3 organization principles I learned while homeless in New York

For the 8 months I couch surfed, lived in a couple shelters, and at some point sleeping in 11 different places. I felt a lot of shame and embarrassment for my instability. But despite moving from home to home, I maintained full time status as a student, won a scholarship to study abroad in another country, read more books than I’ve ever in one year, and was constantly self-improving. The one thing that kept me grounded was organization. Whether it was being organized in my school work, expectations from my case worker at the shelter I stayed in, or keeping the space(s) I slept in neat and orderly, I used organization to bring harmony to the chaos of my circumstances by centering simplicity. 

“I used organization to bring harmony to the chaos of my circumstances by centering simplicity. ”

1

Simplicity saved my life. Because I had no choice but to focus on what was important, I had systems that filtered out and eliminated what was not serving me. I had limited time, energy, and resources, myself being my most valuable resource. It was all about self preservation and I decided very early what needed to go. No matter how tumultuous that time period was, I was organized as fuck. I made it through using simplicity, eliminating anything or anyone that complicated my life.

2

I was always really organized, but this time period enhanced my organizational skills. Organization includes removing things that have no use or its use is outdated. We remove things so we can pay more attention to what matters. There’s a lot of fear and resistance with “getting closer to what matters”, but the distraction of stuff takes up Space, Time, and Energy. And ultimately takes away from getting to the real shit that actually counts.

While I take full responsibility for my homelessness because I’m the one who got evicted, I also believe one of the lessons of my home being taken away was so I can have the experience to teach Organization from a range of experiences. I had to go through what I went through so I can tell you these organization principles can be applied to any and every living situation. I’m not teaching from hearsay but actual experience.

3

Organization is a lifestyle but at its core, it’s a set of teachable systems. Ok bet, one thing I did during that time was Plan, Organize, Implement.

Plan, Organize, Implement.

There were a few non negotiable systems that I had in place that helped me keep my sanity which was my biggest concern. I KNEW God was intentionally putting me through a journey and I didn’t want to come out resentful, bitter, and sad. Actually, I knew I needed to feel the pain of my circumstances AND that I still deserved to feel joy, love, and peace. So one thing I did was planned my day around taking a nap in the park on days I worked. Because I got off work at an odd hour and was highly stressed, finding ways to rest and recharge was imperative to my sanity. I made it a point to put my feet in grass at least once a week, connecting with the earth gave me energy and instantly made me feel better. Knowing this, I prioritized and scheduled it into my calendar.

Go ahead and watch me share my story in this Facebook LIVE turned Youtube video.

Watch me share my story ⬇