What is your motivation to be organized?
On Unclutterer, we write a great deal about the benefits of clearing clutter from our lives. Getting rid of these distractions makes it possible to lead a remarkable life.
We also write about how to organize and create routines once the clutter is gone. One aspect of the how-to process that I particularly like to focus on is the motivation, because if you’re not motivated to be organized you’re not going to be. Why become organized? If you don’t own so much stuff that you’re overwhelmed by it, why does what you have need to have a dedicated “home?”
Plain and simple — it doesn’t. If you truly are living or working in a minimalist space, you probably don’t have a big need to organize what few things you have. However, the level most of us are comfortable living in and working in still contains stuff. We’re not ascetics and we enjoy the conveniences of modern living. As a result, being organized is just as important as being uncluttered.
Michelle Bates Deo at [ real neat ] had an inspiring quote on her site yesterday that sparked my thoughts on the “why organize” question:
He who does not get fun and enjoyment out of every day … needs to reorganize his life. — George Matthew Adams
I think this quote summarizes exactly why I have chosen an organized life. I want each day to be filled with fun and enjoyment. Searching for my keys isn’t fun. Missing a out on a great opportunity isn’t enjoyable. And having a head full of to-dos that should be on paper instead of in my thoughts is neither fun nor enjoyable.
Sure, not every experience in my life qualifies as fun and enjoyable — loading the dishwasher, deleting spam off the server, paying a parking ticket — but the processes I have in place make certain that these chores don’t weigh on me and cause me unnecessary stress and/or anxiety. Which, leaves room for having as much fun and enjoyment as possible.
This is why I work to be organized — Why do you?
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Posted by Erin on Oct 22, 2009 |
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Originally posted: What is your motivation to be organized? | Unclutterer
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22 comments posted
Posted by Wendy – 10/22/2009
I am disabled, and being uncluttered and organized is amazingly hard. I WANT perfection, but have no focus to be doing housecleaning on a regular basis. I try to clean one room, one set of cabinets or drawers, or even just mop every floor and clean the litter box. One step at a time. Problem is, things get messy as I go on to the next job, days later. You are right, it causes anxiety, living in clutter. I’m trying to get us to finally finish the basement and setting up storage, so I can put stuff down there that dampness won’t bother. Then on to cleaning and sorting and finishing remodeling!!!
Posted by Lose That Girl – 10/22/2009
Having things organized means that there’s one aspect of my life that I don’t need to dwell on. I find having a messy house results in having a messy mind. I’d rather be moving forward than stuck.
We’ve been looking at a much larger condo — and the extra space would be most welcome but a part of me loves our smaller version and the challenges it presents to us.
Posted by Dawn F. – 10/22/2009
I live an organized life because I like a sense of calm. Personally, I find a disorganized and cluttered space (closet/car/purse/house/etc.) to be nerve-racking and unhappy. Some people are totally cool with piles of stuff and rubbish in no particular order – me… not so much!
I want to feel comfortable if guests drop by unannounced. I want to find my phone and my keys instantly. I want to put my hands on a much-needed document at a moment’s notice. I want to locate the perfect outfit in my closet. I want to grab all of the ingredients for my dinner recipe. And I want to do all of these things (and more) easily, quickly and in a relaxed manner.
I want to breathe easy and smile and have lots of enthusiasm and motivation for doing truly happy things in my life and being disorganized and being cluttered gets in the way of that (for me).
Plus, I am a true believer that staying organized and controlling clutter saves money – bonus!
Posted by Katie Alender – 10/22/2009
Being organized is the first step in creating a simpler lifestyle. Once things are in their places, they can be evaluated in terms of what else we own and how much we truly need.
For my hobby–sewing–which can get very messy and overwhelming, being organized lets me start a project when I feel like it, not after I locate all of the various things I need and end up exhausted just from that part of the process!
Posted by lola meyer – 10/22/2009
One day I was cleaning the house and I realized I was upset and angry about it. Why? Not because I don’t like to clean, but because there was stuff in the way of cleaning -magazine piles, knicknacks, etc… I had sabotaged myself with my own junk. I’ve spent some time ‘editing’ and now feel pleased and peaceful in my home. Organizing is great for your blood pressure!
