Do You Find Yourself Falling for These 12 Familiar Myths about Clutter?
April 01, 2013
One of my
Secrets of Adulthood is: Outer order
contributes to inner calm. More, really, than it should. Why does
making your bed make such a difference?Here’s a list of some myths of de-cluttering that make it harder to maintain order.
1. “I need to get organized.” No! Don’t get organized.
2. “I need to be hyper-organized.” I fully appreciate the pleasure of having a place for everything, and perhaps counter-intuitively, I believe it’s easier to put things away in an exact place, rather than a general place (“the third shelf of the coat closet,” not “a closet.”) However, if you spend a lot of time creating eighty categories for your files, consider whether you need to be quite so precisely organized.
3. “I need some more inventive storage containers.” See #1. If you get rid of everything you don’t need, you may not need any fancy containers.
4. “I need to find the perfect recipient for everything I’m getting rid of.” It’s easier to get rid of things when you’re giving them to someone who can use them, but don’t let this kind intention become a source of clutter, itself. Try to find one or two good recipients and get stuff out the door.
5. “I can’t get rid of anything that I might possibly use one day.” Do you need a giant backlog of rubber bands? How many mugs does one family use?
6. “I might get that gizmo fixed.” Face it. If you’ve had something for more than six months, and it’s still not repaired, it’s clutter.
7. “I might learn how to use that gizmo.” Again, face it. If you’ve had a gizmo on the shelf for a year, and you’ve never used it to make gelato or label a box, it’s clutter.
8. “I might lose a ton of weight and then I’d fit into these clothes again.” If you lose a bunch of weight, you’ll want a new pair of jeans, not a pair you bought seven years ago.
9. “I need to keep this as a memento of a happy time.” I’m a huge believer in mementos; remembering happy times gives a big happiness boost in the present. But ask: do I need all these t-shirts to remind me of college, or just a few? Do I need to keep a desk to remind me of my grandfather, or can I use a photograph? Mementos work best when they’re carefully chosen – and when they don’t take up much room!
10. “I need to keep this, because the person who gave it to me might visit my house and be hurt when it’s not on display.” Is that person really likely to visit? Is that person really likely to remember the gift?
11. “If I have any available space, I should fill it up with something.” No! One of my Secrets of Adulthood is: Somewhere, keep an empty shelf. I know where my empty shelf is, and I treasure it. This creates a bit of an issue with my husband, who likes to plunk something down on an empty shelf; he also likes to start using the new toothpaste before every bit of toothpaste has been squeezed from the old tube. He has his flaws.
12. “I might need this.” If you haven’t needed it so far, maybe you won’t need it in the future. And you can probably get it, if you do need it. A friend with acquisitive tendencies told me, “I remind myself that I can store things at the store.”
How about you? What myths of clutter do you resist–or believe?
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