Gillian Perkins - Sorted: Freedom Through Structure

My SORTED Life

Your life is not formed only by the big decisions you make, such as what career you pursue, who you marry, or where you live. Rather, much of your happiness, success, and direction in life are decided by how you manage the seemingly small aspects and day to day tasks.

Your life is made up of individual days, and the quality of each day is decided by so many small factors. Some of the greatest contributors to having good days are your environment, level of stress, and attitude. By developing a better system to manage your life, you can gain much greater control over those little things, which in turn affect the greater course and quality of your life.

In SORTED, youll learn a faster, easier way to achieve your ideal lifestyle. However, in order for you to trust me as your guide, you first have to understand where Im coming from, and what SORTED did for me. So, we begin with a little about me.

All through school I was an intelligent, motivated student. Yet somehow, my grades did not always indicate such. Besides many low grades, I dropped out of more classes and activities than I would like to admit. Why? I wondered this myself. I felt motivated to succeed, but overwhelmed by the work (even though I knew that once I sat down and did the work, it actually wasnt hard at all). I would forget deadlines, work half-heartedly, and procrastination was my middle name.

As I got older, not much changed, except the titles the obligations had. Now they were called chores, correspondence, work assignments, and meetings. I felt like the more I advanced through life, the further behind I got. For someone who has a natural drive to succeed, this was increasingly stressful for me, and I felt like my life was spinning out of control. Some parts of my life improved (I was getting paid more), but other parts (such as the state of my house) were continuing to deteriorate.

My life took another turn when I became a mom. Motherhood is a very nice thing, but it certainly didnt help me to gain any order in my life. It was then that I began to see that something simply had to change. The disorder around me was creating a fair bit of stress, and the disorganized state of my time was making me wholly unreliable as a person (and unreliable people typically dont do so well maintaining friendships or jobs).

My organization strategies began by starting a to-do list, which was some helpuntil I found the list was growing increasingly long over time and causing even more stress. These undone things were now staring me in the eyes. Also, this didnt really help me with remembering to fulfill regular my commitments. It seemed silly to write the same things (check emails, wash the dishes, or write report) on my list over and over. I still procrastinated terribly, and the state of my house didnt improve much.

Then I began reading lots of self-help books. In vain, I hoped that perhaps one of the books would contain a secret that would magically help me stay on top of everything. A couple dozen books later, I can tell you that I didnt find what I was looking for.

After that, I determined to just buckle down and DO the work. I worked really hard. I worked hard to keep my house clean and I worked hard to stay on top of things. Alas, I ended up exhausted, stressed out, and frequently sick in bed.

Why is this so hard?! Have you ever asked yourself that question? I felt like I was giving life everything I had, but it still wasnt enough. I still wasnt enough.

Eventually, after my fair share of struggle, I began to discover some (small) things that actually did work, and actually helped. Things began to get somewhat easier. I as found more tools my responsibilities started to make more sense.

Around that same time, I committed to a morning routine. Each day, first thing, I practiced a series of habits in a certain order. I did this inconsistently for a while, but the difference in my energy and focus was so great when I did complete my practices that I eventually got serious and stuck with it.

That was when my epiphany began. Suddenly, over the course of just a few months, my life took a 180 degree turn. In one fell swoop I organized my entire houseand it stayed perfectly tidy. I beat procrastination like a fiend. I was on fire and unstoppable. My entire life was suddenly in order. I was remembering everything and on top of it all. I was truly getting the most out of each day and doing so with a completely relaxed state of mind.

Not only was my personal life in order, but my professional life took off as well. My existing business doubled in size (in terms of profits, employees, and clientele) and I even started a second business. I began writing around 1,500 words each day. I truly became the most productive I have ever been in my entire life.

That would have been plenty, but there actually was even more! Not only were my businesses doing so much better, but I was working fewer hours than ever and getting to spend much more time focused on my family.

I also lost weight that Id struggled with ever since the birth of my son. I began consistently working out four times each week. I easily ate an amazingly healthy diet. My body fat percentage went from 36% down to 23%.

The most amazing thing: I wasnt trying any harder than I previously had been. I did not develop great willpower or strength of focus overnight. But all of the sudden, I felt I had somehow gained enormous amounts of willpower, focus, and drive.

With my life impeccably organized, I no longer had to spend time, energy, and willpower managing my housework, possessions, or schedule. I stopped spending my limited resource of self-discipline trying to convince myself to do things I didnt feel like doing, losing the fight against procrastination.

It was truly a life changing experience, and this book is the product of that. I felt I simply had to share with others the tools I had found that gave my life such a dramatic transformation. As you continue to read, you will learn the tools and strategies I used to accomplish all these things in just a short amount of time.

Hang on tight, because your life is about to get seriously fun.

Begin with the End in Sight