Gretchen Rubin is a NYTimes Bestselling Author.

In her book “Outer Order, Inner Calm” that launched yesterday, she writes,

“In my study of happiness, I’ve realized that for most of us, outer order contributes to inner calm. More than it should.”

Do you think there is merit in what she says?

I do.

For me, outer order brings inner calm. I can manage with chaos around but prefer outer order.

I believe that most of us can find inner calm by creating order around us.

Then, Why We Don’t We Work On Creating Outer Order?

Most of us don’t go beyond cleaning our surroundings and putting things in their place.

Your reason for not doing it may vary. It may be due to,

• Lack of time and jumping from project to project, or being whatever role you have chosen in life – cubicle worker, entrepreneur, homemaker, parent, partner, or friend.
• Not understanding the importance
• Plain laziness
• Thinking it will take too much effort
• Or not knowing how awesome and light life will be after it

That said it is important to make an effort to create order in our lives.

Let’s see how we can do it.

How To Create Outer Order In Our Lives

We can do it by understanding it’s importance and how much we need a clear mind to be happy and successful.

Gretchen says it the best.

“By getting rid of things we don’t use, don’t need, or don’t love, as well as things that don’t work, don’t fit, or don’t suit, we free our minds (and our shelves) for what we truly value. “

By getting rid of all the clutter we create more room for happiness and what we value in our life.

Two approaches have worked for me.

Prioritize it over everything else and go for a deep cleanse.

PRIORITIZE

If you work in a job or run a business, you’d likely try to schedule it over weekends.

Better if you take a day off from work and do it. Because you are already used to spending weekends and holidays in a certain way so disrupting them does not make sense, plus you’ll have the mental pressure of not spending your weekend the way you usually do.

A special day for de-cluttering will increase your chances of doing it without mental pressure.

It is true even if you are a student or a homemaker. Front load your daily tasks then so that you can find one day to create outer order.

You may have to do it once a month or once every two months until you take care of all important items in your life and home.

Once everything flows into order, the de-cluttering or order creating breaks will be much fewer and farther between.

DEEP CLEANSE

Do not do it superficially.

Always start with what I call a deep cleanse. You do a deep cleanse by spending several planned hours with people who can help you, feed you and motivate you.

Plan well by getting in touch beforehand with those who can help you. Like helping hands, friends or a hired professional like a financial planner if it is about your financial life.

When decluttering your home always “Tackle Categories, Not Rooms’’ as Marie Kondo says. Go with clothing first, books next and other things like old photographs after that.

It does not end here. Devote one day to organize your digital life or at least put its building blocks in place by cleaning your laptop’s home screen.

Bringing your financial life or work processes in order may take longer but with a deep cleanse you can make considerable progress even in one day.

I wish you’d do this.

If you do, let me know how it goes.