Organizing and Happiness

As I’ve written before I’m a big fan of magazines. I would rather sit down with a great magazine than a book any day. One of my favorite magazines is Good Housekeeping. Gretchen Rubin, author of the Happiness Project, is a regular columnist who writes about happiness – how to find happiness and how it can improve your life. This is a column I look forward to reading not only because is it enlightening but it always seems to be relevant to my life! I doubt it is a coincidence that Gretchen wrote about happiness and clutter in the January issue of Good Housekeeping and that January is also the month of New Year resolutions declaring a life of organization and productivity. In the January issue Gretchen shares her favorite organizing strategies. She writes

“Outer order contributes to inner calm. By doing a little each day, you can accomplish a lot.”

She shares that clutter-clearing gives her energy and relief. Yes, I can relate. I may be an organizer, but spending time organizing (most recently my 8 week old daughter’s clothes and gifts) gives me satisfaction and pride. I see it with my clients too. After hours of organizing a bathroom, a closet or a pantry the client (and me) is often exhausted from making emotional decisions but they are satisfied and relieved. Not only is the project complete but they are happy – there is a satisfaction knowing that because of the work they’ve done today, that tomorrow and each day after will be easier. Wouldn’t that make you happy?

Does organizing and living clutter-free bring you happiness?