Your Organized Life

In my first post, I wrote about the “toos.” One of the toos was too much stuff, and another name for that is . . . clutter. Clutter is a very sneaky thing. Nobody goes out and buys clutter or asks for clutter or makes clutter. But there it is. Filling your drawers. Covering your surfaces. Tripping you as you cross a room. Expanding into boxes and bags and tubs. And just plain getting in your way. (Unless, of course, you’re so far gone that you’re actually spending your hard-earned money on a storage unit.)

How did it happen?

Let’s start with one of the easy ways clutter happens, the one that is totally not your fault: gifts. You may not get a lot of gifts, but the thing about them is they probably don’t fill a real need (which makes them fall into the category of Just More Stuff) and they come wrapped in guilt. How can you possibly give away that little Eiffel Tower your grandma brought you from her once-in-a-lifetime trip to Paris?

Speaking of “real needs,” leads me to another way clutter slithers into our houses. We get stuff to fill needs we only think we have. Seriously, do you need three sets of dinnerware? Or eight different kinds of body lotion? Or that treadmill you hang clothes on? Or the very latest electronic of every kind? Maybe you do. But you probably don’t.

Another imagined need is the “future need.” This one especially likes to rear its head at sales. You go in a store. Everything is 15 or 20 or 50 or whatever percent off. The bargains are irresistible. But do you really need those quilted placemats or that fuchsia sweater or those really cute garden markers? Well, maybe not now, but the tablecloth might wear out or you might get a blouse that would only go with that sweater and you might plant something you can’t recognize next spring. And it’s all such a great deal.

Another need that is a source of clutter is that special American need of “Keeping Up with the Joneses.” This is a particularly sneaky one because it’s so easy to deny. Nobody really wants to admit that they got something because a friend or neighbor has it, but you don’t have to look very far to see someone doing it. We are a culture that embraces the concept of deserving: Not only do we feel we deserve things because of our hard work or general wonderfulness, we think we deserve them because other people have them.

So, by one of these ways or many of these ways, you’ve ended up with a lot of stuff. Stuff that takes up your space and makes you take care of it. Clutter!

I know it’s hard: I love stuff, too. But getting rid of the excess is a freeing experience. And as there’s no way to organize clutter, getting rid of it is pretty much a requirement for an organized life. So, in the next few days, I suggest you take one baby step toward eliminating some clutter. I’m pretty good about clutter, but it does keep coming back, so for my part, I’m going to go through all the drawers and cabinets in the bathrooms and if I don’t love it or need it, it’s gone.