Quotes to Inspire You On Your Organizing Journey

Perhaps you have thought about decluttering your home but for whatever reason, you haven’t started.  Maybe your decluttering process is already underway but for some reason you feel stuck. No matter the stage in the organizing journey you are, it never hurts to get motivated along the way.

This blogpost is not a “how to declutter” or “steps to follow”.  It contains quotes to trigger your thought process, a discovery, or a change in mindset. I hope you will find some benefits from them. You can find a complete list of books and resources at the end of this blogpost. 

Disclaimer: I am not recommending any of these books, their authors or their publishers.  I merely love these quotes and chose to use them in my blogpost.

Julie Morgenstern: “Why Do You Want To Get Organized?”

Throughout Julie’s book, Organizing From The Inside Out, she asks the reader why they want to get organized in that space or in that room.  Before pulling everything out of your kitchen pantry and drawers, you need to ask yourself why you want to go on this organizing journey.  What is working and what’s not? How did it get to this state in the first place?  What needs to happen to avoid getting back to this state again in the future? How does getting the space organized enhance your life?

Barbara Hemphill, Taming The Paper Tiger At Home talked about the owner and the clutter and “Who’s controlling whom?”  Do you, the owner, have the clutter under control or has the clutter taken over your home and has control over you?  Although this book is focused on conquering the paper mountain, the question of control applies to all clutter.  Who should be controlling the clutter and what needs to happen to keep it under control? 

If your organizing goal involves finding inner peace out of the physical chaos, then what Pamela Ball mentioned in her book The Essence of Tao will be important to you. She wrote, “…Our environment must nurture us.” We cannot fully achieve inner peace if our physical space is constantly overstimulating us.  Our home must complement the mental space.  Declutter your home and let go of the stuff that weighs you down will bring forth the peace and joy that you have been yearning for.

Are you a perfectionist?  If so, then this quote is for you. In Brene Brown’s The Gift of Imperfection, she talked about the positive and negative aspects of perfectionism versus striving to do the best.  “Perfectionism is not the same thing as striving to be your best. Perfectionism is not about healthy achievement and growth…Perfectionism is not self-improvement.”  The decluttering journey involves identifying inefficiencies and mistakes, finding solutions to overcome these inefficiencies, all without judgements or blame. Trained professional organizers like myself are there to help you make improvements, give suggestions, and simplify your life. 

Are you a procrastinator?  If so, then Benjamin Franklin’s quote, “You may delay, but time will not” may help face the reality. Remind yourself what matters most.  Do you rather feel overwhelmed with all the stuff in your home and stay in “not now, I will do it later” mode? Or do you prefer to feel abundance in your heart and have more time to spend on what you’d rather be doing.

If you are having a tough time making decisions on whether to keep something or to let it go, consider this quote from Lysa Terkeurst: “Whenever you say yes to something, there is less of you for something else.  Make sure your yes is worth the less.”  It is an opportunity cost that you must evaluate.  Is it worth it for you to keep this item so you will have less of something else? 

If you are spending way too much time on social media and other latest apps, and looking to declutter digitally, here’s an idea from Cal Newport, author of Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World, that will inspire you:

Instead of mindless scrolling and overstimulate your mind with useless, unimportant ideas from other people, change your mindset so that you see “new technologies simply as tools that you can deploy selectively”.  Listen to your own ideas, read quality books, and learn something new. Have meaningful conversations with your friends and family in person instead of over emails/text messages.

Finally, I’d like to end with my favourite quote from The Minimalists, “Love people and use things because the opposite never works.”

Sources:
Organizing From The Inside Out by Julie Morgenstern
Taming The Paper Tiger At Home by Barbara Hemphill
The Essence of Tao by Pamela Ball
The Gift Of Imperfection by Brene Brown
Goodreads.com
The Best Yes: Making Wise Decisions In The Midst Of Endless Demands by Lysa Terkeurst
Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport