Putting order into belongings brings control to life

When I cannot bear outer pressures any more, I begin to put order in my belongings…as if unable to organize and control my life, I seek to exert this on the world of objects. – Anais Nin

With my first day of unemployment under my belt, I must confess, it felt much like a Saturday where I spent the day just doing normal stuff.  Guess that's appropriate, since it was Saturday.  If that's what unemployment is like, I'm not going to be much of a fan!  I prefer getting things done versus wasting time.  Thinking back about yesterday, I don't know that I was mentally up for getting a lot done.  I did give myself permission to take the break, and that's okay!  But...I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to like unemployment.  I don't know many of my co-workers who are really looking forward to it.  Unemployment in our situation was due to the company closing, so in a sense it is an outer pressure on life.  The time leading up to the closing preoccupied my energy so I didn't focus on things, only thoughts about the unknown future and all the loose ends that had to be tied up.  That's a perfect formula for out of control objects!

As I mentioned yesterday, my "to-do list" has 27 projects on it.  I revisited the list this morning to see what items on it are really about getting belongings organized versus outer pressures.  There are some themes to how I recorded items on the list.  I'm going to make completing the items on the list a little more fun and dream along the way.  After all, what better time to look at life from a new perspective than when you've been blessed with time you didn't know you'd have available?

I'm going to reorganize my list into tasks that could be accomplished by certain roles (aka jobs/positions) that I have either really loved from my past positions or roles that I have always dreamed of doing.  A job search is a perfect time to look at what you really want to do versus just what you know you can do or have done.  What part of those roles do you love doing?  Focus on those.  What part of the roles did you hate doing?  Downplay those on your resume and don't look at those positions as you apply for jobs.  I have always loved organizing.  In fact, I've researched many times about being a "Professional Organizer".  I've also always loved coordinating things.  Yes, I do have quite a few things on my list that need coordinating.  I love how things intertwine and work together, kind of like the operations of a department of company.  I wonder if my husband will enjoy my tweaking the household operations?  I'll have to be careful in my approach to stepping into that zone.  Now I'm getting too far off track and trying to accomplish too much!  That's the dreamer in me!

I chose the quote above today for a reason.  The objects in my life got out of control while the outer pressures consumed my thoughts.  Now I have time to organize objects.   So that's where I'm going to start. I'm going to approach it as if I was a Professional Organizer that I hired.  If I don't, I might just fall into an emotional wreck.  A professional organizer recognizes the emotions behind things, but isn't attached to the items like the person who hired them to assist.  I think this is a good time to revisit my favorite organizing book and author.  But first...a trip to the treadmill and a few more chapters with Stephanie Plum and Lulu are in order.

Yes...a little dreaming and a little organizing of objects is just what I need to keep my head in the game of moving out of unemployment!

This is my favorite organizing book!