September 2023  by Sheologie

The Personal Approach to Organization 

Guest Writer: Compose Your Space

Peace, Passion & Productivity

Organization is a topic of conversation throughout the country and likely the globe. This morning I Googled “home organization” and 5,330,000,000 selections appeared before my eyes. Wow! That’s a lot of informationto absorb! Why is organization flooding social media, big box stores, and our conversations; and, how should Christians respond? Let’s explore together.

Each of us have earthly treasures. Items that bring us joy, evoke powerful memories, and things we utilize regularly as part of life. Stuff is consumable, right? Stuff deteriorates. Our cars break down. Our clothes get holes in them or “shrink” in the laundry. The cushions in our furniture wear out. The pictures we took in the past and the film we had “developed” are placed in an album or a box and then on a shelf collecting dust. The clothes we wore might even be placed in a box and stored for future use “when we get back to that size.” Sound familiar? We all struggle with stuff and our stuff can become clutter.

Clutter becomes an issue when it distracts us, when our time, talent, and treasure is consumed by the clutter in our home, at our office, or even in our minds. Matthew 6:24 states “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” Continuing on in Matthew 6 to the end of the chapter the word reads “For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is life not more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the sky, that they do not sow, nor reap, nor gather crops into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more important than they? And which of you by worrying can add a single day to his life’s span? And why are you worried about clothing? Notice how the lilies of the field grow; they do not labor nor do they spin thread for cloth, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! Do not worry then, saying, ‘What are we to eat?’ or ‘What are we to drink?’ or ‘What are we to wear for clothing?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided to you.

So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

If you believe clutter is distracting you from the important things, spiritual treasures, here are some tips and tricks to bring you back into alignment and focusing in those treasures that moth cannot destroy nor thieves can steal (Matthew 6:19).

Things to Consider on Your Journey

• Consider Your Flow: what does your everyday look like? How do you feel when you walk into the space you are considering organizing. What is Working? What isn’t Working?
• Write it Down: As you think about ways to solve the issues, write it down. What parts of the space do you like? Why do you like it? Ease? Comfort? Why do you not like it? Does it take too much time? Etc.
• House things where you use them.
• Place Like Items Together and ask yourself “do I have space for all of these things I want to keep?”
• What aesthetic do you envision? Should I use plastics or eco friendly products? Do I want to see things or hide things? What about labels? What is your budget?
• Evaluate: if your process is working or not and maybe have to tweak…. Sometimes it takes a couple of times to see what works well…it’s trial and error.
• Maintaining of the space. What does it look like?
• Buy in from the rest of your family or team.
• Everything needs a place…put stuff if place and see if it is going to work there before you buy stuff and then buy containers.
• If you get stuck as for help to be a second set of eyes. Sometimes you look at something for so long and you can’t see another solution.
• Don’t Stop… move on to the next project and use your momentum.
• Create a vision board.