Organization has always been difficult for me. I don’t keep things neat at all. Throwing things around always felt normal, and I never really mind when it becomes time to find things. I just became better at retrieval, when I was in my house especially, at taking some time to find what I had thrown about recently.
This all felt normal until I decided to take the challenge of making my room clean. I was a classic example of the male bachelor, clothes thrown everywhere in the room, trash bandied about, and a messy bed. I would call in a maid every few months and get a brand new room, only to have it collapse in a week or so.
That changed when I made a routine at night to clean up the floor for at most of 5 minutes. I ordered a maid and made it a point to start the night after she left. Very little to do, it felt like I could carry out something with no effort. It was a little win, and it was nice to have a clean floor.
It has been three months, and I woke up this morning realizing it has been a long time since there has been even more than 5 pieces of clothing on the floor. The power of the habit has amazed. No more than 5 minutes a night, cleaning my floor. I wish I had known this when I was younger.
The habit has expanded to the trash being taken out and the dishes being washed, and they too, went from mounds of work to about 3 minutes a night of keeping my apartment clean. Small wins matter, and hopefully, this can translate into my creative life. Organization is key for me to free up mind space, and getting my external world in order should help me get my internal engine going.
From the desk of Adam Thomas 