Can You Be Too Organized?
Is it possible to be TOO organized? This question, of course, might only be raised by a hyper-organized person. If you’re a Messy Marge to begin with, the thought might be a laughable, hypothetical scenario. But for others whose days are punctuated by labels and bins, it might be possible to go overboard on the details.
Case in point: yours truly. My interest in (over)organizing emerged in middle school. The thrill of purchasing new notebooks, binders, dividers and pens was something else! While my peers spent time contemplating the color of their next Juicy Couture velour sweatsuit, I spent my free-time organizing and reorganizing my toiletries into neat rows and folding my sweaters into color coordinated stacks.
I felt a deep sense of peace and calm from my little organizing sessions, but if someone so much as flicked my Bath & Body Works glitter watermelon spray a quarter of an inch to the left, I was flung out of my zen state into something way less cute.
Today, I’ve hit a nice stride. You can freely move my Bath & Body Works spray, heck you can even have it! That stuff is gross! This happy medium has come about from the realization that less is more, and that organizing is not the end goal.
Since I have fewer sweaters to stack and fewer toiletries to fuss with, I have less of an opportunity to fixate on the details. Sometimes when you have too much stuff, you get bogged down in over-categorizing. If you find that your over-attention to details is becoming a burden to you, *try* paring down your items and categories.
Instead of using multiple toiletry cases for bobby pins, headbands, hair clips, and scrunchies, just whittle down your stuff and place it in one case for ‘hair accessories.’ Your brain will thank you!
I consider my ability to practically map out a space and furnish it with the right solutions a gift, but it’s only a means to an end. If you think organizing is the end goal, then you might run into problems when someone accidentally rearranges your precious color-coordinated mugs. In the end, home organization is only a tool to allow for more flow, freedom and space so you can think about *other* things…not more ORGANIZING-related things!
It’s kind of like buying that flawless pair of jeans you’ve been searching for. Once you own the perfect pair, you no longer have to think about the quest for the perfect pair! (Although after ten years, I’m still looking for the perfect pair of high-waisted Levi’s 501 jeans…if anyone knows where they’re hiding.)
The key is to create systems that basically run themselves so you don’t have to think about the systems themselves. This frees up mental space for all those other activities, because yes, organizing your closet is fun, but don’t forget to wear them out too :)