organizing and cleaning is frustrating sometimes

[sierramist03]

I feel like I'm rearranging the same crap! I had dh put in a new shelf and rod on my side of the closet and I don't feel like I gained anything other than making it more congested. Atleast my scurbs are together. Shirts hanging and pants folded on the shelf I guess. Does anybody else feel this way?? We have so much stuff and not enough room. We really need a basement or a garage.

[peach]

You don't need more room, you need less stuff. The more space you create, you will just fill it all up with more clutter again if you don't purge.

I am learning that - I don't need a shed. I need to get rid of 12 boxes of random crap I THINK I need but actually I can live just fine without.


"The more you have, the more you are occupied.
The less you have, the more free you are."
Mother Teresa

[Deleted]

Jan 4, 2013 2:45:16 GMT -5 peach said:

You don't need more room, you need less stuff. The more space you create, you will just fill it all up with more clutter again if you don't purge.

I am learning that - I don't need a shed. I need to get rid of 12 boxes of random crap I THINK I need but actually I can live just fine without.


"The more you have, the more you are occupied.
The less you have, the more free you are."
Mother Teresa

:Y: One of the basic rules of organization is you must be wiling to purge your stuff regularly - unless you have unlimited storage space - which most of us don't.

[Deleted]

Ditto Ali and Peach.
When I feel like that I start donating stuff.
I have also gotten really good about saying to myself, "Do I need more baskets, bins, containers, shelves etc. or do I just need to sort and organize better what I have."

My only exception to this is rule is if you have 3 kids in 900 sq. ft. in and old house without closets. That's how we grew up and there was just stuff everywhere no matter how organized my mom made it.

[thewop]

Jan 4, 2013 2:45:16 GMT -5 peach said:

You don't need more room, you need less stuff. The more space you create, you will just fill it all up with more clutter again if you don't purge.

I am learning that - I don't need a shed. I need to get rid of 12 boxes of random crap I THINK I need but actually I can live just fine without.


"The more you have, the more you are occupied.
The less you have, the more free you are."
Mother Teresa

You hit the nail on the head. Less is more! Don't be afraid to get rid of stuff. You might think you NEED it but you don't. And when you get rid of it and notice how neat and organized the things you truly need look, you'll be glad. I promise! Break the cycle of clutter!

[Deleted]

Jan 4, 2013 5:53:37 GMT -5 downtonali said:

Jan 4, 2013 2:45:16 GMT -5 peach said:

You don't need more room, you need less stuff. The more space you create, you will just fill it all up with more clutter again if you don't purge.

I am learning that - I don't need a shed. I need to get rid of 12 boxes of random crap I THINK I need but actually I can live just fine without.


"The more you have, the more you are occupied.
The less you have, the more free you are."
Mother Teresa

One of the basic rules of organization is you must be wiling to purge your stuff regularly - unless you have unlimited storage space - which most of us don't.

I like that quote! I have to laugh about the 12 boxes of crap. My BIL and SIL just moved into their brand new house and she told me there was 10 boxes she didn't even open before she donated. She already had her pictures and sentimental stuff sorted through, so she just got rid of them.

It's been 2 months and she doesn't miss any of it.

I work 2 blocks from a Goodwill type place. I keep a box in my car and just keep tossing stuff in it. Really keeps the clutter, esp. Rubes' stuff to a minimum. I stop like once a week on my lunch break!

[pitterwoo]

We're getting better about having less stuff over the years and every time we get rid of things we feel freer and wish we would have done it sooner.

That said, I have a really hard time with purging clothes and I don't know what we would do without a basement AND a garage. It's not so much stuff and clutter in there as tools and DIY supplies.

ETA: I did flylady several years ago and a quote that stuck with me is "you can't organize clutter". I always remember that when I feel like I'm just shuffling things around.

[heygrey]

Yes, aim for less stuff, not better organization.

