The Absolute Easiest Way to Stay Organized

The secret to staying organized is not to go out and buy a bunch of bins. Allow me to indulge you with the simplest, easiest way to stay organized: own less stuff!

I’m not suggesting your shed all your items and move to a cave in the mountains, subsisting off of mountain berries while wearing a burlap sack. Nor am I suggesting you clutch each and everyone one of your belongings Kon Mari-style to determine whether things like your toilet plunger will spark joy. 

I’m simply saying that hands down the easiest way to stay organized is to own less stuff. Own fewer pairs of scissors. Own fewer mugs. Own fewer canvas totes. Own three winter coats instead of eight. And if you purchase a new coat for winter that’s a real upgrade from last winter’s, no need to keep both or hold onto the other as “back-up.” Back-up clothes are traps. 

Back-up clothes are your brain’s way of circumventing the whole ‘parting with stuff thing’. The ‘one in/one out’ rule never used to be on my radar, but as I become more conscious of keeping my home spacious and clutter-free, it feels absolutely necessary. 

One pair of new sneakers in, an old ratty pair of sneakers out. One easy way to determine if your sneakers are no longer worth holding onto: dust! If your sneakers are covered in dust and filled with fun little dust bunnies, that’s nature’s way of saying ‘auf wiedersehen’. 

The whole point of this owning less stuff business is not so you can strut around at dinner parties calling yourself a minimalist. It’s so you can allow yourself the space and room to reinvent yourself at any moment, to be as mobile and nimble as possible. 

It’s so you can have the space to look around your apartment and breathe! To think expansive thoughts instead of small-minded thoughts that are cramped by cramped spaces. When you have space, you have a spacious mind.

See what you can pare down, don’t sweat the rest. I’m here if you need back-up! In the meantime, donate those back-ups that are collecting dust in your closet and don’t be afraid to create space for something new.