Some people fall into the trap of simply reorganising their stuff as opposed to getting rid of it- if you are one of these people- here’s why you might want to re-think your approach.
Why is it better to reduce your things rather than tidy them up?
It costs more the organise
Think about all the money you invest in boxes and baskets and storage solutions during reorganisation projects when you could be MAKING money if you were to sell your things or not spending any money at all if you were simply reducing them by donating them to a good cause.
Organisation takes up more space
You may think that you are reducing the amount of occupied space in your home by tidying up your stuff but by separating it into specific storage areas and putting your items in storage containers; this takes up more room than paring down your items would.
Organising can disguise some of your things
You might be more inclined to get rid of something if you could see it sitting on a shelf or in a drawer than if it was hidden away in a box or basket. Out of sight out of mind as they say. If you can see exactly what you own- you are more likely to notice the things that are no longer enriching your life.
Organising takes up huge amounts of your time
Consider for a moment the time it takes for you to pick out your storage solution, buy it, bring it home, open it up, implement it in your designated space and allocate things to put in it. All this- only to do it all over again when you want to organise on future occasions such as during the inevitable spring clean.
Storage solutions might result in even more expense
You might invest lots of money in something that makes you buy more. What if you purchased a device to organise your spices in your kitchen drawer only to find that it leaves space to fit more spices? What if you buy a holder for multiple lipsticks and your existing ones only fill half of the slots? You might not have considered buying more until you saw the gap created by the storage solution; meaning you are spending even MORE money that you wouldn’t have thought about until you organised.
Less can look tidy too!
You might invest in storage solutions to make the inside of your cupboards and drawers look more respectable- but think about it this way- the less things you own- the tidier they will inevitably be because the less there is in a home- the tidier it looks.
Minimalism is easier maintain
Organising is a big task every time- think about your yearly spring clean- how much time and effort does that take you? Minimalism has a beginning, a middle and an end and thereafter it’s about doing little things often to maintain the lifestyle. This ensures you are constantly on top of your things. Organising is really about letting your things take over you, but you are fooled into thinking that you have a handle on your stuff because it looks pretty.
Reorganising is stressful and temporary whereas decluttering is liberating and more permanent. Minimalist Joshua Becker and author of The More of Less, who inspired this article- says it best here- all you need to do is ask yourself these two questions…
Tagged in Minimalism