What Organization Style Are You?

It’s January, time to set goals and organize ourselves. Admit it, after the business and clutter of the holidays, you are looking to simplify life. How’s it going? I know it’s only the beginning of January but I’ve been at this for years in our new location. In fact, seven years down the road and I can tell you a long list of what doesn’t work but little that does. But “Failure is success in the process.”, says Einstein and it is the springboard to growth. It narrows down avenues to try and toughens you up. 2020 was a dark, soulful year of discovery as after a lifetime of serving intently, Kirk and I no longer knew who we were, we both hit a paralyzing low.

For the first time that I could remember, I allowed my feelings room to manifest themselves instead of bottling them up tight lest they explode. I am notorious for my fits as a child. I’ve discovered an extreme sensitivity to sound, motion, colors, and objects. Kirk once sent me a picture of him in Japan on a business trip with a hat he’d bought and I burst into tears and deleted the text. A neighbor did a European mount on a deer for us and he put a shiny clear varnish spray on the skull. I burst into tears and couldn’t look at it because of the intensity of the emotion. Kirk sand blasted it off.

As I was visiting briefly with a psychologist of our granddaughter with autism’s and spoke of my adrenal crashes, he said I must be extremely stressed all the time. Not good for anyone. I discovered that I’m super sensitivity to color, motion, sound, and clutter. Yes, I’m pretty much a maniac who holds super tight to herself so she can “fit in” but is rarely truly happy. After a year of watching one You Tube video after another, trying many of their tips, I got nowhere. The path to success I’m learning is first discovering who I am, what I need, and want. In December I reviewed in my mind all I’d tried and came to realize why it didn’t work for us.

It was meant for someone who lives in a city where you hire vast numbers of people to care for you. Someone handles the garbage, food production on all levels, heat, roads, vehicle maintenance, and so much much more. With fewer responsibilities, allows greater control, you have more time to focus on entertainment and management of your life. It allows greater control. City dwellers look at the weather to see if they need to take a coat or umbrella when they go outside and we look at it to manage our entire work schedule.

I now get the point of the block time management videos, “Control what you can.” Past that I have to get really creative.

I keep coming back to the thought, where do I “belong” and not simply “fit in” and am accepting that that means often standing alone. This need to purge and organize is part of that, finding ourselves. It is a major step to creating peace. I’m on my third round of purging in the house and it has been mostly an emotional journey. Kirk, seeing how much I’ve gained from the journey, is ready for the next step of his.

Steps to organization success:

• Learning to let go of not only things but the dictates of society and inappropriate demands of family.

• We are deciding what’s important to us.

• How we want to spend our time.

• We are deciding on our focal points in life. You can’t be all things. We’ve tried.

I found a great blog post by (https://clutterbug.me/what-clutterbug-are-you-test) (Sorry, I need to figure out how to link with this new system) where she describes organizational styles which, why each personality type has a tendency to fail to stay organized, and how to succeed. I took the test and also studied each style though they were not mine. It allowed me to understand myself better and others in the family. Kirk is a Bee with Cricket leanings and I’m a Cricket with Bee leanings. We better understands why we hang on to things and have a tendency toward clutter. It’s a good start for we know what type of storage container we favor. We know whether to place our items on display or behind closed doors. Whether we favor lots of belongings or simplicity.

No matter which style or styles you are, the first step is the same, purge. It’s an emotional journey. For the first time since I was a child, I’m allowing my emotions room to express themselves and recognizing how tremendously sensitive to color, motion, and environments I am. I need less visible in a room, my cupboards and closets in order. I need to repaint the rooms allowing more flow and brown tones. Simpler, more natural, more open, and the focal point of every room needs to be the extraordinary view through the vast number of windows we have. It will take time. Everything will need custom built but at least I know where we are headed.

Take the test. Which one are you?

Bee – Likes to keep their tools, papers and other supplies out until they are finished, often piling them until they have a chance to put them away “properly”.

Ladybug – Surfaces are clean and tidy but your junk drawer is overflowing.

Cricket – You prefer everyday used items stored behind closed doors.

Butterfly – You like to have your everyday items out and very simple storage solutions.

Study each style as hidden beyond the test may be more than one style in your personality. I’m a cricket extraordinaire, (I’d organize Lego’s by size in separate bins if I could. Oh wait I once did that. My son wasn’t happy.) so remember others in your household with their organization styles or a mixture of styles. They may not be your own. In family areas of the home it is best to adjust to a style that is more likely to get everyone’s cooperation in keeping it neat. In their own personal space learn to help them attain the best they style can achieve. We all need our own little corner of the world. A Cricket in all areas of my complex life would be too time consuming so by studying each style, I’m purposely choosing to be a Butterfly, a Ladybug, and a Bee in certain areas of my life to create attainable organization. Yet, I need areas where I feel I’m tending the true me, the Cricket. This will be the challenge!

Purge by asking yourself:

1. Do I love it?
2. Do I use it?
3. Would I buy it again?

By doing this, you will discover who you are and where you “belong”. A tidy home is a sign that you have it together, physically and emotionally. Psychologists say start by cleaning our room and keeping it clean. Albert Einstein said that, “Failure is success in progress.” Start by purging. Purging eliminates emotions that don’t serve you, not just belongings for we attach emotions to them. When I’m finished, I will move on to other buildings on the property. It will free up time, space, and open up possibility. It has already become a blessing to others as items they need or want have come their way as we have purged. The New Year is a wonderful time to begin.