![\"\"](\"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/life-organizer.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>I\u2019ve got an alternative. This process, what I call life organizing, is infinitely richer then plotting your days in fifteen-minute increments in your planner. But one warning: change can be frightening, especially at first. I will ask you, over and over, to trust, to loosen your grip on life. I will ask you to stop and feel, to tune in to what you really want and what you really know. The rewards of your courage are limitless \u2013 a life that sings, that moves with<\/em> instead of against. <\/p>\nWhile a short article isn\u2019t enough space to give all the knowledge, experiences, and thoughts I have about life organizing (I\u2019d need to write a book to do that \u2013 and, in fact, I have!), I can provide the basics. Life organizing works in two complementary ways, easily adoptable and adaptable: <\/p>\n
1) A life planner that you<\/em> choose and create. This planner will enable you to discern what you want week by week while gently tracking where your time and energy are actually going, and what might be getting in your way of living a life you love. The life planner\u2019s core is four to six weekly mindful questions that build on and refer to each other, and move you into a deeper mode of awareness and listening. <\/p>\n 2) A check-in that consists of five steps and requires as little time as it takes to open the freezer, find the ice cream, and get a spoon. <\/p>\n 1. Connect:<\/strong> Breathe deeper, stretch your arms overhead, step outside and feel the breeze on your skin – anything that connects you with the physical world.<\/p>\n 2. Feel:<\/strong> Tune into your heart to access information unavailable to your head. Put your attention on your heart, placing your hand there. Recall a time you felt loved and appreciated or loving and appreciative. Linger there for a few seconds. <\/p>\n 3. Inquire:<\/strong> Ask a mindful question to open up possibilities you literally couldn\u2019t see before. My favorite: What do I need to know right now?<\/strong> (What if you really didn\u2019t need to know more than the next immediate step?<\/em>)<\/p>\n What do I want?<\/strong> (Creativity requires being in touch with your undiluted desires. Remember, you don\u2019t have to act on what you want, and wanting doesn\u2019t mean getting.<\/em>)<\/p>\n What don\u2019t I want?<\/strong> (Sometimes the process of elimination can be less intimidating than naming your desires outright!)<\/p>\n How can I be gentle with myself in this situation?<\/strong> (We can all benefit from asking this many times a day)<\/p>\n 4. Allow:<\/strong> Trust that, by connecting, feeling, and inquiring, you\u2019ll hear or see or feel or sense what your next step is\u2014and only your next step. Allowing is about noticing your experience, and opening to your next step.<\/p>\n 5. Apply:<\/strong> Action is where the practical and results-oriented parts of you get their due. Without action, without decision, you remain in possibility, which is safe and beautiful but eventually enervating and boring. That doesn\u2019t mean eating the whole elephant in one bite; small steps aren\u2019t just okay; they\u2019re encouraged. <\/p>\n Life Organizing in the Moment in Action <\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s mid-morning, and your plan for the day is already in shambles. You\u2019re reaching for a Diet Coke, hoping it will give you the energy to deal with the next crisis. Then you remember that there\u2019s another way. You make the choice.<\/p>\n Feel your feet connecting with the ground beneath you. Take a deep breath and reach your arms overhead, exhaling with a huge sigh. Put your hand on your heart and recall feeling balanced and flowing. Ask, \u201cWhat choice feels easiest in this moment?\u201d Visualize bringing this question into your heart, and take a breath or two to infuse it with flow and peace. <\/p>\n Perhaps a brief image of your sister comes to mind, or you hear a refrain of an old song that reminds you of her. Or perhaps you remember the feeling of your sister hugging you. You call her, have a lovely chat, and when you get off the phone, you have new energy \u2014enough to move you forward to the next task awaiting you. <\/p>\n Do you begin to see how this approach flows with life? I\u2019m not proposing you sell your worldly possessions and move to the woods to live in an unheated yurt. I\u2019m not recommending you consult crystals or the I Ching before moving a muscle. What I\u2019m saying is when you think you\u2019re lost, overwhelmed, and without direction, you do<\/em> \u201cknow\u201d what to do to restore your balance and your direction\u2013 but it\u2019s a different kind of knowing, one you already possess, and need only be reminded of how to access.<\/p>\n Based on the new paperback edition of \u201cThe Life Organizer: A Woman\u2019s Guide to a Mindful Year\u201d \u00a9 2013 by Jennifer Louden. Printed with permission of New World Library, Novato, CA. www.newworldlibrary.com<\/a><\/em> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It’s never too late to get a handle on organization and Jennifer Louden, author of “The Life Organizer: A Woman’s Guide to a Mindful Year”, is here to discuss some basics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[35,11,20],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9959"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9959"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9959\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a>About Jennifer Louden:<\/strong>
\nJennifer Louden is the author of \u201cThe Life Organizer\u201d and \u201cThe Woman\u2019s Comfort Book\u201d. A personal growth pioneer who helped launch the self-care movement, she’s written 4 additional books on well-being and whole living that have inspired women all over the world. Jen believes self-love + world-love = wholeness for all. Visit http:\/\/JenniferLouden.com\/lifeorganizer<\/a> for a life organizer app & other useful freebies.<\/p>\n