15 BENEFITS OF NOT ORGANIZING YOUR JUNK
On one hazy afternoon, I was looking up ways to tackle clutter control all of my stuff on Pinterest and saw a multitude of creative ways of organizing your junk. I knew that I needed to decrease the clutter in my life so I went crazy pinning all the cute and seemingly genius ideas. I had a lot of stuff and I certainly did not like seeing it on a daily basis.
Then I started thinking about the fact that I am sitting here describing a large majority of my belongings as junk (and that word is clearly not associated with anything positive!) I had to ask myself, why am I even trying to organize all of it? Suddenly it made way more sense for me to figure out how to reduce the mess and eliminate the stress (I'm really sorry about the motivational rhyming. The corny side of me took over and I simply could not help it, you may as well tweet it though:
[tweetthis twitter_handles="@TiffanyImaa"]Reduce the mess, eliminate the stress![/tweetthis]
Instead of buying multiple baskets and bins that will effortlessly save all your junk from the floor, start getting rid of things you don't need. Yes, it may sound harsh, but that's the breaks, kid! You don't need it, and it definitely doesn't need you (because objects don't need anything, of course) so let's take back our apartments, basements, a car trunks! I'm hear to show you why it is better to get rid of the mess instead of organizing your junk.
What you really need is a good old fashioned purge. It is time for you to assess your junk what is junk and what is not? Do you use it daily? Weekly? Monthly? NEVER? This is the best way to approach organizing because you won't waste time organizing things that you don't need anyway, and friends this is the beginning of smart organizing.
1. REDUCE IMPULSE SPENDING
Once you have a concept that you do not need to be surrounded by stuff, you will be less inclined to buy things on a whim. You will begin to evaluate your purchases especially after spending so much time getting rid of stuff and organizing. That random wooden letter you found on sale at the craft store for $0.50 just won't make it into your space.
Instilling the concept of "less is more" in your mind will change the way you see everything. Your desire will be to have as little as possible cluttering your space, and ultimately your mind.
2. LEARNING TO EVALUATE NEEDS VS WANTS
There are a lot of things that we say we need but when we are honest, we don't. If you have shelter, food, and water, you have your basic needs. Of course it is ok to have things that you want, but it is not ok to obsess over things you want. It is not ok to overspend and waste money just because you want something.
Ask yourself these five questions when you are in the store considering a purchase(Especially if it is Target, because everyone knows Target will get you!)
Do I already have something that can fulfill the same purpose?
Do I think I might have something that can fulfill this purpose? (Even if you think you might, you probably do?
Is this something that I need or want because it may be more attractive than what I have?
Will this item add value to my life?
Is this something I will need ofter, or can I borrow it for a short amount of time?
[tweetthis twitter_handles="@tiffanyimaa"]Before making a purchase, ask "will this item add value to my life?"[/tweetthis]
3. AND SAVE MONEY
Once you've mastered the need vs. want dilemma, you will automatically question your purchases. As you take time to think through your buying decisions, you will find yourself spending less and less. That adorable tiny notebook in Target's dollar aisle won't be as appealing. You'll be thinking about the half used notebook that will take your words just fine and be perfectly happy about it. These are the little things that add up and take our money away without us even realizing it.
In addition to that, I can't tell you how many times I've needed something small like tape or glue, and could not find it. I would go to the nearest store and purchase it. Eventually, the thing I needed would turn up and I found myself with plenty of duplicates.
4. REDUCE STRESS
Let's face it, having a bunch of stuff around can really stress you out even if it is crammed into every nesting basket and bin that you own. Think about it: the moment you need something that you are 100% positive you already own, you'll be stuck looking through ten medium sized baskets trying to find it. This will inevitably happen when you only have 15 minutes to get out of the house!
We encounter many stressful situations during our day at work or school, our home should be a place to rest. Having the extra stimuli just laying around won't help us relax. We will also carry that extra stress into work which can lead to it effecting our performance on the job. It is almost impossible to separate your work and home life completely so basically, you are really laying on the stress level.
5. SAVE TIME
When you have less stuff, it is much easier for you to know where everything is. It will cause you to have more ease of, well, everything. Since you know where things are, and can quickly get it, you are far less likely to spend ten to twenty minutes of your morning looking for items that you need.
Your level of efficiency will be much higher than you ever thought it could be and you will shock yourself in regards to the level that you are able to perform personally and professionally.
[tweetthis twitter_handles="@tiffanyimaa"]When your space is uncluttered, you will be much more efficient.[/tweetthis]
6. GET MORE REST
Having peace of mind will automatically cause you to rest more. I know I spent a lot of time thinking about how I would get it together and tackle the mess. I kept me up way to many nights to count.
As previously mentioned, you are much more efficient and you might be able to hit that snooze for 10 more minutes of some much need sleep!
