Ever notice the influence of words? Words can make us feel bouyant…”love your new hairstyle it accentuates your adorable personality.” Words can devastate us…”you’re fired.” Words can soothe our weary souls…”thank you, you’ve made my day.” And, words can fire us up when we’re sinking low…”you’ve got this, see how far you’ve come in a short time?” 3 little words, caused a monumental shift last month. How?
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
Let’s Take a Step Back
A little background first. If you live a tidy lifestyle or are immune to visual overwhelm impairments, then you may not realize the devastation chaotic living conditions can inflict on the psyche. To the body. To relationships. Relationships to other people, relationships with living spaces, the relationship with yourself. Chaos can range from minor to moderate or severe. The level of severity isn’t as important as how it is perceived or experienced by you or by others living in or nearby. I’ve seen a smattering of clutter bring people to tears and level 4-5 hoarding situations go unnoticed. Everyone is unique in what they react to and how they react or don’t.
How does this image make you feel? Notice where and how you react. Or don’t.
What It’s Like
For the sensates, the heavy internal compression resulting from box stacks, paper pile towers, dirty or clean laundry mounds, minimal pathways, unusable surfaces, overflowing closets, and burgeoning cabinets can cause shortness of breath, piercing headaches, neck and shoulder tension, and muddled thinking. Every fiber of being might experience “dys-ease”. Sensates want to flee when the crescendo of the frenzied noise becomes too much. To where? And how? What choices are there?
Digging Deep
If you know this feeling, you may or may not know what to do. If you don’t know what to do or how, there are loads of resources filled with step-by-step organizing techniques.
But what about when you know what to do, it’s just not happening?
In the early days of my business I was intrigued by clients who were orderly types grappling with a multitude of organizing challenges. They told me, they showed me their inherent or learned organizing skills. They knew how to do it. They were stuck nonetheless. Now after years of learning about the brain and brain-based conditions, and working with an assortment of brain, sensory, and personality types, not much surprises me. So what is going on?
What’s Going On?
If you read my January 2022 blog, you might recognize there could be roadblocks due to mental health concerns like SAD, depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, perfectionism, or substance abuse. Physical ailments prohibit lifting, moving, grabbing, reaching, standing, kneeling. Lack of motivation caused by any of these conditions or simply lack of interest is often at the root of a standstill.
Back to Those 3 Little Words
That gets me back to those 3 little words. Last month I connected with someone reaching out for help. When I described my services and how I could assist, she informed me that she didn’t need organizing help. She knew how to sort, purge, rearrange. What she didn’t know how to do was get herself activated. She felt hemmed into small living quarters after a downsize. Her much needed view of the interior forest was blocked by unruly masses of trees. Trees now in the form of boxes and paper. Some of those papers held memories of days long past. How do you face making those decisions? I could feel her pain through her emails. How did her pain finally release? It wasn’t via aspirin or other medications as far as I know. She was ignited by just 3 little words. They weren’t earth shattering. They weren’t eloquent. They weren’t creative. They were…
“Send me photos.”
The Result
And that she did. They were photos of progress she made within a few hours. She recounted actions she took. She punctuated her sentences with lots of exclamation marks. She beamed with pride and joy. Her subject heading stated how proud she was of herself. She made inroads that she didn’t perhaps think were possible. Her mood, her tone shifted significantly from the first correspondence via a tender dose of accountability. Will that continue? I assuredly have no idea. I’m hoping that the wins, no matter the size, will propel further action. Allow her and allow you to notice and test what prompts and props you need to move forward. What works today may be irrelevant tomorrow. The drawing board is a blank slate to use as your test dummy each and every time you need it.
3 little words worked in this case to start the motivational gears. What motivational prompts work for you? Please share with me insights you have about what fires up your motivation engines. If you need a jumpstart on your organizing project or wish to celebrate your organizing successes, send me before and/or after photos.
Watch for This
If lack of impetus frequently gets you down, watch for details about my upcoming course to jumpstart and sustain motivation when its gone AWOL. I’m over the moon to partner with brain researcher and University of Oregon Professor Lealani Saez to design and offer this curriculum rich workshop. Contact me directly at sherri@thepracticalsort.com if you wish to receive information when available.
I leave you with 3 little words…Keep being you!
