Stop. Look around. What do you see?
Do you see a desk with papers and books and stationery all piled high? A randomly stacked bookshelf? Kitchen cabinets filled with cartons, empty and full? Cupboard overflowing with summer wear when winter is around the corner?
Disorganised. Chaotic. Entropic. Procrastinated.
You don’t need the skills of a librarian to be able to organise the important areas of your life. All you need is the intention and a few moments to spare to get if all sorted.
I’m no Maria Kondo and won’t say I’m obsessed with organising things, but yes, I like to keep things organised. It makes it easier in the long run. And once it became a habit, it came naturally to keep things clutter-free, be it my time or space or life.
Organising things is not something to be ashamed of (even if your habit may be the butt of frequent ridicule and jokes). It displays a clarity of thought, a focus and helps you save so much of time and effort.
So why is it not many follow this habit?
There are 5 main reasons why people fear organising and hesitate to take the plunge into tackling the clutter. Maybe if the reasons are said out loud, it will make it easier to accept them and inspire you to take action.
Reason #1: To Let Go or Not.
A broken toy from your childhood. A dress or pants or favourite pair of jeans from college days you’ve kept hoping to get into some day, old journals from when you were growing up.
These are some of the items that are often found tucked in the corner of the top shelf of the cupboard or in the attic. Our emotional attachment to these belongings leads us to cling to them long past its utility or life.
Some of these things we don’t want to discard because we’re worried what if there’s a requirement at a later date. Like those old sneakers, or the wooden stool with a leg missing or the support wheels of the kid’s cycle or the stack of folded cartons. Do you really think you will reuse them? I don’t think so. Get rid of them.
Another thing we find stored in boxes are the old books, notes, journals, study material from college days. Those books are outdated. And if you really need information, you can always go to the library or there’s the internet. Dispose of the clutter.
Reason #2: The Emotional Grip of Letting Go.
Decluttering and organising can be overwhelming. It’s daunting but doable.
Ask for help. Let one of your friends or family members who has been nagging you to get things sorted, or is good with this kind of work, to assist you. It will help in taking some harsh decisions.
Yes, facing these hard decisions is another important reason for most of us to put away the job for later.
You don’t want to decide what to keep and what to throw away. Let someone take that job away from you and make the decision. This will make the process easier and finally lead to a logical end.
Plan your work. One area at a time. Start with the old clothes. Collect the clothes you’ve outgrown or no longer use. Go through rest of the things in the cupboard and be merciless in removing the extra stuff.
Pack them into bags and donate it at the earliest. If they’re not in the state to be donated, then discard them. If it remains in the house, there’s a possibility of them getting back into the cupboards.
Focus on another area of the house or office. Go one space at a time so it doesn’t get too much to do.
Reason #3: Escaping the Paralysing Dilemma of Perfectionism
Perfectionism is myth. What matters in taking action.
If you’re deciding to get things organised today, just do it. Don’t overthink or over plan. It does nothing to the work getting completed. If anything, it adds to the stress and gives you a reason for further postponing it.
First you need to get rid of the unnecessary things cluttering and occupying the space. You don’t need to be a perfectionist to achieve it. What you need is intention. So go all out.
Organising happens after this. Once you have removed the clutter, you can organise the things as you want. There will be lesser things to sort. Put them in marked boxes or shelves or wherever else you want to now, as you’ve more space available.
You can decide if you want to go the Marie Kondo way or do it your way. Either way is fine. There’s no right or wrong way. If it works for you, it’s the best way. The important step is doing it.
Reason #4: Tug of War Between Time and Prioritization.
Time is the most valuable asset we possess. Use it well.
Rushing between home and work, juggling between family and office, takes up so much of your time that you’re not ready to use the few free minutes available to do such mundane and avoidable jobs like decluttering and organising your life.
That’s the biggest mistake you can make.
Decluttering and organising is not just about making some extra space in your house and cupboards. It’s a time saving activity. You don’t have to go around searching for things the next time you need them.
It’s cost saving. No more duplicate items in the house.
It’s stress reducing. No more stressing about whether it’s there or not, where’s it kept, in what condition, can I use it – none of these worrisome thoughts to deal with. Just look in the place you’ve stored it.
Even planning your meals become easy since you know what to cook, what you need to cook and what’s there in the pantry to cook.
Once all this is out of your way, your life also becomes more organised. You can plan in advance. You know what’s there at home, you can decide how to use it.
Reason #5: Conquering the Fear of Change.
Most people thrive in the disorganised state they live their lives in.
That’s because they don’t want to put in the effort to get things organised. It may look ‘cool’ to be unconcerned about such things, but step back and think for a moment how many times you’ve seen this person looking harried or hassled, searching for something?
Like I said before, being organised reflects the state of mind, the clarity of thought and focus.
Why spend anxious hours for things that can be avoided? It may be a little uncomfortable for a few days since you’re not used to it. But then it’s like anything else new you start. Remember the first days of work or at the gym? You’ll get used to it and then enjoy it.
Finding comfort in the chaos will lead to bigger chaos in the future. Don’t do that.
Our aim is always to have a comfortable future. So, start with this one habit which will ensure it without fail.
Finally
Show those who laugh at you today by following the simple steps to organise and declutter.
I promise, you’ll be the one having the last laugh. This is one habit which needs to be acquired at the earliest to make your life a smooth sailing.
Remember these reasons every time you think of excuses for NOT organising your life. And then do it. You’ll easily find the inspiration and motivation.
