Book Profile - Outer Order Inner Calm

“If there’s a mess in my house there’s a mess in my head,” was something we saw on Instagram recently.” We are sure it describes many people, especially professional organizers. Gretchen Rubin best- selling author of The Happiness Project, has written Outer Order Inner Calm. One of her first insights in the prologue states “When I’m surrounded by a mess I feel restless and unsettled.” Many people can relate, studies have shown that most people need organized spaces in their home or work in order to function well and be happy.

Ms. Rubin’s book is a quick read. Basically it shares short helpful tips on how to stay organized. Nothing is complicated and to be honest the tips are basic. However, reading it, light bulbs go off frequently in our heads, with thoughts of how true, doesn’t everyone do this? Well obviously not. The book is a great reminder that we all have different priorities, and sometimes we need helpful reminders on the best way to organize our lives. There are too many great tidbits of information to review them all. Here our are top 10 decluttering and organizing suggestions from the book that we stress to our clients at House to Home Organizing.

Three Big Questions of Clutter

-Do I need it?

-Do I love it?

-Do I use it?

According to Ms. Rubin “if you don’t need it, love it or use it, you should probably get rid of it.” If deciding this on your own is challenging, you may want to consider hiring a professional organizer to help make these decisions with you.

Donate Quickly

So you have de-cluttered and all your donates are sitting in the hallway or garage waiting for you to drop them off. The problem ? You get busy and they may stay there for months causing more clutter. Try to move the donates out on a timely basis.

Ask Yourself, Do I Need More Than One?

Of course you need more than one charger and one pen. But how about screwdrivers, coffee pots, and rulers. Keeping a reasonable amount of necessities is fine. Try not to have huge quantities of items in your home as they will create unnecessary clutter.

Clear Clutter Before You Move, Not After You Move

At House to Home many times during an unpack and organize job the client could have saved money if decluttering had happened before the move.

Clear Off Any Offsite Storage Units

You know the old saying “out of sight, out of mind.” Storage units are convenient but can be costly if your items are left indefinitely. If you need a temporary holding place for your belongings by all means get a unit, but try to only keep it temporarily.

In Active Areas, Strive to Keep Surfaces Bare

You want to keep your work area surfaces clear, especially in areas such as your desk and kitchen counters. You will be more productive if you have clear areas to work.

Beware the Siren Call of Inventive Storage Containers

So many times we go to clients homes and they have tried to be proactive by purchasing storage containers before we organize. We can’t stress how important it is NOT to purchase systems until after decluttering. Quantity of items being kept will determine the proper containers to purchase.

Reconsider Gift -Giving

Gifts are wonderful to receive. Yet, how many stuffed animals, LEGO sets, candles, kitchen gadgets can one family own? Ms.Rubin and House to Home Organizing suggests purchasing experiences vs. stuff. How about a gift card to a show? Going out to lunch or dinner together? A gift card to a spa or better yet, professional organizing?

Store Things At The Store

We all get caught up in the common trap of purchasing things because they are on sale. So often we have way more than we even have room to store in our homes. Remind yourself that things will always go on sale. Try not to clutter your living space with an over- abundance of items.

Spend Out

So many times we fall into the trap of holding on to things are opposed to using them. Candles, pretty soaps, china, good wine fall into this group. Life can be short. Light your candles, open the wine and break out the good dishes when family and friends come to visit. Ms. Rubin states, “put things to good use, spend out.”

In conclusion, as the book states, “outer order is a challenge to impose and it’s a chore to maintain. Nevertheless, for most of us, it’s worth the effort.” When you declutter, donate, and organize properly you will see how you can be more productive, and save money and time. Most important, your “inner calm” you will feel from your “outer order” will help you to feel happy and less stressed, a goal we all aspire to have.

Outer Order, Inner Calm: Declutter and Organize to Make More Room for Happiness

By Gretchen Rubin

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Profile: The Happiness Project

Linda examines Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project and the book's organizing ideas. 

Gretchen Rubin, a former attorney turned author lives in New York City with her husband and two young daughters. Although not unhappy, one day she decided she wanted to be happier. She wanted to appreciate her life more, not lose her temper and be less insecure and melancholy to name a few. After soul searching  and research, she came up with the “Happiness Project.”

To start, she created her “Twelve Commandments” which are principles she lives by, and her “Secrets of Adulthood,” which are lessons she has learned while becoming an adult. Then she developed  a month by month plan of things to tackle and work on. For example, January was to boost her energy by exercising better, going to sleep earlier, de-cluttering and organize, tackle a nagging task and act more energetic.  February was to quit nagging, don’t expect praise, fight right, no dumping, and give proof of love. Every month consisted of insightful areas for her to work on and to help her take control of her surroundings in order to be happier. You will have to read the book to find out what she tackles in March through December. What stood out to us at House to Home Organizing was the correlation between happiness and reducing clutter.