Posted by twosandalz – 10/22/2009
For me being organized saves time, helps me get things done, and decreases stress.
Giving my things homes helps me them faster. I have no patience for hunting for things… keys, spatulas, wrenches, anything. I don’t lose important documents when I keep file-work organized.
I procrastinate if it will take me 20 minutes to find all the tools I need to start a project. But I’ll start right away if I know I can locate everything in half the time. And it feels good to get stuff done.
Its just plain soothing to me to sit in my living room when its tidy and has a certain level of un-clutteredness.
Posted by Kathryn Fenner – 10/22/2009
@ Dawn F.–you said it! I know I save money when I am organized, in at least two ways: 1. I don’t buy things I already have, and 2. I don’t go therapy shopping to calm down and escape!
@ Wendy — Just keep on doing what you can and don’t give up! Something is better than nothing. I’ll be pulling for you!
Posted by littlebear – 10/22/2009
My motivation to be organized comes from the desire to have the space to do the things I want to, like spread out and work on a project, or find the ingredients for a recipe quickly. When my stuff is orderly, I am calm and peaceful. Clutter, junk, trash, tools all strewn about drain me mentally. Since I work from home now I have (just recently) learned that I need to make organization and housekeeping a priority to preserve my sanity.
I recently purged a lot from my closet and now all of the items I love to wear have a home. Even after I have done laundry! Before last week, I would constantly have clothes strewn about because there was no room for them to be orderly. One sock on the floor can quickly become a mountain of clothes, I have successfully maintained closet order for 84 hours and counting! Organization, however, is no substitute from making the tough decision to purge items from your home.
Posted by Michelle @ [ real neat ] – 10/22/2009
Thanks so much for the link love! Isn’t it interesting how even the littlest things that we may hear or read can help us refocus our lives?
Posted by cv – 10/22/2009
Others have articulated some of my reasons for wanting to live an uncluttered life, but I’ll add a couple of new ones: I’m anti-consumerism and very concerned about environmental issues. If I’m organized, I’ll remember the reusable shopping bags, and be able to find items I already have so I don’t have to buy new ones, and keep my belongings in better condition for longer. Wanting my grad-student apartment to feel organized and clutter-free fits in with my rejection of the message that society sends us that buying things will make you happy and more stuff will solve your problems. That’s why I skip over most of the unclutterer posts about new products – buying things to help me be organized doesn’t fit with my goals.
Posted by Sky – 10/22/2009
Being organized and my home being clean is calming. I don’t stress when friends drop in or something unexpected comes up. My daily routine keeps my home clean and presentable. If I want to take off on a spur of the moment trip or take a class or whatever, I don’t panic because my life isn’t a cluttered mess and my to-do list isn’t holding me back.
For me, it is SO much easier to keep things nice than to get it all back together if I let it go. It really doesn’t take much time every day and I would much rather have fun and do the things I want to do without a big mess at home hanging over me.
Posted by Shalin – 10/22/2009
I want to be organized because…
* I’d like to not feel “oh, this is overwhelming to deal with” and then feel zapped of energy to do any-thing when I get home after work…
* I’d like my friends and family to come over more often – more smiles and laughs in the house!
* I’d like to vastly reduce allergens that leave me with a stuffy nose in the morning when I wake…
* …I’d like feel creative, energized, and free to express myself in my own home (classic “do you own your stuff or does your stuff own you issue”)
aahhh… nice to have it written down
Best,
Shalin
Posted by Jen – 10/22/2009
I simply FEEL BETTER when my apartment is neat and organized. That’s the biggest motivation for me. If I wake up on a Saturday morning, I want to take the dogs out, make coffee, and sit down to work on my novel. But if the apt is a mess, I can’t get my mind into the writing mode until I clean it. That’s an hour or 2 of time (thankfully I can clean my 1000 sq. ft. apt in about an hour.) An hour or 2 I could have spent on my novel. It drives me nuts, but I can’t do anything else until it’s clean. Now if I could just get my boyfriend to put stuff away my life would be easier….
It’s also easier to clean when I have less stuff to move around. When I moved a year and a half ago I got rid of a LOT of stuff. I had a curio cabine jam packed full of knick-knacks. Now I have a little wall shelf with 12 spaces, and that’s all I have. I have some little stuffed animals on my bookshelf. Last time I dusted I got rid of a few more items. It feels nice not to have clutter in my apartment.