Remember when the old cleaning board used to have random half hour cleaning challenges? We should do that with purging. "Find ten things" or "spend 20 minutes looking for things to donate/toss." It doesn't have to be an all day event, even the effort to find one thing a day makes a huge difference.

[hausfrau]

Jan 4, 2013 11:30:16 GMT -5 heygrey said:

Yes, aim for less stuff, not better organization.

Remember when the old cleaning board used to have random half hour cleaning challenges? We should do that with purging. "Find ten things" or "spend 20 minutes looking for things to donate/toss." It doesn't have to be an all day event, even the effort to find one thing a day makes a huge difference.

I definitely like taking a half-hour or so on the weekend and going through my closet, a bookshelf, a cupboard, or pulling up a box from the basement and just focusing on cleaning out one space. It's way less overwhelming than trying to tackle a large part of the house, and I've found it to be way more productive. I've donated so much stuff I didn't realize we still even had.

[SusanBAnthony]

I keep a plastic bag in the laundry room at all times, and every time it gets full I drop it off. It's not even worth keeping track of for the tax advantage, unless you are doing a whole house purge. Just get it gone!

Signing in, 2 kids in 760 sq ft, and I would say we are pretty decluttered. Just don't look in the garage, which is where all the boxes are!

[sierramist03]

I got rid of a whole bag of clothes and stuff but it just didn't look any more organized.

[Deleted]

Jan 4, 2013 12:19:22 GMT -5 sierramist03 said:

I got rid of a whole bag of clothes and stuff but it just didn't look any more organized.

I'd say you did good then. And you also have to remember organized on the internet isn't the same as organized in real life.

I think we all expect organized to be clothes lined up perfectly by size, color, shape, event on coordinating hangers besides. Everything else should be in baskets and only one per shelf. All the scarfs and socks are perfectly tied and folded in drawers under the rods that lined with silk and satchel scented.

Organizing is my strong suit and I'm proud to say all of my closets are currently perfectly organized/easy access/etc. However, they're not at all blog worthy.

It's real life around here.
The human race just doesn't function that way..we all have to live in the meantime!

[TBM]

Jan 4, 2013 12:49:06 GMT -5 @justdairy said:

Jan 4, 2013 12:19:22 GMT -5 sierramist03 said:

I got rid of a whole bag of clothes and stuff but it just didn't look any more organized.

I'd say you did good then. And you also have to remember organized on the internet isn't the same as organized in real life.

ITA...also, what works for one person doesn't necessarily work for another. It isn't really organized, no matter how pretty it looks to start out with if you can't keep it up. Organizing means finding a way to make it work for the way you use it, not trying to train yourself to fit your new system.

[pitterwoo]

Jan 4, 2013 19:29:11 GMT -5 TBM said:

Jan 4, 2013 12:49:06 GMT -5 @justdairy said:

I'd say you did good then. And you also have to remember organized on the internet isn't the same as organized in real life.

ITA...also, what works for one person doesn't necessarily work for another. It isn't really organized, no matter how pretty it looks to start out with if you can't keep it up. Organizing means finding a way to make it work for the way you use it, not trying to train yourself to fit your new system.

Wise words TBM. My H isn't organized by nature and won't or can't easily go along with my organizational ideas so I'm always trying to analyze how he does things so I can make a system work around that.

[lemondrop]

Jan 4, 2013 22:20:24 GMT -5 pitterwoo said:

Jan 4, 2013 19:29:11 GMT -5 TBM said:

ITA...also, what works for one person doesn't necessarily work for another. It isn't really organized, no matter how pretty it looks to start out with if you can't keep it up. Organizing means finding a way to make it work for the way you use it, not trying to train yourself to fit your new system.

Wise words TBM. My H isn't organized by nature and won't or can't easily go along with my organizational ideas so I'm always trying to analyze how he does things so I can make a system work around that.

I'm always trying to figure out ways to organize DH's papers, but they usually end up just packed full of his paper.

I've learned that getting and staying organized is an ever evolving process. It is a little overwhelming, especially when you consider having to break shopping habits, but in the end it's worth it.