The Endless Pursuit of Organization: I Couldn't Be The Only One

by Chelsey Lauer, Founder and CEO, JLB Simplify Home Organizing

In the summer of 2015, I found myself knee deep in too much stuff, and I had become unaware of the decline to the condition of my home. I was so caught up in keeping up with work, kids, and this whole “adult life”, and no one seemed to prepare me for the fact that I began to ignore the most ordinary and boring parts of life.

I quit opening mail, left baskets of laundry everywhere, and my once organized basement was unrecognizable. We all have our long list of “life is just too hard sometimes” and our homes tend to take the biggest beating when that list gets too long. I even received a few shut off notices from utility companies, not because we couldn’t pay but because I lost the bill in one of my piles and simply forgot. If you had asked me in 2014 if this was a person I would ever become, I would have said it was impossible, as would my husband and anyone else who knew me.

Yet, on the morning of August 7th, 2015, I set on my back porch holding back tears, hoping my kids would sleep just a little bit longer so I could try to figure out how my home had fallen apart so fast. I couldn't stop thinking there had to be a better way and that I couldn’t be the only one.

There had to be other people like me who were hardworking but who just had too much life thrown at them; people who now saw their home as a place of stress instead comfort.

This then became my passion, to create a service for people who weren't just looking for organization or to become a minimalist, but people like me who just needed some help to get their home back under control after too much life seemed to happen and they didn’t know where to start to put the pieces back together.

During the development of JLB Organizing method I wanted to understand why my brain, an organized, spreadsheet loving, and detailed orientated brain was now on the verge of a panic attack even at the thought of opening mail. What I learned through research, personal experience, and years of helping others get organized is there are always two things to blame: your brain and life.

The JLB Organizing method may seem backwards to most mainstream organization rules. However, what I found was most organizing self-help books were long and covered so many topics that I was normally to overwhelmed to want to read them.

I also found the fun Pinterest posts demotivating because you had to declutter and make decisions to achieve the finished product. If you are to overcome with anxiety, sadness, anger, or any of the emotions that come up when even thinking about decluttering an area of your home then those images are just a reminder of the hole you have found yourself in.

What I have learned through my personal and work experience is that we all feel our homes should be better, and that we must be failing by societies standards. I can assure you, you are not failing!

My goal is to teach people how to deal with the feelings of being overwhelmed with the condition of their home. I don’t support the technique of making you feel guilty for struggling to let things go, we all have our reasons behind why we keep what we keep. I recommend learning to make decisions by baby steps and realizing you don’t have to do it all at once.

My hope with this column is that it will help people realize that the pursuit or organization can seem endless because your life is endlessly changing, but that you are not alone in your struggle and there are techniques and tips you can learn to better manage your home.

We are all good at something and you can learn to be better at organizing and creating systems that work for your life and your family. It doesn’t have to happen overnight and, in most cases, like all aspects of your life, your organizing systems will be a constantly evolving process.

I look forward to sharing what I have learned in over a decade of organizing others as well as myself with you!

Until next time, Chelsey Lauer

Chelsey Lauer created JLB Simplify Home Organizing in 2015 after realizing that sometimes life throws to much at you and no matter how hard you try, your home continues to be a cause of stress and endless clutter. Her goal is to help people feel back in control of their home and running a business and raising 3 boys, she knows all too well how quickly a clean organized house can become a cluttered mess.

http://www.jlbsimplify.com/