UNITED STATES─I am someone who prides myself on staying organized. However, staying fully organized in all aspects of life is easier said than done. When it comes to work, it’s the easiest thing to do, personal life, not so much. Why? I have a difficult time just knowing something has to be done and then getting overwhelmed mentally in the head with what needs to be done. It’s like you plan to do something, but then you start to think mentally how long it will take for you to complete the task at hand, and you just want to throw in the towel before you even begin.
Hence, the closet, which I’ve accumulated a ton of clothing and shoes in the past 2 years. With clothing I am a firm proponent that the more you have the harder it is to get rid of things. I have items that I have not worn in more than a year, and I know the rule, if you haven’t worn that item in over a year you’re not likely to where it at all. The problem with that is who wants to get rid of something they spent their hard-earned money on? I know I don’t, I’m certain neither do you.
However, I looked at my closet during the brevity of free time I have in my life, and went to town on clearing out the clutter. I took a bunch of clothing that I have not worn that was in top tier condition, maybe worn just once or twice and donating them. I felt great getting rid of that clothing, it was like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders America and the icing on the cake was knowing that someone was getting clothing that they may have desperately needed, especially during our current pandemic.
After getting the closet somewhat organized, it was time to tackle all those shoes I had, casual, sneaker and dressy. Placing them in shoeboxes was not an option because that was only contributing to the clutter more. So what did I decide to do? Purchase a shoe rack and use that to keep things a bit more organized. I hate dysfunction, the smallest sign of dysfunction drives me crazy people.
So it was a bit of work putting the shoe rack together, but once completed, a room that appeared completely disorganized had a bit more space and it opened the bedroom a lot more, eliminated clutter and for once I didn’t feel trapped in my own home. I’m not a big fan of storage bins because in my opinion they only lead to more clutter. So now that the closet and the vast majority of the bedroom has been organized, the focus now turned to paperwork, particularly organizing taxes, bills, junk mail, and all things important. For most Americans we get so much mail in a given week, we just toss it to the side and tell ourselves we’ll deal with it later.
By the time that comes around, we have stacks and I mean stacks of mail that we have to comb thru. You have to open it, decide what is useful and what is not and then it’s time to shred, burn or toss the litter away. Yes, I get the notion of going paperless, but I find that to be too dangerous and I will tell you why? What happens if you never look at your billing statements or credit card statements each month? You will run into a situation where you will fail to catch potential fraud, a purchase you didn’t notice or some other discrepancy? Yes, you eliminate clutter, but you place yourself at risk of not catching something you should see.
So the biggest tip I can give when it comes to organization: 1) have a plan 2) take your time 3) don’t feel the need to do it all at once 4) if you DON’T need it, TOSS it. Do not be afraid to let things go. It’s something many Americans struggle with, but in the long run you will be happy you did it.
