Happily Organized

I love organizing.

At every temp job I took out of college I asked about organizing the desk I worked at, and in most cases, the supervisor said “YES PLEASE!” No other temp had cared, and I always told them what I was planning to do, whether it was just asking for a clorox wipe, and the chance to rearrange the items to make more sense, or maybe going as far as clearing away candy bowls, throwing out dead plants and putting away office supplies that had been left by other colleauges.

Now, also enjoy keeping my home nicely organized, I try to have a spot for everything and everything in it’s spot. It’s not a lot of maintenance for me at this point because there is a spot for everything. Being organized to me means being more minimalist that I otherwise would be, but it does enable me to keep more than I should.

What I like most about staying organized is that it makes my space much more livable.

Steps I suggest to becoming more organized.

1. Don’t keep things out, don’t make the default location for something “out”. For instance, most things in the kitchen don’t belong on the counter, my exceptions are my decorative cookie jar and salt and pepper for just a bit of personality, my utensil crock for cooking, my knives for cooking, my Keurig, my google home (for timers and clock) hand soap, and my paper towel roll. As another example I keep just my soap, electric toothbrush and decorative dishes on the counter in the bathroom. All I keep on my night stand is my lamp, chargers, and usually a coaster, that way I have space to set things at night. In all these situations the other things used in the area are kemp in the cupboard/drawers, to allow as much surface area as possible. This pertains for the most part in other areas but these are practical examples.
2. Don’t overthink your hidden storage containers. I use cardboard boxes for my t-shirts as I was able to cut them to the exact size I needed. They’re just sitting in my closet so it doesn’t matter that they don’t look perfect to me. I keep my hair tools in a cookie tin because they fit perfectly. This doesn’t work for visible storage I understand, and I don’t suggest it. For showing storage I tend to use antique containers, like a canning tub I lined with shelf paper for my blankets in my living room.
3. Laundry basket should be kept open but in the closet, or otherwise out of sight if you don’t use a clothes chute, this means it’s easy for me to toss clothes in it so they don’t end up on my floor. My one addition to this is a nice, but small basket that I put clothes in that I’m not done wearing but that don’t go back in the closet, again this keeps things off the floor.
4. Only my computer (monitor, mouse, keyboard) and small decor pieces, and a coaster sit out on my desk. That’s it. No paper no pens, no paperwork, that all has a different storage space within reach, but not out in the open. This makes it so I can have a clean surface to work on without distractions, and I can otherwise get out the other things I might need. Plus I’d rather do things digitally if I can.
5. I don’t keep much besides furniture in my living room at this point (not too many books, games are in the closet). Again, this just means there’s even less to pick up at any given moment in my case. I take my computer out of my room a lot but most of the time bring it back to it’s spot almost immediately.

So is organization the easiest thing ever? No. But are there ways to make it easier to create and maintained in many cases? Yes.

I enjoy being organized.