LOVE YOUR STUFF? IT MIGHT NOT LOVE YOU BACK!
If you’re like most of us, you have a love-hate relationship with “STUFF” and to all you basketball fans out there, we’re not talking dunk shots! We’re talking about a July 10 article in the New York Times Magazine entitled “Marie Kondo and the Ruthless War on Stuff.” The author, Taffy Brodesser-Akner, describes what amounts to a Kondo craze in Japan, where Ms. Kondo has turned tidying up into a lifestyle brand, and her first book a New York Times bestseller! Clearly she has struck a chord.
The author points out that Ms. Kondo has a loyal international following as well as intense detractors who believe her doctrine of letting go is just too extreme. However the author spends far too much time and energy focusing on philosophical differences between “Konverts” and many practitioners who belong to the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO). In doing so, she does readers a disservice by emphasizing this divide and missing the real headline of her own story.
The headline is that Marie Kondo, and professional organizers everywhere, are succeeding and multiplying right and left because we are all suffering from a severe case of too much stuff and too little time, talent or inclination to manage it all.
Our lives are overscheduled. Out of control. Big houses encourage overconsumption. Little houses don’t deter acquiring more and more things. Some of it isn’t a matter of choice. Bills. Kids’ schoolwork. Too many emails and insurance policies. Not enough time to develop efficient systems or get ahead of the curve. Like weeds in the front yard, a bit of benign neglect and before you know it – you can’t find a blade of grass.
Literally and figuratively we are losing the free spaces in our lives. The albatross of too much stuff and too little order in our environment (work and home) weighs on us daily. Our internal space loses its ability to serve its most primal purpose: to shelter us, provide safe haven, give us respite to regroup, bond with our people, and revitalize for the day ahead. Instead, our spaces have become dumping grounds for ever-growing piles and drawers full of things, detracting from the truly valuable commodities like precious time, productivity and peace of mind.
If we are honest with ourselves, we all know that feeling of anxiety or anger when we go through the mess we call a garage to get into our car. “Gotta get organized this weekend“ we think to ourselves. But let’s face it, in this day and age, we lead busy, hardworking lives. Mostly, we just don’t have the time, desire or wherewithal to tackle the chaos. Soccer on Saturday morning. Errands in the afternoon. Your life takes priority, and staying on top of your stuff is just going to take a back seat. That is why hiring organizing experts can be the answer. Marie Kondo has one approach. I might have another.
But regardless of methodology, we organizers do not see organizing as the end goal. It is the means to a better end: to allow you to live more lightly, surrounded by order, supported by systems that make life easier, and allow you to move more freely through your day. Marie Kondo calls it “sparking joy.” I call it “finding your FREESPACES.” When you do, guess what? You find the room to focus on the things that matter most to YOU!
Click on this 2 minute podcast by Gretchen Rubin, author of the famed The Happiness Project and other creative, practical calls to action to hear how she describes the psychological as well practical benefits of getting organized. This woman gets it – and is not a Martha Stewart unattainable state prophet. She is one of us. Just another gal trying to live better.
Organizing isn’t just for neatniks anymore. It is for anyone (everyone) who has reached their limit. Take this 1 minute quiz to see where you land. Each of us has a different threshold for tolerating disorganization. And every organizer will approach your organizing project differently. But we do agree with Ms. Kondo that it is not enough to organize everything you own. It is imperative to also be discerning about what you will keep in your space. Because there is not one of us that can say we need, want and love everything we possess. Let’s agree to let go of things we really do not want, need or love.
Take it on faith from one who has lived it and helped others achieve it. It can be transformative. When you free your spaces, believe it or not, you can see yourself and your life more clearly. So whether you are a Kondo devotee or just a household on the go, professional organizers can help you get rid of the “stuff” you may think you love, but that holds you hostage and sadly, doesn’t love you back.