reality, each child creates andstudies from his own notes. This has freed up a couple shelves. Myoffice is still a mess, but I can get to the second layer a little easiernow. I hope my husband doesn't hurt himself carrying the box to the curbfor recycling this week!