7. YOU WILL KNOW WHERE THINGS ARE
I cannot tell you how many times I purchased things I did not know I had simply because they were tucked away somewhere. For me, the worst was clothing. I would thrift shop and purchase lots of similar items. By the time I purged my closet, I discovered I had three mint button down shirts really!? I clearly did not need them all but because the first one I got was buried in the bottom of my closet, I bought more. This will lead to much less money waste.
8. YOU WILL LEARN TO FIX THE PROBLEM
Cramming cute baskets with stuff you don't use or need is not a solution. When you hide things from site, it doesn't get the problem fixed, it is just like medicine that only lessons the blow of the symptom. Honestly, it is actually counterproductive, because as you hide things, you will just keep adding more to the mess!
The real solution is clearing your life of clutter. Knowing how much clutter affects us physically and mentally, it is always your best bet to take action against it. It can be a huge task however, it will be well worth it.
READ: 7 TIPS TO HELP YOU PURGE YOUR STUFF
9. YOU WILL STOP COLLECTING MORE STUFF
As much as you would like to think of your life as "uncluttered" when you stuff your belongings into baskets and bins, you are only creating the opportunity to collect more stuff. I had this basket sitting in my room or the "things that did not have a place" and I ended up just piling more and more stuff on it. I finally emptied it one day, it had the MOST random junk in it. Like old computer cords and mismatched socks. I was like, really!? This is what is causing an eyesore in my room.
Simply because I had the basket there, I just kept adding to it. There was zero rhyme and not even one iota of reason behind it.
Analyze what you have. Check to see if you have one of those random baskets that are not adding any type of value to your life
10. YOU WILL BE MORE PRODUCTIVE
I am recovering from being a chronic and overt, borderline hoarder, junk loving fiend. For a long time, I would know in the back of my head that I needed to do something about the mess, but I simply could not. It was overwhelming. Rather than tackle it, I would look at it and grow immediately and undeniably sleepy. I got nothing done. Unless you count obsessively marathon watching Netflix as getting something done.
The point is I was unproductive because the mess just kept getting more and more overwhelming. I could not do anything about it, and it actually made me get NOTHING done at all.
11. YOU WILL BE MORE FOCUSED
Having a lot of stuff around us can break our focus. If you are anything like me (which if you are reading this I'm guessing you are!) You tend to forget important things, lose important papers, and in general, not remember what you are supposed to be doing.
When we are surrounded by stuff our brains basically can't rest. It is being stimulated way too much and you have a hard time getting it to focus on anything.
12. YOU WILL CUT OFF UNHEALTHY ATTACHMENTS
Face it:
You love your stuff. I love my stuff. We want to keep our stuff. We are in this together my friend and I want to share this important point with you:
An unhealthy relationship with material things will cause needless strain on your life.
As people we sometimes we develop very real, very sentimental and very unhealthy attachments to the things that we own. I understand. That shirt reminds you of your uncle, that broken jewelry box reminds you of your free childhood and that card you've been hanging on to brings a smile to your face. Sometimes, things are wonderful and can bring us joy.
The issue comes in when we start to make these crazy attachments to multiple things in our lives, for example, you keep buttons because they "might"come in handy. You hang on to things because they could still be valuable. They still have some use in it only you are not using it. This means it serves no practical purpose in your life.
13. YOU WILL IMPROVE YOUR MEMORY
With less stimuli and all that stress free time on your hands, you will have much more time to reflect on your life. Daily tasks, planned phone calls, and coffee dates with friends will suddenly be at the top of your memory. You'll freak out and call everyone who knows you have a horrible memory.
14. EXPERIENCE LESS GUILT
Initially, you will feel guilty about pitching things that you have spent your money on. I promise you that initial feeling of guilt is worth it for the decrease in future guilt. To explain that a little more clearly, you will feel bad about getting rid of your stuff, and that is completely natural. In the future, you will be more committed to making better decisions in general, so you won't have a bunch of things that you need to feel guilty about throwing away
Not to mention you'll spend way less time feeling badly about missing things you committed to. When we talk about the lack of organization in our brain, those missed meetings can cause us to feel horribly. Especially if you've become the friend that always cancels at the last second because they forgot and are engaged in something else.
15. YOU WILL BE MORE SOCIAL
In your own space that is. When you constantly have cluttered space, you don't offer your place for random pizza nights or open your home up for someone who just needs to crash. Unexpected guest stress you out so much that you decline them often. When you do allow it, you have to spend a bunch of time hiding everything. Having a clutter free space will help you be prepared for anything and anyone!
Organizing your junk is just a way of avoiding the solution to a very large clutter problem. Having a multitude of clutter in your life can cause a large effect on your mental and sometimes physical health. I encourage you to truly take time to assess your space, analyze what you don't need and move towards a clutter free life.
In what ways do you see clutter effecting you?
Also let's share this with our friends!
[tweetthis twitter_handles="@TiffanyImaa"]Find out 15 Benefits of NOT Organizing Your Junk![/tweetthis]