Toss, restore and organize is the heading of a section in January.  Along with most Americans, she understands household disorder zaps most people’s energy. It can be exhausting to get home from work or your daily activities and start organizing. Gretchen writes that “ one study suggested that eliminating clutter would cut down on the amount of housework in the average home by 40 percent.” After evaluating her apartment she came up with what was the cause of her clutter:

-Nostalgic clutter (we call them keepsakes)

-Bargain clutter/freebie clutter (items found on sale or gifts)

-Conservation clutter (all the items you are saving because they MAY be useful someday)

-Crutch clutter (things that are used but in bad shape like old clothing with holes)

-Aspirational clutter (items that you aspire to use, but somehow never do)

-Buyer’s remorse clutter (bad purchases on items never used, Yes, we all have that in our closets and kitchen)

So Gretchen goes on a purge. With donate bags and trash bags she goes to work starting in her closet. “Once I finished the closet, I went back through it once again. When I finished, I had four bags full of clothes, and I could see huge patches of the back of my closet. I no longer felt drained: instead, I felt exhilarated.” She finds that having fewer clothing choices makes her happier and that too many choices can be discouraging.

One of the common issues we see in people’s homes is that they can’t find an item so they re-buy it over and over. In Gretchen’s case it was her thermometer. Simple solution that we advise is to always put things back where they belong. This way you will always find what you are looking for and will prevent you from over buying. She also enforces the “one minute rule.” She does not postpone any task that could be done in less than one minute. For example, putting away your umbrella, filing papers and putting newspapers in the recycling bin are a few areas she mentions. Along with the one minute rule Gretchen now takes 10 minutes to do the “evening tidy-up. “ “Tidying up at night made our mornings much more serene and pleasant and, in an added benefit, helped prepare me for sleep. Putting things in order is very calming, and doing something physical makes me aware of being tired,” says the author.

July is entitled “Buy Some Happiness.” Gretchen decides to indulge in modest splurges. She invests in strength straining workouts at a gym and hosts a party for her sister who is getting married. Being a writer she invests in some really excellent pens. She donates to charity, and buys some quality file boxes to store family photographs. Gretchen also has a blog. When she posts about modest splurges this is one of the responses.  “I hate to say it but I hired a personal organizer to deal with our basement. There was an ad on the bulletin board in the grocery store. My wife had been after me since we moved to deal with the junk down there, which was three years ago. I have never been so happy to write a check in my life. It wasn’t even that expensive especially because we ended up selling some stuff we had in storage in the basement.” At House to Home Organizing, we understand that hiring a professional organizer may be a splurge. However, people lead very busy lives and when they arrive home they are very often too tired to deal with the clutter. Hiring a professional can take stress and anxiety out of the picture. As we have discussed, reducing clutter can help lead to happiness.

In conclusion, Gretchen’s husband suggests that the happiness project is about her gaining more control over her life. Gretchen does agree. “Having a feeling of autonomy, of being able to choose what happens in your life or how you spend your time is crucial. Getting control of my life was definitely an aspect of my happiness project, and a greater feeling of control gave me a major boost in happiness.” After a year Gretchen realizes she “can change her life without changing her life,”  and ultimately she is really happier.

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Book Review - The Little Book of Hygge

Yes, the Happiness Research Institute is a real thing.

While we usually don't like jumping on bandwagons for this one we feel all right with our decision. Since Denmark is often ranked among the happiest nations on Earth the new book, The Little Book of Hygge should not be a source for just another self-help wishful thinking bathroom reading material. The book's author, Meik Wiking is CEO of the Happiness Research Institute, research associate for Denmark at the World Database of Happiness, and founding member of the Latin American Network for Wellbeing and Quality of Life Policies. While that may be a mouthful it is probably safe to say he is an expert on happiness. The book explores ways we can embrace Hygge (pronounced hoo-ga) to become happier through adopting the Danish philosophy of comfort, togetherness, and well-being. One of the central themes of the book deals with how we feel and those feelings have a lot do with comfort and loved ones. It probably won't come as a surprise to know you should turn off your phones and the lights and switch to candles and conversation.

Another one of the book's themes focuses on the simple pleasures of life. The core concept of living simply helps explain the book's length. As organizers we want you to be able to find what you are looking for and a lot of complicated organizing gadgets and systems is usually not the answer.  As a dreary winter dredges along bring a little light into your life.