This is a long excerpt from a book that's helped me a lot in organizing my home and life. I don't use all of it, and you probably won't either. Just take what you need, and improve what you can.
Today's God's gift to us..what we do with it is our gift to Him. Enjoy it!!
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Simply Organized
"Riches prick us with a thousand troubles in getting them, as many cares in preserving them, and yet more anxiety in spending them, and with grief in losing them." St. Francis.
Less is best. The less you have, the less you will have to take care of. Really! Material goods gobble your time and energy, so we urge you to have only what you use and love in your life. Do not make decisions about buying and keeping stuff lightly. Stop compulsive shopping! Also, realize that your things make a statement about who you are and what you value. Do you value quality or quantity? Most of the people we know are slaves to their possessions and don't know it. Here are some facts to ponder:
Possessions clutter Possessions weigh you down emotionally, cluttering your mind. Casually placed possessions clutter tabletops, closets, counters and garages. Putting stuff away can take all day.
Possessions cost more than the original price. You spend additional money storing, repairing, protecting and cleaning goods. And it takes time to cater to them, and lost time is worth money.
Possessions need cleaning. Do you enjoy washing, dusting, polishing, soaking, scouring and scraping? Even minimal cleaning is time consuming.
Possessions create errands. How many miles a year do you drive to buy, repair and clean your things? How many hours do you spend waiting in store lines and looking for parking? Shopping centers thrive on consumerism.
Possessions are worrisome. Fretting about breakage, loss, theft, fire, repairs and insurance premiums clutters our minds. Every item let go of is one less worry.
Possessions need organizing. Things need to be alphabetized, color coded, sorted and grouped, for sanity's sake. Woe to people who do not know how to organize their things.
Possessions get lost. The less you have, the less you have to lose.
Possessions depreciate. Things that spot, rust, crumble, dent fray and come unglued lose value. Invest in yourself, not things.
Possessions are climbed over, hidden, apologized for and argued over. How much more do you need to know?
Possessions encourage greed. Materialistic people tend to compete with their neighbors, brag, hoard and constantly desire more. They are seldom satisfied with what they've got.
The price tag at the store is not the true price of possessions. The true price is the original cost plus blood, sweat and tears. Bottom line: ownership is a prime cause of stress.
Working hard to maintain an over materialized lifestyle puts stress on your relationships, your sex life, and your finances. It is a cause of divorce, bankruptcy, job dissatisfaction, and declining mental and physical health. Do not become intoxicated or infatuated by, or addicted to possessions. They have the power to own more of you than you own of them.
Bertrand Russell said, "It is the preoccupation with possession more than anything else, that prevents man from living freely and nobly."
Pack Rat Factor:
How little a man requires to maintain himself! And how can a man who has any merit at all fail to have that little? --Seneca
How many times have you heard people say, "If only I could get rid of more things." It's tough throwing things away, and it's painful living with so much stuff. Why are we so weak when it comes to discarding? kWhy does it take so much courage to let go of unwanted items?
Below is a list of rationalizations that keep people trapped by superfluous possessions. These excuses keep people from being free of clutter, from leading simpler, more carefree lives.
PACK RAT RATIONALIZATIONS
"If I get rid of things, I'm throwing money away."
You lose more money keeping unused and unloved things around. They occupy expensive space and valuable time. And the cost of space in your home can exceed one hundred dollars per square foot!
"My things remind me of the past."
Relics from the past are attempts to keep it alive. Your present life, with its real people and potent sensations, is more alive. There's a realistic limit on what to keep for memory's sake.
Life is dynamic. To live means to outlive. To grow is to outgrow and to let go. Ideas behaviors, values, friends, and other facets of our lives that were useful at one stage may very well become a burden at another.
"I may use it in the future."
For every one hundred things you think you will use, you may use one. You keep 99 to have one that may someday be useful. Why not buy the one again? It's cheaper in the long run.
