The author addresses that it is very common for people to feel mentally bogged down by clutter, and that we feel if we reach perfect order in our homes, we will somehow reach perfect order in our lives. We want not just a simple, beautiful, logical house with a sense of flow, but also a simple, beautiful, logical life with a sense of flow. We believe if we are organised, our minds will be clear, we will be reaching our potential without being held back, we won't procrastinate, we will be able to focus.
And the thing is clutter does genuinely slow us down. After moving house almost a year ago I am still trying to find places for some of my belongings, and it gets annoying not knowing where things are and going through uncategorised drawers of mess. Losing things, forgetting things, tripping over things and being unable to move because of things are ways that clutter affect our productivity and flow.
But achieving order is somewhat like the pot of gold under the rainbow - an almost unattainable goal. The nature of the world is chaos, and things constantly come in to our physical and mental spaces that we have to deal with. Paperwork, half finished projects, dirty dishes and laundry to name a few. A lot of these things are also inconveniently difficult to sort. Effectively our whole houses (and to a degree our lives) are a drawer labelled 'misc' and we have to try and categorise and sort like with like.
But as almost unobtainable as order is, it is still necessary to try and get some form of it. For me, a messy house is like putting my brain in a blender, and I do feel much more peaceful when things are tidy. When there are piles of objects and unfinished jobs shouting -"do me!" and laundry lying on the floor looking not just unsightly, but also feeling like a reproach, my mind feels scattered. I find when things are put away, my thoughts also get tided away and quietened, and I feel more mental order and can think in logical lines instead of getting distracted.
One reason for mess is obviously an excess of belongings, and having a simple chuck out can be amazing for clearing our space and minds. Being a little ruthless with our things and only keeping what we need and love helps keep a purposefulness to our homes and makes sure the things we do keep are out treasures not our junk.
But you cant simply chuck everything out, as our houses are, in a way, external hard drives for our brains, full of memories in the shape of photos and objects, and chunks of our life in the shape of mementos, like insects preserved in amber.
Creating a wunderkammer (or cabinet of curiosities) to put your treasures in, and having a scrap book for birthday cards and ticket stubs etc. can help. Digitising things also can be a good way to keep things - I ripped a lot of my old CDs to my itunes and sold the physical discs on Music Magpie, keeping only the most meaningful ones to me.
I have recently found the site organisemyhouse.com which I am finding useful in attempting to find some mental and physical order in my home - it is still to be seen if I will reach enlightenment or not but at least I wont be tripping over things. 4 vital elements for staying organised is a list of tips on how to maintain the order once you reach it.
But achieving order is somewhat like the pot of gold under the rainbow - an almost unattainable goal. The nature of the world is chaos, and things constantly come in to our physical and mental spaces that we have to deal with. Paperwork, half finished projects, dirty dishes and laundry to name a few. A lot of these things are also inconveniently difficult to sort. Effectively our whole houses (and to a degree our lives) are a drawer labelled 'misc' and we have to try and categorise and sort like with like.
But as almost unobtainable as order is, it is still necessary to try and get some form of it. For me, a messy house is like putting my brain in a blender, and I do feel much more peaceful when things are tidy. When there are piles of objects and unfinished jobs shouting -"do me!" and laundry lying on the floor looking not just unsightly, but also feeling like a reproach, my mind feels scattered. I find when things are put away, my thoughts also get tided away and quietened, and I feel more mental order and can think in logical lines instead of getting distracted.
One reason for mess is obviously an excess of belongings, and having a simple chuck out can be amazing for clearing our space and minds. Being a little ruthless with our things and only keeping what we need and love helps keep a purposefulness to our homes and makes sure the things we do keep are out treasures not our junk.
But you cant simply chuck everything out, as our houses are, in a way, external hard drives for our brains, full of memories in the shape of photos and objects, and chunks of our life in the shape of mementos, like insects preserved in amber.
Creating a wunderkammer (or cabinet of curiosities) to put your treasures in, and having a scrap book for birthday cards and ticket stubs etc. can help. Digitising things also can be a good way to keep things - I ripped a lot of my old CDs to my itunes and sold the physical discs on Music Magpie, keeping only the most meaningful ones to me.
I have recently found the site organisemyhouse.com which I am finding useful in attempting to find some mental and physical order in my home - it is still to be seen if I will reach enlightenment or not but at least I wont be tripping over things. 4 vital elements for staying organised is a list of tips on how to maintain the order once you reach it.