I teach my clients that being organized is roughly 20% technique and 80% a reflection of self love/self respect. Yogis and metaphysicians have long used the dictum: 'As within, so without' to express the relationship between one's inner and outer worlds. I ask my clients if they wish to know how clearly they think. They are surprised when I suggest they need only look into a closet or a drawer to see the answer. The good news is that the energy works both ways: 'as without, so within.' Organize your physical world and the inner will become more calm and still. Those who dedicate themselves to this process see astonishing changes in their lives in a very short period of time. Let me give you an example.

One day an old friend asked to become a client. Jill was newly separated from her husband and trying to establish a life for herself and her children. "Please come and organize every closet, every cupboard, every nook and cranny!" she said. In two short days, we created a place of peace. I then taught her the skills she would need to develop in order to keep things in order. "One year from now," I predicted, "your life will be different." Sure enough, a year later Jill had moved from her apartment into a house and she was studying to be certified as a doctor in the U.S. In the meantime, she continued to support herself as a receptionist. She so enjoyed her ability to maintain a chaos free environment that she called and asked if I could help her get control of her time. I suggested she take my class. Within a year, Jill's life had changed dramatically. She is once again a practicing doctor in Europe. On the side she teaches classes in time management to medical students!

Closet as Metaphor

Over the years, I have formulated a three-step process to help my clients organize any facet of their lives needing a tune up. The most important step in the process is to eliminate what is no longer needed. Whether it is an article of clothing or a piece of paper, outdated objects carry an emotional charge that can keep us stuck where we are. Take the example of my client 'Jane.'

She is a well-known actress famous for her comic skills. Her closet, however, was filled with dark clothes. Not only were the colors dark, the heavy weight of the fabrics seemed more suitable to winter in Buffalo, New York rather than the mild climate of southern California. As these were consistently the items she was willing to give to charity, I was curious to learn when and why she had acquired this somber wardrobe.

Jane told me that one day her husband of many years came home and unexpectedly announced their marriage was over. "I had assumed we were going to be together forever," she said. In the period of mourning that followed the dissolution of this union, Jane gravitated to these melancholy clothes. I told her it was obvious to me she no longer needed any physical reminders of an unhappy time she had obviously grown beyond. She agreed and her clothing now reflects the joyful person she truly is.

The Work Space

Ancient yogis taught the importance of keeping the place of meditation reserved for this practice alone so that the energy might grow strong. Again we see the inner and the outer working as flip sides of the same coin. One of the most common mistakes in the set up of a home office is the choice of space.

A new client called one day to ask me if I would check out her home office and see what we could do to make it more functional. As a therapist, Diane saw patients in a separate location and felt that this space supported her nicely. At home, however, she wanted to write. For some reason, Diane told me she never used her home office and papers were mysteriously migrating to her bedroom where they infiltrated her personal clothing drawers. Try to imagine the intellectual chaos induced as you reach for your underwear in the morning through a sea of tax deduction receipts.

It took no more than opening the door to see the problem. A spare bedroom had been converted into a home office. The bed, however, had not been removed and it was a monster that totally dominated the room. In addition, the closet housed out-dated clothes and miscellaneous things like camping equipment that had been purchased for one trip. To compound matters, the room was littered with exercise equipment. Diane's desk was small and uninviting, the chair uncomfortable.

Just as the energy of meditation grows strong and supports one's practice, so too the energy of any activity influences a room. This particular room had confused energy: it didn't know whether it was an office, a gym, a storage closet or a guest-room. No wonder Diane never stayed for more than five minutes! No one would with any degree of comfort and mental peace.

We set to work. The closet was cleaned out and divided in half. One side was used for storage while the other became the place to store office supplies. The exercise equipment was moved to one side of the room. We agreed a more comfortable chair and an inviting desk were in order. We locked horns over the bed. My client felt it was important to have her house guests feel welcome and comfortable. When I asked how often she had guests, I was shocked to learn no more than two weeks out of the year. "OK," I said, "You must decide which is more important: the comfort of guests two weeks out of the year or the creative work you wish to accomplish here the other 50." My suggested compromise was the purchase of a futon couch which would not only enable her to entertain when necessary but would provide an alternate place in the room where Diane could read or think.

