For some people, organization gets a bad rap. They think being organized means being rigid and inflexible, barking at our kids for making kid-size messes and constantly cleaning to maintain a perfect house. They feel depressed and discouraged just thinking about how much they would have to change to become “organized.” The truth is getting organized does not have to mean embracing perfectionism. Far from it! Here are 3 common myths about organization:
Myth 1: Organized people live in perfect houses.
Truth: I’m organized, and my house has crumbs on the counter right now, stairs that need vaccuming badly and cupboards and mirrors covered with fingertips. I’ve been in several other organizers’ homes, and their homes look about the same as mine. Organized homes get messy on a daily basis too, especially when there are kids at home. But in an organized home, the mess is easy to clean up, because the home owners don’t have an unreasonable amount of stuff. Furthermore, there is a spot for everything that they own and chances are, everyone in the family knows where those spots are.
Myth 2: Being organized means constantly doing housework to keep the space pristine.
Truth: Actually, the more organized you are, the less housework you have to do, because you don’t own as many things to clean and put away. You do less laundry because everyone owns fewer clothes. You can clean up the playroom in 10 minutes, because there aren’t 50+ toys that the kids can haul out of a toy basket to play with. You can also clean up the bathroom in about 10 minutes, because there aren’t dozens of bottles of product sitting on the counter that have to be cleaned around, sorted and put away. I reeeeally hate housework, so I manage to do only about an hour of it a day (no, you can’t completely escape it!)
Myth 3: Being organized means you are always nagging at your kids to put their stuff away, because you have no tolerance for little kid messes.
Truth: Being organized means you can tolerate the mess, because you know it will be a snap to clean up. This is because when you are organized, items such as art and craft supplies are all stored together in easily accessible locations so putting it away takes mere minutes. Furthermore, when older kids are taught organization skills, they can quickly put their own stuff away, so you don’t have to lift a finger!
Bottomline: Being organized means having the time and space to do what you want to do in your own home. It means less time spent on boring, annoying tasks like housework and searching for lost items, and more free time for you. It never involves perfectionism, only a willingness to be liberated from the stranglehold, which having too much stuff places on us. Are you ready to embrace a more organized lifestyle?
