Getting control of my schedule, to dos, and chaos at home has been an ongoing battle for me.

I crave organization and the calm and peace it brings, but I am not a naturally organized person at all, in any way shape or form.

I have to work really hard at being organized and be very vigilant about it in order to experience the calm and peace that results from it.

When I was first married, I read Making Your Home a Haven: Strategies for the Domestically Challenged and it has remained my favorite go to read for nearly ten years when I need inspiration for getting organized.

Even though I’ve read countless others books on the subject,  Making Your Home a Haven is the only one I keep a physical copy of on my bookshelf, and the only one I can really recall being incredibly helped and impacted by.

So while that book still remains my favorite book on organization (it’s been there for me through a lot over the years!) I recently finished a book that has come in as a very very close second.

A running theme between these two favorite books of mine is that in order to really get organized, you have to get your inner world organized much like you need to get your outer world organized.

Although when I was younger and much more naive I enjoyed the beginning of Making Home Your Home a Haven where this concept was discussed, but I really wanted the meat, the practicals of how to get my home together and so that was what I focused more on.

Well, years later I realize how absolutely important it is to get my internal life organized in order for my external life to be organized.

Which is why when I came across a book actually titled Organizing You, I was incredibly intrigued and bought it right away. I was so intrigued and hopeful  about it (and honestly feeling a little desperate about the state of some things) that it never even made it into my reading que as I just started reading it as soon as I bought it.  (I came across it after I read this review of a different book by the same author). 

So many times I have worked so hard and spent so many hours to declutter, to put things where they make the most sense, and make my surroundings as orderly as possible.  And then try to implement elaborate systems to make sure it all stays that way.

And yet time and time again I’d find myself slipping pretty quickly back into my old habits and ways that caused the chaos and disorder in my home, to do list and schedule in the first place.

I’ve come to a point where I really realize that no amount of organizing my home is going to solve my organizational challenges if internally chaos is swirling around in my head and heart.

And that is exactly what my new second favorite book on organizing is all about.

It’s about using organization to get rid of your spiritual clutter and all of the “shoulds” and “need tos” taking over your mind and keeping you from calm, peace, rest, and enjoying what’s most important to you in life.

And it is chock full of practical tips of exactly how to go about de-cluttering yourself and getting yourself organized first and foremost.

One of my biggest challenges has been keeping track of all the day to day tasks I need to do to not fall behind on things that absolutely have to have get done to keep the household running smoothly as well as the things I need to be doing with and for my children.

I found a solution in this book that I can not wait to try and I feel it has a lot of potential to be really beneficial to our home.

That solution is called chore cards and I am adapting them to my unique circumstance (which the authors talks a lot about doing) and calling them priority cards.

I have it all set up and have started using it and am still tweaking it some.  Once I get up and fully going with it I will for sure be back here blogging about how’s it helping me (or if I find its not working the way I thought it would I’ll be blogging about that, but I’m really hoping I’ll be blogging about how it’s helping!).

The book also really helped me with some practical ways to use my planner as a way to get things out of my head, written down and actually done!  As a result I’ve been spending a few minutes each evening planning out my next day and not just writing tasks down, but (gasp) actually planning out when I’m going to do them.

Which I know that sounds like such common sense but previously I had been stopping at the write it down step and then going about my day haphazardly with all these to dos written down and no actual plan or time specified for when I was going to do them.

So now instead of just letting my days happen and stressing about what I needed to be doing and when and how what needs to get done is going to get done, I’ve been facing each day with a written plan.

Since implementing this my days are going so much more smoothly and efficiently. Not perfectly, but definitely flowing much much better and more priorities and must dos are getting done and checked off.

I really loved the practical tips in this book as well as the authors tone and writing style.  Very conversational, very thorough, and very non condemning!  I did quite a bit of highlighting throughout the book.

The only time I did feel a little anxious and overwhelmed while reading was when she was outlining a way to keep track of the occasional tasks that need to be done.  And this was because, to be honest, I’m still just trying to handle getting the day to day necessities done and I was like oh my I am supposed to do those things too?

So I gave myself permission to go back to the section at a later time.  And the author really talks a lot about that too, not feeling like you have to do things, but figuring out what needs to be done for your life and your home, and nothing more.

In addition to the practical, the author also delves into some pretty deep heart issues a lot of moms may deal with.

One being anxiety and another feelings of guilt and like we’re not doing enough.  Both of these are big ones for me and she gave me a lot of food for thought in both of these areas.

The author definitely has a gift for getting to the heart of the matter and delivering the practical!

I enjoyed this book so much that when I finished it I missed her encouraging voice so I’ve already started her other book.

I’m excited to implement what I learned in this book for awhile and report back what is working and ways I’ve tweaked some of her suggestions to fit our life.

The author describes Organizing You as focusing on the inner woman, on truly organizing you as a person and I totally concur that’s what this book is all about.

It’s the kind of order and organization I’ve been craving, and I believe that by getting myself together, all the rest will follow.

If you are feeling overwhelmed and struggling to get organized, Organizing You is definitely a book I think you will find helpful.

*It is written from a decidedly Christian perspective (which lines up with my faith) but I did want to make sure I mention that in case anyone buys it and is caught off guard by that.

Let’s Talk: I definitely love a good practical book on organizing! What are some of your favorites? What tips do you have to share for what most helps you keep track of all the things you need to do and keep the mental and spiritual clutter at bay?

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