What Do You Do When Your Life Is In Transition?

You organize!

Blog reader Shelby left a comment on my recent Quote of the Week, which inspired me to write this post about organizing during life transitions. It sparked a few different roads of consciousness that I need to capture before I forget what they are and leave you with a cliffhanger...

My first thought was that organizing during a life transition is great, because you're in the midst of change anyway, so what's a bit more? You're just taking advantage of your "I'm ready for change" mindset and making it work for you. Have you ever moved furniture in preparation for painting a room and while the room is empty, you figure you may as well sweep the floor now that the furniture is out of the way? It's the same concept. It's opportunistic, but in a good way.

The second thought I had about organizing during, or in preparation for life transition, is that it might seem like the last thing you want to concern yourself with at that time. However, it can really be a good idea because it will give you clarity on the transitional stuff you're dealing with. For example, Shelby is getting ready to have a new baby girl.

Making space in her home for the new little one is a priority for Shelby. This life transition and the inevitability of it suddenly puts everything standing in the way of making room for baby, in a whole new perspective. All of a sudden, the plaid loveseat and the bookshelves full of old college textbooks that have been in the "spare room" don't seem so important when you need that space for a new baby. Life transition (and crisis too) has a way of bringing clarity to what's important in a hurry.

The third thing that came to mind is that organizing your life will help you stay calm and focused when crisis or transition happens, whether it's positive or negative transition. If your life is in a mental or physical chaotic uproar on a normal day, imagine how you'll feel when a crisis hits! Ack!

But when your life is pretty well together and you've got it under control, you can be a bit more ready for crisis when it hits. For example, when my mom got sick four years ago, I was literally able to pack a suitcase and leave at a moment's notice. I showed Christmas Boy where my checkbook was, asked him to pay my bills for me while I was gone, and got on a plane having no idea what I was going to, or when I'd be back. Ultimately I spent three frigid miserable weeks in Pennsylvania that January and my mom passed away during that time.

But because my life is pretty organized, (and because I'm self-employed), I was able to drop everything, pack quickly and just get the heck out of Dodge with a minimum of stress. So you can see that there are many ways that organization and life transition work well together, and one of them is that organization of you everyday life helps you be calm and effective under pressure when crisis or transition hits. And sooner or later, it will.

Comments

[Jacki Hollywood Brown]

Very good comments Monica. I will reference this post when I start talking about our big transition which involves Kabul!

[Monica Ricci]

Kabul?? Do tell Jacki!
~Monica

[Diana]

Monica,

Great post! My husband retired in August and we are in the process of building a house, moving, changing churches, moving my business, etc. I have found that there are a lot of things that we have accumulated over 20 years in the same house that I don't want to pack and take with me. This transition seems like a great time to reevalute my "stuff", both physical and emotonal!

[Monica Ricci]

Diana,
How exciting! You're feeling exactly what the post was about... your mind is already accustomed to the idea of change, so it's the perfect time to undertake paring down your possessions. Have fun with this transition!
~Monica