"Everyone has one, so it must be important."
The new status symbol is to fill your life with things you love...not with what others have. Develop your own personal style for people to admire.
"But it was a gift."
Gifts are symbols of love. Keep the love and let go of the symbols.
"I'll keep it till I find someone to give it to."
Put it in a Goodwill box, where it will go to someone who truly needs it. Don't spend your valuable time..the only truly precious and irreplaceable commodity in your life..looking for a suitable home for it.
"I identify with my things."
Possessions can become psychological appendages of one's personality. Identify with things that truly define you and let the rest go. You are defined by all you have, including the clutter you can't part with.
"Ugh! It was a mistake."
If you bought it and made a mistake, keeping it around for a long time won't make it any less of a mistake. Either love it, use it, or get rid of it. It's okay to make mistakes.
"I don't have time to sort through my things."
Start by getting rid of just one item. Remember, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
DON'T SLEEP ON THE PORCH
If you'd like to simplify your life and have more free time, remember this rule: "Whenever you buy something new, get rid of something unwanted." The number of items that flow into your home should equal the number of items that flow out. There must be a balance of old and new. If you don't follow this rule, you may find yourself seeking a large home, renting storage space, or sleeping on the porch!
THE MECHANICS OF SIMPLIFYING
Step 1. Sort your things into three piles
First, choose an area to simplify. Then, sort your things into three piles. Take the items out one by one. Hold each item up and ask yourself, "How do I feel about this? Do I love and use it? Am I ambivalent about it? Do I want to discard it?"
Take your time with this step.
- Love and use pile. Put the things you feel good about and use often in this pile.
- Ambivalence pile. Ambivalence means to be attracted to something and repulsed by it at the same time. You seldom use these items because you don't feel good about them, but you hang onto them because of pack-rat rationalizations.
- Discard pile. Put the things you never use and are willing to get rid of in this pile.
After you've removed everything from the area, clean it thoroughly. Notice how good it feels to see the scrubbed bottom of a drawer, a closet floor or counter-top that had been previously littered.
TIP: Signs reading I Love It, I Don't Know, and Out, are especially handy when you help children sort their things. And the sorting process encourages children to become uncluttered adults!
Step 2. Remove the Discard Pile.
There are two types of discarded items: recyclables and throwaways. Put the throwaways in a trash basket or rent a dumpster if you have tons of junk.
Recyclables--to be given to Goodwill, the Salvation Army, or a thrift store--can be kept in a recycle ben in the garage. Stash things in it every chance you get and then make one giant run to the recycling center. Don't drive from place to place to bestow your beloved castoffs. If you must spread the wealth, choose one place this season, and next season, choose another.
Step 3. Create an Ambivalence Center
Getting the items you're ambivalent about out of your living area--by creating a storage center for them...lets you experience the freedom of living only with the things you love and use. It also lets you practice living without certain items before you make that irreversible decision to give or throw them away.
Imagine a corner of your garage with stacked and labeled cardboard storage chests, which you can buy in nearly any store. Each contains possessions from your closets, drawers, cupboards and the rest of the house that were not being used, but which you aren't ready to get rid of yet. The boxes in the garage give your things a transition zone.
In clothes closets, hang garments from your ambivalence pile at one end, away from the clothes you love to wear. Force yourself to wear these items as soon as possible. If they turn out to be things you love and wear, put them back in with your favorite clothing. If not, recycle them immediately.
Sort through the lidded, labeled boxes in the ambivalence center at least every six months, and get rid of as much as possible. Keeping up with materialism takes vigilance, and rewards are worth the effort.
GETTING ORGANIZED
Finally, it's time to deal with the things in the love-and-use pile. These are the things that are important to you now. Next week or month, they may be meaningless, but today, they are meaningful. Love-and-use items are enjoyed more when they are organized. Develop a systematic way of putting these possessions away, and your focus will be on the possessions, not on the maintenance of them.
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