I am a Pile Queen

If you could see my house right now, you would see piles.  Neat piles, but none the less, still mountains of piles.  Rest assured I know exactly what each pile represents.  What I don’t know is how to attack each pile and when.  It seems as though time escapes me and I pass off my piles for another days To Do List. Pile number one is located on desk 1 of 2 in my house (yes, I have so many piles I need two desks to hold them all).  It is filled with inspirational pages I tore out of magazines; whether it is a new recipe, an outfit I want to mock, a craft to do with the kids or a layout I really enjoyed since I am a graphic designer in my ‘spare time’.  Also in that pile you may find bills that need to be filed, kids’ artwork waiting for a frame, coupons to be cut out and anything else that did not have a designated home (aka pile) as of yet. Pile number five is located on desk 2 of 2 that sits alongside my large hermit crab aquarium, home of Beyonce and Larry.  That pile is more like 5 piles in one with tubs, jars, yarn, baskets, magazines and other random pieces of projects waiting to be completed.  Crafting and projects should be fun, but when I look at this mountain – I slowly back away into the other room and ignore it for as long as I can. I guess I just feel so overwhelmed at EVERY pile in my house, I just don’t know where to start and I feel like I have to attack each pile in one day.  Clutter stresses me out and I just want to close my eyes, click my heels three times and have it all disappear when I open my eyes again. I definitely live in a “Hurried Home”, defined by Dr. Tim Kimmel in Little House on the Freeway.  I keep myself pretty busy with three kids, two part time jobs, PTA duties, room mom jobs and just being a mom/wife in general trying to keep our household running smoothly.  I realize that keeping these piles around me, and they grow daily, is only burying the real issues. I keep myself busy because I don’t want to deal with my underlying problem; depression and anxiety.  I mask it with “I don’t have time to deal with it right now”, “I will do something about it when the kids are older”, “If I just stay busy I can ignore the thoughts in my head another day”…and the list goes on and on. After just reading Part One of Little House on the Freeway, I have realized that I am letting my family and friends suffer due to my hurried lifestyle.  I have so many calendars and apps on my phone telling me what to do and where to be that I am no longer in control of my own life and relationships.  I can no longer relax because I expect too much of myself, I am a worrier, and by not allowing quiet into my home I have also interrupted the close relationship I used to have with my Savior. I urge any parent who has multiple piles, lists, and responsibilities to sit back and take note of what is really important to them.  Read this book and realize what a hurried home looks like; you will be shocked it is more familiar than you’d like.  But there is hope, Dr. Tim Kimmel will show you how to overcome what society has taught us to act like and how to change your pace of life into a more intimate and restful one.   {Originally published in 2014}