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May 24 - May 24, 2020
When I’m surrounded by a mess, I feel restless and unsettled. When I clean up that mess, I’m always surprised by the disproportionate energy and cheer I gain,
By getting rid of the things I don’t use, don’t need, or don’t love, as well as the things that don’t work, don’t fit, or don’t suit, I free my mind—and my shelves—for what I truly value.
I’ve learned that by managing my possessions, I can improve my emotional attitude, my physical health, my intellectual vigor, and even my social life.
I know that clearing my papers clears my mind.
We want to cherish our possessions and we also want to feel free of them.
Once visual noise is eliminated, I feel more focused and there’s more room in my mind, my schedule, and my space for creative activity. Instead of being sources of stress, my home and my office are places of comfort and energy.
Our physical experience colors our emotional experience, and when my body is in a place that’s orderly, my mind becomes more serene.
Careful curation means that my space and my possessions reflect my truest identity.
most of my space is devoted to what’s important now.
Our rooms shape our thoughts, and our possessions change our moods.
Because our minds feed on the experience of our five senses, pleasing our senses raises our spirits.
when getting advice, we love to receive a precise, standardized template for success, and when giving advice, we love to insist that the strategy that works so well for us will surely work for others. But each of us must find our own way.
Some people are powerfully attracted by the promise of minimalism—and
promise of outer order is something that we can tackle on our own right now.
Outer Order, Inner Calm lays out the five stages for establishing outer order. First, we make choices—what possessions to keep and what to do with them. Once we’ve cleared through our things, we create order by organizing, repairing, and attending to neglected areas. Next, we reflect on ourselves, to know ourselves—and others—so that we can take those individual insights into account. Then, once the clutter is vanquished, it’s useful to cultivate helpful habits to maintain that order, so the clutter doesn’t return. The fifth and final step is to add beauty to make our surroundings more
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Clearing clutter is exhausting because it requires us to make choices—and making choices is hard. It takes intellectual energy as well as emotional energy.
Outer order isn’t a matter of having less or having more; it’s a matter of wanting what we have.
if you don’t need it, don’t take it.
ONE OF THE BIGGEST WASTES OF TIME IS DOING SOMETHING WELL THAT DIDN’T NEED TO BE DONE AT ALL.
She didn’t need to organize those papers at all.
Deep clutter is easy to ignore. In deep clutter, items are well organized and put away neatly, and to the inattentive glance, everything looks great—but, in fact, these things are clutter because they aren’t used, needed, or loved.
After we’ve eliminated the visible and annoying layer of clutter that lies on the surface of life, we can turn our attention to the deep clutter that weighs us down unnoticed.
There’s so much we can’t control, but we can control our stuff.
When people feel uncomfortable mixing not-dirty clothes with clean ones, they tend to accumulate clothes in odd places. If you feel this way, find a method for handling those in-between clothes.
clearing clutter becomes an exercise in self-knowledge.
certain kinds of order matter more to me than others.
Feeling overwhelmed is a reason to try to maintain order, not to abandon order.
A few beloved, well-chosen mementos can help us recall old times, but keeping too much stuff keeps us stuck in the past and cramps our ability to embrace the present.
Just because we’re busy doesn’t mean we’re being productive. Working is one of the most dangerous forms of procrastination.
People with backward-looking clutter keep items as reminders of the past.
People with forward-looking clutter keep items as preparation for the future.
Parents of young children have to deal with a lot of stuff, and that stuff often creates clutter.
The days are long, but the years are short.
Something you want, something you need, something to wear, and something to read.
Many people reach a point where they don’t want any more “stuff.” If so, give the gift of an experience rather than a possession, by taking them to a restaurant, cooking them a meal, taking them to a performance or an exhibit, paying for exercise sessions for them, volunteering to tackle a necessary chore for them, or the like.
UPHOLDER responds readily to outer and inner expectations.
We often underestimate what we can do in short bits of time—if we follow habits that maintain order. It’s far easier to keep up than to catch up,
But we need to be sure that clutter-clearing doesn’t become an excuse to postpone work on something that’s actually more important.
Sleep experts suggest that when people have trouble sleeping, rather than toss and turn and fret, it’s helpful to get out of bed for some quiet activity.
don’t stockpile more than you can reasonably use. Decide how many backups you need and don’t accumulate too many extras.
We have paradoxical desires for our surroundings. We want a sense of abundance and plenty, and also of order and spaciousness. We want to feel both calmer and more energized. We want a quiet retreat for privacy and also a convivial center for hospitality.
CHOOSE A SIGNATURE COLOR.
One of the most pleasant aspects of clearing clutter is that once we get rid of things we don’t use, need, or love, we boost our enjoyment of what we have.
Having less often leads us to use our things more often and with more enjoyment, because we’re not fighting our way through a welter of unwanted stuff.
And most important, we should be grateful that we’re lucky enough to have these things in our lives. An attitude of gratitude, even for inanimate objects, makes us happier.
To fight this familiarity, create a set of photos that are displayed only at certain times.
Even when things are in the right place, they may look messy and scattered until they’re contained in some way.
For me, focusing on “energy” rather than “joy” provides more clarity.
All this junk is an expression of love.
Outer order helps us to feel good: we gain a sense of rest, of spaciousness, of organization, of energy.
