life transitions Archives - Ellen's Blog, Professional Organizing for Kingwood & Houston

When life throws you a curve ball, you learn to organize the balls! When you are going through a crisis, such as our recent flood, your resilience comes into play. There may be a continuum of coping mechanisms. Your response to the situation can be a range of emotions. Here’s a bit of what you might be feeling, doing and experiencing when decluttering after an unexpected situation such as recent flooding. This is a continuation of life in Kingwood after the 2017 flood, better known as #KingwoodStrong.

Going through the initial decluttering experience

When you’re going through a flood, there were most likely people helping you. People showed up to support and encourage you. However, you’re in such a state of shock and so overwhelmed you may not be aware of what is being let go of. The goal seems to be to just get rid of things. There’s a lot of damage to your stuff and your property and you are not sure of what to let go of. Those around you may be more sure in their minds.

Sorting and triaging

In this next phase, you’re trying to triage what’s left. You remember you had some things, however you question if these items are still here. At this point you are assessing what do you have. Your emotions center on a combination of loss and gratitude. It’s time to organize what you have. You keep hold of what you have, knowing it’s all you have.

Assessing

In this step, you are wondering about what to keep now that you have less. Why do I have any keep things even if they’re damaged or broken or stains? Perhaps you think, “at least I have this.” You may be packing up your home for repairs and think I still have a lot or I don’t have much. It’s when real perspective change happens.

Final steps

The final steps may occur when your home is complete or you have decided to move to a new home. The final steps start when you are making plans for your new home. The refreshing change you make is that you are now looking ahead. It’s time to assess what will be in your new space. You take a deep breath and are ready to make important decision. You realize that you can start to let things go again that don’t have a space, don’t serve you well or you are ready for someone else to benefit from the items.

Living in a flooded community, if you did not flood

I must add a short passage for those who did not flood and supported others. Your compassion and empathy make a difference for those who flood. As you support others in this experience, you are learning and assessing as well. While you did not experience loss, you may feel that now is the best time to declutter given it could have been you. Seize the opportunity while you are motivated to declutter and donate.

It’s a multiple step process in decluttering and organizing after an unexpected situation, such as a flood. You will learn so much about yourself, your partners, your family and your community. Stay strong, stay connected and seek support as needed. In my work with clients throughout the flood saga, our main focus is support. There’s much work to be done after 6 months post flood. #KingwoodStrong

Want to be prepared just in case? Here’s how to create a home inventory for emergency preparedness.

Clutter can overtake us quickly. We are busy living life, attending to our family and doing what we do. We grieve a loss. We transition into the next phase of life. All of a sudden we look around and there is clutter in our home, office, and head. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed and helpless. There’s a plan to put into place to help you declutter and get back your life. Decluttering after life transitions helps you move forward.

Making the plan

That saying, “Rome wasn’t built in a day,” applies to decluttering too. It may have been 6 months or 6 years that clutter has been accumulating. It may be more than one transition that has occurred, such as a loss of a family member, a new job and an empty next. Start by acknowledging that your life has been focused on priorities. Then step back and start making a plan.

Here’s some questions to ask yourself:

~ Who should make the decisions about the clutter?

~ Do I have a time line to get started and get finished?

~ How do I keep what’s most important but let go of what is not?

~ Am I ready to get started?

Once you answer these questions you can proceed

Taking steps forward

Start by making your work manageable. What makes it manageable can be creating your team, creating chunks of work or finding a new perspective. Creating a team can include your family or professionals. Leverage your team by knowing what do you want to accomplish and who has the best skill set to get this done. Create chunks of work by breaking the work into units of space, such as room by room, or time increments. Finding a new perspective can include looking for a treasure you have lost, finding money in your clutter, or taking a positive approach in that you make people your priority at the time your clutter accumulated.

Letting go

Your transition may include feeling of grief, shame or remorse. Let go of “how did I let this happen” and embrace “I am creating a new life.” As you work toward organization, embrace your new feelings of empowerment. Life transitions can open new doors for you and new options you have not thought of before. Letting go of stuff can help you let go of emotional blocks too. Life transitions require support. Support can include a professional organizer, coach or therapist. Decluttering after life transitions supports your new vision.

More decluttering strategies here.

Tag Archive for: life transitions

When Life Throws You a Curve Ball (Decluttering After A Flood)