Your Inner Demons Love These Myths About Organizing–BEWARE!
🎃Halloween Special Edition🎃
This Halloween, we’re scaring you with our collective inner demons and how they use some common organizing myths to keep us afraid. (Don’t worry, we’re out here to myth-bust and give some tips along the way!)
Organizing comes naturally and some people are simply bad at organizing (hello, ADHD friends!)
Many people think that organizers are born– that some people just have a knack for tidying up and always have.
This myth leads our inner demons to believe that we’ll never be good at it– we missed out on the organizing genes.
FALSE! Sure, some people are great at organizing, some are good enough at organizing… and some are not good at it yet. But like most things, organizing is a learned skill. Some learn to organize younger and others may learn the skill later in response to a need such as a life transition, a need for control, or simply a desire to fulfill their vision for their home. No matter when you come to it, a big reason you will be good at it or not is whether or not you are willing to learn and how much you care about the subject matter.
Where should you start? Start very small:
Pick a small drawer, single shelf, or very small cabinet in your home.
Set a timer for 45 minutes and commit to staying on task (bring water!)
Other helpful tools: sticky notes, markers, baggies, duster, wipes, and scissors.
Remove all contents from drawer/shelf/cabinet to a designated spot (lay a blanket on the living room floor, or use a cardboard box as your “pile”)
Out of the big pile, make small piles of subcategories
Example: Junk Drawer (Large pile: “junk”)
Small piles: tools, pens and pencils, tape, electronic items, stickers, business cards, gum, scissors, papers, etc.
Do you have a lot of anything? Can you form these piles, too: Things to toss and things to recycle?
Once you’ve tossed/recycled the extra items, keep the little categories together and return them into the drawer in a way you can see everything at a glance.
2. Being organized means you have to be a minimalist (hello, maximalist friends!)
You are a collector and have an adoration for lots of different things. Your inner demon senses a small desire to organize and quashes it with the idea that you’ll have to live in a boring, white, empty box!
FALSE! - We realize that Marie Kondo’s method sounds a lot like minimalism… we promise it isn’t! Certainly, Marie emphasizes keeping what you love and gratefully letting go of things which no longer serve you, but that doesn’t mean you have to let go of anything that you want to keep.
For those who are comforted by their belongings and love lots of stuff–keep it all with confidence. The important thing is to store those lovely things where you can enjoy them day-to-day. It doesn’t have to be front and center–try making a secret shrine to your miniatures in your closet or hang up silly photos in the laundry room.
3. Organization is Set and Forget / should last forever (hello, …everyone!)
Everyone wants to organize once and for all. To live life without the repetitive mundane tasks. Our inner demons scorn us when things don’t stay organized forever, and they curse us when things at home unravel even just a little bit.
Unfortunately, FALSE! – Organization systems — even the best of them — do not last forever! That said, good systems can evolve with the seasons of life. If you can calm your inner perfectionist into accepting that life changes, and your systems need to, too. Let go of your unrealistic expectation for yourself, and adapt when you need to.
Here’s an example of perfectionism vs. a system:
Perfectionism: You expect your kitchen to always be spotless–counters clear, sink empty, and everything in its place. When this isn’t the case, you get upset with yourself.
Your System: You commit to your kitchen with daily chores: every day you make sure all the dishes are in the dishwasher and running OR drying in a rack before you head to bed. You keep a rag out to clean the counters as you cook or after you finish. If things are slightly out of place, that’s okay as long as they do not block counter space necessary for cooking. When your day is hectic, you do not beat yourself up–simply determine it will be done as soon as you have more time.
4. You have to spend $$$ on new storage containers/supplies (hello, budget friends!)
Your inner demons never let you begin your organizing projects, because they say ‘what’s the point if you aren’t using fancy containers like this Instagram influencer?’. You think your home will never feel organized if it isn’t picture-perfect as well.
FALSE! – You do not need expensive containers to get or stay organized. There’s lots of thrifty people who use “free” boxes (cardboard/paper boxes that come as packaging for other things). Even Marie Kondo recommends old cardboard shoe boxes as a great way to organize clothing in a dresser. We LOVE using boxes and bins that clients already own to sort their belongings. If you’re worried about the aesthetics, you can use double-sided tape to collage images or simple, white paper over the upcycled container.
Great, “free” storage containers:
cartons from grocery trips (hello, Costco!) (Pro-tip: you can cut them down a bit if they’re too tall using a boxcutter–be careful!)
keep old tea boxes that look pretty to store new teabags
small jewelry boxes are great for organizing in bathrooms and offices
shoe boxes for clothes or sentimental objects
check out a secondhand store to find cheap containers
5. If it’s not perfect, it’s not functioning (hello, fellow perfectionists).
This is the worst inner demon of all–the one that rules over the other inner demons mentioned above. This is your perfectionist demon that constantly makes you feel inadequate and behind. According to this demon, you’ll never be organized enough.
FALSE !– When we are able to let go of impossible standards, we give ourselves room for joy. If we are constantly working on organizing and making our homes look perfect, when are we going to have time to enjoy our home? There’s always going to be messes. Especially if you share a space with others–the trick is to make sure you get to enjoy your space as much as the people around you. Another trick goes one step further: instead of organizing to make your space perfect, organize because it’s something fun and peaceful that you can do for yourself when you have the bandwidth.
Having trouble with those inner demons still? Don’t know where to begin?
We are well-versed in inner demons because we deal with them, too. If you’re struggling to organize against some skeletons in the closet, some monsters under the bed, or some pesky elves in the kitchen, talk to us about how we can help you dust out the cobwebs and glam-up your space. We offer free 20-minute phone consultations, or you can check out our services page.
