This book is a gateway to help me get organized. It may help you, too!
Currently, I am trying to figure out how to tackle all of the clutter in my home and also how to effectively manage (or get rid of! 
) my unseen disorder (see previous post). I am reading Restoring Order to Your Home by Vicki Norris (www.restoringorder.com), and I am learning a lot as I start delving into the book.
Vicki is a professional organizer, and let me say that I would love to have her come to my house! Let me also state that I think we live in a blessed country. Any nation that has SO much stuff that they do not know what to do with it and need to pay someone to help them manage it/organize it is a spoiled populace … myself included. I have been on missions trips to Nepal (www.allowthechildren.org) and China, and I have seen people in such extreme poverty that they hardly have what they need, let alone having extra things that they need to deal with.
That being said, I purchased her book in hopes that I could bring back the tidiness that may not have been there in the first place (restoring order? ). I believe that striving to be orderly is something that God has planned for us … just look at His creation. Take our bodies, for example. Right now you are digesting, blinking, breathing, pumping blood, fending off toxins and balancing hormones all without thinking about it. Not only are our bodies designed into systems, but they are highly organized on the cellular and even molecular levels. What a creator! We are definitely “fearfully and wonderfully made” as His Word says. I think that order honors God and His plan for us.
In her book, Vicki talks about the trap of most organization methods. Most articles encourage you to buy systems and boxes to maintain tidiness, but she states that there is a root problem that needs to be corrected before neatness can take place. Is your problem a time deficiency, lack of knowledge or being short on space? Well, I wish those were my main problems, but I actually think that my problem is laziness … OUCH! She did not even cover that one in her book 
.
My “scoop and shove” methodology is purely is from being lazy. I do have a lot on my plate (along with having 3 children), so when I get home, I bring in things (whether it is from shopping, an event, mail, things from my children … etc.) and plop them down. Or, I get in the middle of a project, tire of it and save it for later. Plus, I am a self-diagnosed packrat. If I would take the time to put things away when they are in my hand, then I would have a much easier time with keeping track of things, plain and simple.
She says that the first step to getting more organized is identifying the problem (or the “why” you do not have order) and then identify the pain that it causes. Does the disorganization cause strain in your marriage (yes), does it cause you a financial burden because you are repurchasing things that you thought you had but could not find (yes), and/or does it cause anxiety when you think about the space you call home (yes)? Even though a lot of my chaos is hidden, it still causes a great amount of anxiety for me when I take a “mental inventory” of my home.
I am learning a lot, and I am looking forward to learning more (and I will share it with you! ). Boy, do I need this book … you may benefit from it, too!
