Why Simplifying Is More Powerful than Organizing
This is a guest post from my friend Leslie from a few years ago (her blog is no longer active). I 100% agree with her thoughts!
I realize that the title of this article is kind of shocking,
especially when Hilda’s is an organizing blog, and so is mine,
and she and I are both professional organizers.
This article is not going to give you instructions on how to organize anything.
Rather, I hope to encourage and empower you to think differently about your space.
Your largest storage box.
Your home.
As I and others I have learned to let go of more and more clutter,
we have all found ourselves becoming more and more organized.
After 15 years of “organizing” families, offices, churches, storage units, etc.,
I have learned this phenomenal truth:
Stuff that is unused, yet kept, requires space and management.
And time.
Lots of time.
Time moving it around.
Time cleaning it.
Time working around it.
More time moving it around.
Do I even need to mention the money wasted on buying “organizers” to store this unneeded stuff?
If you think you’re disorganized, you’ll likely go out and start buying baskets, containers and hooks.
You’ll come home and try to use them, and they’re not the right type or size,
because you didn’t sort through your stuff first.
Isn’t that silly?
All of those new containers just end up adding to your clutter.
What’s funny is that you can think you’re organized if it’s labeled or containerized or colorized.
But don’t we ever get tired of “putting it all away somewhere,”
into containers, baskets, bags, closets, bins, and cupboards,
until the next time we open these organizational gadgets to discover
we still don’t use these things?
Organization is often synonymous with simplifying.
It’s not.
Organization is the by-product of simplifying.
Organizing is making space for the things that we love and use the most.
Simplifying is letting go of those things that we don’t love and will rarely or never use.
By simply labeling or containerizing our things (that we may or may not be using),
we are delaying decisions to rid ourselves of stuff we neither need nor use.
Storage is not a solution—it’s just a way to hide your stuff until you must deal with it later.
Instead, declutter, declutter, and declutter some more!
Clutter isn’t always about mess and disorder (some “clutter” is considered “cozy”).
My definition of clutter is too much stuff that is carefully and cleverly arranged.
Sometimes order camouflages excess.
Clutter isn’t always mess and disorder. The challenge is to work towards simplifying, not organizing.
It’s very simple, and consists of two parts:
First, if you don’t use or need something, get it out of your life.
Second, stop bringing things into your house that will get stored instead of used.
Here’s what happens.
As you let go of stuff, the less you have to organize.
As you let go of stuff, the more confidence you gain
to consistently, without regret, emancipate your time and the spaces in your home.
As you let go of stuff, the more power and control
you have over the choices of what you acquire.
As you let go of stuff, the less distractions you have.
As you let go of stuff, the less overwhelmed and anxious you feel.
As you let go of stuff, you experience freedom.
To hear more about simplicity and decluttering,
Hear my spot on Blog Talk Radio where I talk about 10 Causes and Cures for Clutter HERE.
Thank you, Hilda, for letting me stop by your place!
You are an inspiration to me!
I am a professional organizer and author, ready to help you declutter and organize the overwhelming areas in your home and develop systems that will work with your family’s lifestyle to help keep you organized!
