Organizing Made Easy

Beginnings of organizing…

Organizing, decluttering, downsizing, cleaning up, tidying up, minimalist, simplifying.  These are all words that describe a way of life.  Well, or a weekend adventure for those brave enough to tackle it!  It depends on what type of personality you are.  Me, I embody all these things, do you?  I could spend hours a day doing this, sad, I know, I should seek help.  My husband on the other hand, he runs from them… screaming like a girl!  Is that because married people typically compliment each other in their strengths and weaknesses?  Maybe.

Organizing is my life!

I have been an organizer my WHOLE life.  Ever since I can remember, I would rearrange my room, reorganize my shoes, put my clothes in color order in my closet and use a day planner to mark my classes, activities, to-do lists and free time.  As a newlywed, I organized the dishes in the cupboard, alphabetized my spice rack and rearranged living spaces frequently.  I tried to alphabetize our canned goods, but we would go through them too quickly and I discovered it wasn’t worth my while.  Sigh. 

As I got older, I graduated to not only organizing my own house, but organizing other peoples spaces as well.  My mother’s tupperware cabinet was always a favorite and frequently needed help.

Simpler life?

I ran across a book in my early 20’s called 30 Days To A Simpler Life, by Cris Evatt.  WOW!  It was like everything I had always done or wanted to do, all in one book!  Declutter, simplify, organize!  As I devoured the pages, garbage bags were strewn through house for “donate,” “keep,” and “toss” piles.  I was in heaven!  The book gives you a day by day, step by step process of how to simplify each area of your home.  I think people do well with step by step processes. 

After going through the book the first time, in LESS than 30 days I might add, I would continue to try to keep only those things that we used and loved, with minor setbacks over time.  When garbage bags or boxes again laced rooms in the house, my husband knew that I had pulled out “the book,” as he refers to it.  “Ahhh, pulled out “the book” again, huh?” he would ask.  “Maybe,” would be my nonchalant reply with a sly smile on my face.

Following this interaction, he would then quickly go throughout the house grabbing and hiding anything he didn’t want to wind up in those bags.  Some of which I would find, and dispose of anyway.  Not that he’s a hoarder or anything, but let’s just say he has a VERY large box in our basement full of Volkswagen Beetle toys that he refuses to go through or get rid of.  As a loving wife, I have decided that there are in fact some things that are sacred and should not be messed with.  This box… is one of those things.  I love my husband and one way to keep a happy marriage is to keep a box of his junk… in the basement of course.

Where do YOU start?

I try to live minimally, but when you love crafts, have children and actually live, how do you keep your surroundings downsized?  It’s SO hard!  There are several methods and books out there that are really good, and really work.  Another new book on the scene is The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, by Marie Kondo.  I know, it’s all the rage right now! Instead of decluttering by area, she teaches how to declutter by category, like clothes, paper or kitchen items.  You go throughout your home and collect ALL you own of this single category of items so that you can visualize the quantity you have.  Then you downsize that category of items.

Her secret?  Don’t just minimize or declutter what you have, instead figure out what you LOVE, what makes you happy, what Sparks Joy,(her second book) and keep just that.  If it doesn’t bring you joy, or you don’t consistently use it, why do you have it?  Her simplistic method is inspiring and challenging!

You just have to find the method that works best for you.  There are many ways to tackle it, but one will definitely resonate better than another. Whichever method you use, I believe the bottom line is still the same… it’s kind of like your bank account… you can’t spend more than you have, or you go broke.  You can’t store more things than you have room for or you’ll go broke, literally and figuratively, in most cases.  Literally, the more you have, the more you’ve spent on stuff! Figuratively, the more you own in terms of stuff, the less space you have to live with freedom, freedom of space and mind.  Clutter can be internal just as easily as external.  When you overstuff with stuff, something tends to go bankrupt… or explode!

Let it go, let it go…

If you don’t use it, toss it!  If you don’t love it, give it away!  I realize that this is easier said than done.  I’ve been there!  So what do you do with the not quite ugly but not really wearable sweater that your mother gave you for your birthday, that you probably won’t wear again, but that she was SO excited to give you!  Hmmm… are you crafty?  Can you make a mug cozy or boot cuffs out of it?  That way you keep the joy and still have something purposeful to use from it.

If you can truly say you’ll never wear it again, and you’re not crafty… take it off the shelf or out of the drawer, give it a big hug, say “Mom, I love that you loved giving me this sweater and you have brought me joy while I wore you, yada yada, but I need the space you’re taking up for something else now, thank you for being a part of my life, it’s time for me to say goodbye.”  Then promptly place it in a donate, sell or toss pile.  Take a picture and post it to Instagram first, if you must.  Memory made, savored and move on.

Make memories, not clutter

Memories, isn’t that what makes us savor today?  Where we’ve come from, what we’ve overcome, all those things make us into who we are now.  We’re all just an organized, or disorganized mess, right?  I think that’s what life comes down to. 

The blessing in disguise with being whatever kind of mess you are, is that God’s just not finished with any of us yet.  Whew!  And I thought I needed to reach perfection by now.  I guess I can relax a little and save that for another day.  Only one perfect guy I know of, and that’s definitely not me.

So for now, I suppose I’ll just go back to organizing my basement, around the box of VW toys that sits there collecting dust and spiders, because even though organizing is my life, there definitely is more to life than organizing.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on organizing.  What have you found that works for you?  Leave a comment below!!

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