Room to organize

You might think that a 3100 square foot home would have plenty of room for the stuff that an affluenzic family had accumulated over the years. And you might be right. We did, after all, pay $700 to fill two large hauling trucks with stuff we didn't want to move, last spring. There's really only about 1800 square feet for us and our stuff, though, since we are sharing this new space with a couple of roommates.

I've used the plywood from the pigeon coop (that which wasn't covered in pigeon poop) and laid in a floor in part of the attic space. I also wired in a lamp that from salvage. For the cost of a few nails (heh, I even used old nails I'd pounded straight) and a day's effort, we now have almost 200 square feet to put boxes we haven't yet sorted through and chairs we aren't yet using.

For the fun of it, I also added a narrow walkway that reaches all the way to the window at the front of the attic. "Whoa!" Nick said, "We're really high up, here!"

I've learned my primary stumbling block for feeling organized is not having a starting space. An empty place in the landscape, on my desk, in my brain, in my calendar, from which to start organizing. There's a spot now, in the attic, for us to put stuff away. I'm doing the same thing for myself at work: creating an open space so I can work the business strategically. I have several excellent clients who deserve far better service than I've been giving. It's because I've been reacting, rather than planning, and mostly because I had yet to decide that I needed some structured "open" time, to clear away the piddling, wasteful urgencies, so I could work on what's important instead.

I'm really thankful that my business is offering me the chance to grow up as an entrepreneur.

I'm also really thankful that people like the wonderful Belly write me and let me know that they are inspired to keep on their own journeys towards more fulfilling futures.