Good habits are necessary in order to be successful. On habit I struggle with is being organized. All my life I’ve had junk piling up all around me. Each year I clean up my mess and vow to keep everything in its place. This only lasts about a week. I’m sure many of you struggle with this as much as I do.
I’ve have this little plaque for years. Its message rings true to my heart. “Seldom tidy” is sometimes an understatement. This is embarrassing, but here is a picture of my desk as it was when I started writing this article.
As you can see, I have a lot of room for improvement. Sometimes when I write I like to move my keyboard farther away from me, which allows me to stretch out my arms as I type. This becomes a difficult task when the keyboard keeps gets stuck by a piece of junk.
I also have this little statue. It reinforces my lifestyle on the lack of being organized. The problem I’m having is my mess has begun to draw my attention away from my writing. I end up spending more time rearranging the junk than I writing my novel. So I decided that it was time to spring, or in this case late summer/early fall clean my writing space.
A funny thing happened once I decluttered my desk. My mind also became decluttered. I began to write more efficiently. There were no longer “things” on my desk to distract me. I focused more on my writing and less on trying to become comfortable in my space.
The creative people I know are also the most cluttered. At the same time the successful people I know are also the most organized. In order to become more organized, in hopes to become more successful, I’m giving myself a challenge; I am also extending this challenge to all of you.
Throw one thing away each day for the next 30 days. This does not include junk mail or a piece of paper. Throw away actual stuff. Think of all the spare computer cords you have around the house. Or that cell phone that’s over ten years old. In my office I can see stacks of boxes that are calling out to me, asking me to go through them. And that’s what I’m going to do.
Novel Progress
Draft: Second
Words: 46,091
Total Pages: 206
Current Page Editing: 128
Great comments. Ok, I accept your challenge. My mind and home needs decluttering. I can’t even find my computer, thus I use my phone.
Enjoyed the post! Interesting about the clutter and creativity and success and organization. I would be interested in thoughts about the blending of the two!
I agree! I am pretty organized and therefore not creative! I am too ocd to let my kids do creative things and make messes. I probably need a little less structure. But I agree that decluttering your space declutters your mind.