Gaining Control

When the desire to get organized seizes most people they are overwhelmed by the imagined magnitude of the project. The second phase of getting organized is to make categories and it grows organically out of the elimination process. As you eliminate, you come across the items you wish to keep. These can be kept in separate piles as you work through the whole.

In a closet, like categories of things are most obvious: skirts, slacks, suits, dresses, etc. should all be kept together. If you are willing to commit the time, keeping all items color coordinated will not only give a restful appearance, it will further cut down your searching time for a desired item. The black skirt and the red blouse you want to wear to work, for example, can only be in specific areas. If they are absent, they must be in the laundry or at the cleaners. As the items on a desk get distributed into related piles, a curious fact emerges: we are not as complicated as we imagined. Our interests, our work materials, our reading materials all fall into a limited number of categories. The final step in my formula involves organizing these piles. Here is where the neophyte does well to consult a professional organizer or read a book on the subject. It is important that the new system be amenable to growth and yield its treasures upon demand.

When the Time Is Right

Every so often I meet a prospective client who is in fact not ready to do the work. In this person's home and work areas, papers and magazines spill everywhere. The thought of parting with a single item calls up intense fear: "What if I throw away something I need?" Moreover the client can not spare the time it would take to create order out of this chaos as they feel their time is 'too valuable.'

It takes only a quick glance to see that one human being can never deal with all the information at hand nor implement the desired projects it has all been collected to create. This person is attached to his/her drama and if we did clear the debris and create a system, it would not be adhered to and the chaos would return shortly. The person does not want to succeed. If they do push through the drama, the war stories about the difficulty involved will be all the more impressive to their peers.

Taking the Hurdles

One of the most interesting aspects of my work is to observe the reaction of others to my clients. Whether they are co-workers or family members, there will be those who are threatened by the desire to change. I warn my clients that in lieu of praise for their efforts, they may instead be greeted by hostility. The unconscious fears are many. Here's how the inner chatter goes. "If you change, doesn't this mean I should as well? Will you behave differently toward me now? What if I try this work and fail?" One must gently but firmly explain that this work is being done to best support everyone sharing the environment. It is an expression of love, not a weapon of destruction.

In the last hour of my class, we deal with some of the main reasons it can be so difficult to get organized. You can buy 100 books on organizing and have an open account at your local office supply store and still not see your environment change. One of the most common reasons is simply that as humans we generally replicate what we know. If you grew up in chaos, you will feel comfortable recreating the same kind of environment for yourself until someone teaches you the skills you lack. All worthwhile activities take time to learn and perfect. Enlightenment is not achieved with the first meditation.

Some clients have unconscious fears about success and failure, flip sides of the same coin. The inner dialogue goes something like this: "If I am more organized, what will be expected of me? Will I be able to succeed? What if I fail myself or others expectations? What else can I hide behind if my chaos is taken away?" Have you asked yourself questions like these? Some introspective work or time in therapy may be helpful before one brings in the professional organizer.

With very few exceptions, I tell my clients to start slowly. Do one closet and enjoy it for a week or two before continuing. Do you sense a difference? Are you comforted by the calm? Would you like to see the rest of your environment reflect this atmosphere? Proceed slowly and lovingly.

Final Thoughts

I was born with a compulsion to keep my environment calm. My assistant was not and yet she has learned solid techniques from me that she now brings to our work with clients. I tell folks to remember that they are the architects of their lives. You created the current system, you have the power to change it. It is not the destination but the quality of the journey that matters. Every midnight ushers in a fresh new day that awaits our mark on it. The new beginning we all celebrate on January 1st is but one in an endless series of chances we have with every dawn. No sane person would beat a child for crawling before walking and yet, adults will whip themselves mercilessly for not achieving perfection. Be gentle and take one day at a time. As my first yoga teacher said tome one day when I was struggling with a posture: "Why are you in such a hurry? Don't your realize you have forever?"