07/29/2013
"Hypno-Organizing"
I am NOT a naturally organized person! I am more of a "crammer" who jams all the things I can, w***y nilly into a closet, and then slams the door. And, so I have looked for help, in the last decade, to learn a skill that I hoped would make my life run a little more smoothly. Our biggest challenges are our greatest teachers!
So, what is "hypno-organizing"? It is using simple hypnosis principles and applying them to the art of organizing.
In the past when I had an organizational task to accomplish, I felt overwhelmed and fuzzy. I didn't know what to do or how to do it and I did everything in my power to avoid it as long as possible. My sister Sarah will attest to that. She arrived at my college dorm room to pick me up at the end of my freshman year and found me lying on my bed reading. I had one boot on and one boot off, I had clothes covering the floor and very few of my belongings were packed and ready to go. This is the way it has gone with me for the first 40 years of my life.
Then, at some point, the lightbulb went on. The principles I had used to help myself lose weight, get comfortable in the dentist chair, become more confident in my public speaking and in my life in general, just MIGHT help me with my organizational challenges.
In reading organizing books, I had learned some important principles such as "everything needs a home". (And if you don't know where it "lives", you probably won't successfully put it away!) Yet, I hadn't found the mindset to help me apply those principles effectively. I was still stuck in the mindset that, "This is too much for me!"
So, I set to work to apply some basic self-hypnosis principles to the challenge of cleaning my closet. Though some people can do this sort of closet cleaning easily, for me it was the mental equivalent of writing a major term paper.
Here are the steps I took.
1) I looked for the mindset I needed to be successful. My normal self talk and belief was that "this is too much for me". I began to say over and over to myself, "I can do this, I can do this". Though I didn't always believe it, I knew that a simple statement like this, used repeatedly, can jiggle an old belief and open a new path.
2) I closed my eyes and relaxed. In this relaxed state, where the mind is more open to new ideas, I envisioned my closet as I wanted it to look when my organizing task had been completed. I pictured my clothing hanging neatly, with plenty of space on the rack and on the floor. When I found myself caught up in doubt.... (the words, "Yeah right" kept barging into my neat, spacious imagery) I went back to my new mantra, "I can do this, I can do this".
3) I "chunked it down", making a list of each task involved in cleaning my closet. Then I did the "relax and imagine" step for each task.
4) I began the project.
5) Whenever I got fuzzy or overwhelmed, I would go back to my task list. I would breathe, relax, close my eyes and envision that task completed. This visualization would renew my energy and focus on the task at hand. I had to re-group and re-focus several times to keep from getting overwhelmed and stalled out.
I kept with it and I felt an amazing sense of victory and empowerment when it was done. The "relax and imagine" template is one I use regularly, now, whenever I am facing an organizational task that feels challenging. And though I will never be a "neatnik" I am deeply appreciative of my developing ability to manage my home and my office with a sense of order and spaciousness that I never dared hope to experience. Remember, whatever you want in your life, and no matter how big or how small, it never hurts to "relax and imagine" it!
