Start noticing how you talk to yourself or others about your stuff or about your schedule, whichever you feel needs more organization.
Here are some metaphors I’ve heard over the years:
It’s like my feet are in concrete blocks, just dragging me down, holding me back.
Earth weights: my stuff is like earth weights, holding me down instead of letting me do what I want.
It’s all just like a monkey on my back. I can’t get move on to my hobbies and fun until that monkey’s gone.
It’s like an excavation. There’s an archaelogical dig going on in my house.
It’s a steep train ride to the top. I just don’t know how I’ll ever get there.
Now, take each metaphor and flip it. Make it a positive statement.
How would it feel, when your organizing challenge is under control, and your legs don’t have those concrete blocks holding you down anymore?
Imagine that. What do you see? How does it feel, that lightness? Whose in charge now?
Or the monkey. What happens if we feed him what he needs, and he’s not on your back anymore.
How does that feel? Can you picture him swinging in the trees and having even more fun than he was on your back?
Or maybe he’s walking alongside, or waving to you from the trees?
Anytime you’re organizing, it’s very powerful to think about “What will it be like when…” you’ve made progress towards your organizing goal.
If you’re a visual sort of person, can you picture someone chunking away bits and pieces of those concrete blocks? Can you see the holes?
And when you’re done, all done with your organizing challenge, now, how do you feel? How do you look? What can you do now which you could not before when you wore those blocks?
If you’re more into how this will feel, or your energy levels once you’re on your way to conquering that organizing challenge: Can you feel the difference in energy around you, when you not only discover something precious on your archaeological dig, but you also feel the openness of the space you’ve just cleared?
And having this metaphor, whatever yours is will let you more easily realize when you’ve made progress and when you’re done.
Because now, you’ve likened the organizing challenge to something else that is less tied to your stuff, less tied to the emotions of your stuff, less tied to who you are.
What will your metaphor be?
