In a home there is always a constant debate on organizing versus decluttering. Especially with those taking care of a fully functional family (including a kid or two), the decision to organize or to purge is a big deterrent in maintaining a clean rather clear-clutter free home. I call it a deterrent because each day one has to face the decision of "keeping it" or throwing it away" ( or "giving it away") in order to fulfill the one basic need- the need to maintain a sane home. A home that exudes positive vibes. A home having clear spaces. A home that doesn't shout "save me from the too much stuff epidemic."
Now herecomes the concept of organizing ones' belongings or taking up decluttering. Which one is more sensible to take up? Should one organize, declutter, or both?
THE ORGANIZING BUG
From my personal experience with organizing - trust me the job never ends. From a long time I have spend hours every week watching organizing videos. Its amazing and kind of so self satisfying to watch people around the world organize the contents of their closet, storage cabinets, or kitchen and study into categories, baskets, files/folders and so on. And Oh the Labels ! They always inspire one to do that extra bit. Its like the cherry on your ice-cream, the Labels! Watching these videos would motivate anyone to go get their own organizing things and move all the belongings into clearly labeled baskets, where everything has it’s place. Everything having a home. Tiny homes inside your big home.
DOWNSIDE OF ORGANIZING
No matter how much fun organizing looks, it has its downside. You end up bringing in more stuff than your home can accommodate, only to organize. In the process, you end up cluttering your house a notch up. One can organize various things into categories and sub categories, from clothes to toiletries to medicines ( e.g. kids/adults/general) to shoes to books( fiction/non fiction/adventure/kids/motivational etc).
But sooner or later you will realize that organizing is a big bug. Its like a visit to a mall with everything on an 80% discount. Its like a candy land in a party. Its like a free bar for someone who loves her alcohol. But do we actually need all this, so much of candy? all that alcohol? all the shopping?
THE AWAKENING OF MINIMALISM
One can organize how much ever one wants, but when minimalism hits us, the picture gets clearer. Lately I have been deeply inspired by the concept of minimalism, that I am working towards embracing it for good. Yes there are a lot of hurdles, like my dear possessions, love for home decor items and the incessant need of my kids to hold onto their belongings. But finding minimalism has turned my focus from organizing to minimizing. And yes I am going all into the process, to purge and purge.
Here's sharing with you 4 tips that will help you take a call between organizing and decluttering, or make you find your own mid way to these schools of tiding up.
4 TIPS TO EMBRACE ORGANIZING AND DECLUTTERING IN YOUR HOME
TIP #1 ANALYZE YOUR CURRENT STUFF
Go through all your stuff and give a lot of it away. Trust me giving away what you have not used or worn in last 2-3 months, really helps in downsizing your wardrobe. Same applies to all the other things in your home. What are you or anyone else will gain in keeping hoards of clothes, cushions or sheets? Keep only those that really spark joy. (Ref. The KonMari method is a system of simplifying and organizing your home by getting rid of physical items that do not bring joy into your life. It was created by organizing consultant Marie Kondo and described in detail in her best-selling book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up.) Keep the best out of your whole collection that you really love and cherish.
TIP #2 STOP BUYING MORE
Just simply stop buying more stuff. More stuff in any category will only increase clutter and reduce clear spaces.
I usually go top down. First downsizing my current stuff and then restricting the entry of new stuff into my home always works.
By purging what you have and by restricting further buying, you will have achieved the best of both the worlds - organizing and decluttering.
You will clearly not be in need of organizing items.
You will have more of storage space to keep the things you love in a convenient way and the current blatant display of baskets and storage bins will eventually go down.
You will be able to use the empty storage and organizing containers to donate your extra stuff along with them.
TIP #4 FIRST DECLUTTER THEN ORGANIZE
This experience of marrying organizing and decluttering has helped me understand the importance of both. Decluttering should always come before organizing. Organizing is basically tidying up the stuff that one doesn't use or didn’t need, to begin with. Though organizing can feel really productive and help in making things look sorted and beautiful, understanding the importance of decluttering to get a clean, clear home has its own joy.
So basically we suggest you declutter first and then organize what’s left !!
You can have a great time organizing, but think of the amount of time that goes into organizing which might essentially be clutter. Imagine the idea of having a cupboard with nothing in it or a fridge that's empty with food items with only 20% of its capacity in it. or a book shelf with a handfull of books. Won't cleaning all these places become so much easier? Yet alone the benefits of clutter free empty spaces such measures will create!
We would love to hear from you on your take on decluttering and minimalism. Do drop in your comments.
Cheers!
Less is More Living
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