Posted by gypsy packer – 10/22/2009
1–My work is grim, routine, and mindless, and therefore my imagination is out at play while my body is tasking. This means that I am totally absent-minded. Organization keeps me from misplacing and losing every small item I own.
2–I’m allergic to dust mites. It’s far easier to clean an organized space than to clean chaos.
3–I’ve gone from living in a house to living in various small spaces, including the notorious Jeff Foxworthy Joke pickup truck. Small spaces are quite livable and energy-efficient, but only if you organize them for optimum utility.
Posted by chacha1 – 10/22/2009
Most of today’s commenters have motivations similar to mine. I suspect we are all drawn to this site for a reason.
I too find plenty of stress and clutter (of all kinds) at work, so at home I want peace and comfort. Plus, DH and I both occasionally need to see clients at home, so the place needs to always be tidy enough for that. We have a lot of “stuff,” but in all the public rooms everything has a place and is easy to keep neat and clean in just a few minutes a day.
I remember previous living arrangements when a clutterbug made my home a nest of crap. I was always angry! This is much better.
Posted by Camilla – 10/22/2009
For me, physical clutter = emotional clutter. I feel owned by my possessions. I want less stuff. I want to see empty space, or well organized storage. And clutter makes it hard to clean, as well. Too much stuff in the way prevents quick and efficient dusting, vacuuming, etc.
I have been working to declutter my living spaces, get rid of clothes I no longer wear, etc. At the same time, I follow some of the suggestions on flylady.com to set up cleaning routines that are reasonable and easy to maintain. And she is a HUGE fan of decluttering!
Posted by kre8iv1 – 10/22/2009
Right now I am NOT organized, and I can tell you that my energy and zest for life is NON-EXISTENT.
I have recently taken serious steps to become organized.
My goal for the un-cluttering of my house is that I will feel more energy and get my zest for life back.
Thank you for this website/blog. I just ordered your book, too. I am eagerly looking forward to a more orderly life.
Posted by Lori – 10/22/2009
When I was younger and had a lot more clutter, it would take me days to get ready for a big gathering at my house. Now that I have less stuff, my house is fairly clean all of the time. I can focus more on setting a nice table and working on the dinner menu rather than cleaning. I actually enjoy having company over now because I am focusing on the actual dinner preparations rather than the frantic cleaning I used to do.
Posted by Tabatha – 10/22/2009
i liked to be organized b/c i grew up with a pack rat mother who is still a pack rat. nothing was ever clean or organized except small parts of the apartment or house we lived in at one time or another. she can never find anything. i asked for some pictures months ago and she still hasn’t found them yet. i just got to a point where i couldn’t stand it anymore and i am now working towards as minimalist a life as i can get(and still be happy). and right now i think i feel a closet purge coming on.
Posted by Gina – 10/22/2009
My motivation to be organized and uncluttered stems from two desires:
1. To live in a space that has a calming effect on my senses. My work life is stressful and no fun at all. When I’m at home I want to have everything in place to relax and recharge, not be distracted by junk.
2. To stay focused on those parts of my life that are my priorities. For example, if my bookshelves are full of books that don’t support my interests and goals then it is a distraction to my focus. I’d rather have just those books that support my goals (or that I love so much they are a reflection of me). Anything else on the shelves is an unwelcome distraction.
Posted by Wellington Grey – 10/22/2009
For me, it was an issue of stress. I was not initially an organized person — I had late bills and big messes.
Eventually, it got to a point where I was so stressed out I had to change or go crazy.
Posted by SJ – 10/22/2009
Hey everyone,
This is a great post, Erin, and you guys have great comments.
I agree with many of the sentiments expressed. But I have a huge problem actually putting these thoughts into action. I feel like it takes forever to clean and within a day it’s messy again. (Particularly the bathrooms and kitchen) And when I try to set up a cleaning schedule many times I don’t remember that I was supposed to clean on that day (as lame as that sounds). The biggest thing I’m coming back to from all your thoughts is that I never seem to have anyone over unless it’s all been pre-arranged … and that is really, really depressing. I would like to change this, starting today. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to make a cleaning routine simple and manageable … and most of all, to make it stick? Thanks so much!
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