Three weeks ago we began a small renovation project in our house on our downstairs laundry and bathroom. What does that have to do with control you might ask?
Well, I have had a very interesting revelation in the last week or so. Let me start at the beginning. As you can imagine, my house is pretty darn neat and tidy pretty much all the time. It has always been that way and I feel that because I am a Professional Organizer now I am obligated to practice what I preach so it’s just something I work on every day.
As you can imagine, with a renovation going on, chaos has ensued. The only rooms that are untouched by clutter and things being where they don’t belong are the master bedroom and bath, the kitchen. and my office. That means that the sitting room, living room, and the entire downstairs are a disaster. Dirt gets tracked through the entire house every day and we attempt to clean it up. The downstairs bathroom is completely torn apart down to the stud walls and concrete floor and there is a huge pile of garbage building up outside the house.
So, here’s my discovery. I am a bit of a control freak – no surprise to many of you I’m sure! However, because I have no control over my house and won’t for another 2 or 3 weeks I am having trouble concentrating on work and relaxing when I’m not working. Now I know how many of my clients must feel every single day. Somehow having an organized home and office allows many of us to feel that we have some control over our lives. And the reverse is also true. When we feel our lives are out of control it tends to manifest itself in the external chaos in our homes and offices.
Therefore, my conclusion is that I feel in control of my entire life because I am able to keep my home and office tidy, have a place for everything, feel more focused and relax when I need to. If your life is out of control on all fronts, perhaps getting even one room in your home organized or tackling your office, will help you regain control of your life and have a positive impact in many other ways.
