It’s so much easier to start – and finish – a job if you are inspired to do so!
Find your Organizational Muse
Photo by Mike Barwood
Sometimes, it’s not enough to want something, or even want to do something. I mean, I want a tidy, well organized home, but have you seen the photos? Yikes, scary stuff right there. If that could all go away just because I wanted it to, it would have been done long ago.
Other things just seem to get in the way. Apparently, I want to hang out at a friend’s place rather than clean my own; I want to pick up a good book more than I want to pick up the crap in the living room.
You have to find out what really inspires you. Find out what you really, really want, deep down inside. Find it, and hold on to it. Having a strong motivation for doing something will help even the most organization-challenged of us battle our way through the tedious, boring, and hard work.
For me, right now it’s fairly simple: my new house.
My new house means a lot to me, beyond simply the dream of not paying rent any more. It represents a completely fresh start.
I want to be able to invite friends over without worrying that the entertainment room is a disaster, and I want them to feel as if they can drop by unannounced (Well, most of the time, anyway! ;)). I want to be able to see the results of my cleaning efforts, and not have them be buried under the caked-on, can’t-get-it-off-with-a-jackhammer grime of previous renters. I want to be able to bake cookies on a whim without having to hunt around for the recipe before I can even check if I have all the necessary ingredients. My current clutter situation leads to not having people over and not baking cookies, more often than not. Sigh. 
Speaking of my personal inspiration, it currently looks like this:
Front
Side
Back
Yep, it has a roof, and actually looks like a house now!
We drive by it every week to snap a photo of the progress, and every time we do I get so excited and happy. It’s very motivating. Every time I try have to work my way through a boring, dirty, or frustrating decluttering task, I try to think of that house – my house! – and the task becomes more manageable.
I want to do right by this house; it doesn’t deserve to have a slobby packrat living in it!
This is my reason. This is my Organizational Muse!
What is your Organizational Muse?
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Twitter Updates
Wow your house is coming along fast! So exciting for you! Are you planning to have a junk room, or maybe basement corner? While it’s definitely not something you *want* to have, seeing as you know you’re a pack rat, and know you tend to be messy, it might make it easier to keep the rest of the house clean… one of my best-friends dad’s is a serious pack-rate. He’s got his own room for his “stuff,” the only room in the house he’s allowed to be messy.
What an interesting idea! I would never have thought of that!
I’ll have to talk to my husband; we pretty much have every square foot of the place earmarked for one thing or another. He said I can be as messy as I want in my craft room because it won’t be his responsibility (plus it has a door to close on the mess if need be) but that’s exactly the place I don’t want messy at all!
I’ll have to look around and see if I can find space for a “messy” place!
Our first house was brand new! It was wonderful and I found that cleaning and organizing was a breeze. Then we sold it and bought a much bigger, MUCH older home. It is difficult for me to feel energized about cleaning a lot of it, because even when it’s clean it just doesn’t look it.