Change Your Life With My Top Organization Hack
I’m about to share with you my top life-changing organization hack.
I don’t know about you, but I am a neat freak. I’ve always been obsessed with organization. If something doesn’t have a place, I lose it. If something can’t stay maintained, I get anxious. It’s not that I have to have a super clean home. I just have to a tidy home.
Clean vs. Tidy
But what’s the difference between keeping a home clean versus tidy?
Clean to me means spotless. The counters are wiped down, the surfaces are dusted, the floors are mopped, etc. So even though you may have a ton of clutter or stuff and it may be just stuffed into drawers or closets, it’s still clean.
Tidy, on the other hand, to me means organized. So while there may still be some dust on the shelves or some dog hair on the couch or some coffee stains on the countertop from this morning, everything has a place and it’s in its place.
To me, it seems hard to be clean without first being tidy. The more things are out of place, the harder it is to get around them to keep it clean.
If you want a clean house, there are about a thousand cleaning checklists out there to ensure you don’t miss a spot in your house.
If you want a tidy house? Well.. that’s where it gets interesting.
So what’s the secret to tidy?
Since tidy is all about getting organized and having a place for everything, you may think I’m about to share:
- Great containers!
- Storage options!
- Pantry jars!
- Drawer organizers!
- Toy baskets!
Now while those have a place and a time, that is not at all what I’m sharing with you today. In fact, I want you to completely reframe the way you think about organizing. Instead, the #1 organization tool in your toolbox is to have less to organize in the first place.
Let’s see an example…
I know, I know. You might be rolling your eyes at me. But hear me out. Having less is my #1 organization hack for a reason.
Let’s use an example to illustrate this. Take a look at your pantry. Imagine it filled to the brim with things. You have several layers of things on each shelf: expired items, dusty items, items that were opened and never finished, items spilling over. You can’t see everything, so you forget what’s there. The shelves need cleaned. But you’d need to take everything off the shelf. That’s way too overwhelming. At this point, you’re only really using the things at the front of the pantry, ignoring all those neglected items in the back. And you shut away the mess so you don’t have to stare at it because every time you open the door, you feel that dread that you just don’t even know where to begin.
Does this sound familiar? If not, do you know someone who would find this familiar?
Now imagine your whole house was the pantry.
Can you even imagine how much stress you might have? It’s no wonder that it is so hard to know where to start.
You might’ve organized the pantry as much as you can. It may involve some baskets holding similar items, some spice racks, some containers holding your flour and sugars. But at a certain point, all that stuff is going to overflow out of those baskets, jars, and racks. The variety of things will make it significantly more difficult to find a place for it all.
So what do you do with this pantry?
Your two options…
For our pantry example, what I would do is either:
- Throw everything I can’t see out.
- Donate what’s still good.
Most likely, most of the stuff in your pantry taking up all that space on the backs of these shelves is either expired or something you don’t use on a regular basis. So you have two options. Either throw it out or donate it.
I know I’ve been using a pantry example throughout all of this and there’s a reason. A pantry is a fantastic place to start any declutter or organizational project because it’s not sentimental. It’s not filled with expensive or precious items. We’re going to go over the pitfall for the pantry declutter shortly, but I use this example because the exact same idea can be applied to any part of your home.
Your closet? Everything I just said about the pantry applies the exact same. Your kids’ toy bins? Same thing.
Wait, any part of my home?
Yes. Let’s take your closet. Can’t see some of your clothing because they are buried at the bottom of drawers or pushed so far back in the closet that you forget you have it or never wear it? Is it “expired”, meaning is it now out of trend, out of your own personal style, or torn/faded/doesn’t fit anymore?
Let’s take the toy bins. Kids never play with them because they are at the bottom of the treasure box? They are stuck in closets that never get opened? They are in bins stored in the attic? Are they “expired”, meaning are they out of batteries and they’ll never get replaced? Are they broken or missing pieces? Have your kids outgrown them?
You’re probably starting to see where this is going.
The secret to managing the overwhelm is to have less that overwhelms you.
HAVE. LESS.
I used to have a shopping addiction. I couldn’t stop buying clothes. If I wasn’t in the store buying clothes, I was scrolling my shopping apps for clothes. If I wasn’t scrolling and looking for discounts, I was thinking about clothes. I had SO MANY. But all I wanted was more.
If you don’t enjoy what you have, what you have will never be enough.
I took steps to finally overcome my shopping addiction and once I did, I realized I’d always had plenty of clothes. More than plenty actually. Now, I have less clothes than I’ve ever owned before and I’m happier with my closet than I’ve ever been before.
And guess what? My closet is also more organized than it’s ever been before. I don’t need baskets, extra hangers, an abundance of drawers, shoe organizers, etc. I have just enough of what I need and a spot for it all without having to buy more “space-savers” just to fit more.
Kids toys? We’ve gotten rid of 90% of our kids toys at this point and it has saved me so much time with tidying every day. I have so much space now to store other things after freeing up most of our cabinet space. I don’t have closets overflowing with extra toys for special “toy rotations”.
The Pitfall: But what if I need that thing in the future?
Oh the classic declutter excuse. “But what if I need that ingredient in my pantry for a future recipe?” “What if I need that special dress I haven’t worn in years for an occasion in the future?” “What if I need this serving dish for a dinner I host?”
Yes. It’s true. You may end up decluttering something that in the future you could’ve used. But I challenge you to ask yourself three questions:
- Can I borrow this thing instead in the future? (i.e. that serving dish…)
- Can I repurchase it for under $10? (i.e. that ingredient…)
- Can I use/wear something else in its place? (i.e. that dress…)
If the answer is yes to any of those three questions, throw away or donate.
For even more mindset shifts like this, check out this post.
The Key Takeaway
It is easier to have a clean home when it is tidy. It is easier to have a tidy home when you have less to tidy in the first place.
So while yes, there are great organization tips and tricks out there with special containers and drawers and organizers, pause before you buy. Are you buying these because you are trying to fit more into these spaces than you really need?
My challenge to you is find one thing in your house that you can either throw away or donate today.
Happy organizing!
