August was Can I be Organized month. The verdict? Truth is when I started to decipher what it meant to be organized I ran into a dilemma. What does it mean to be organized? How does one measure whether they have achieved the pinnacle of organizational order?
First I thought “What would Gary Busey do?” (WWGBD) He would make up a great phrase.
O – Odds and Ends
R – Redistributed
G – Gain
A – A
N – New
I – Improved
Z – Zestful
E – Embellished
D – Disguise
I’ll admit Odds and Ends is more than one word but the only other word which would fit the purpose was offal. How awful is the word offal? Since Odds and Ends is a phrase, I’m counting it as one word.
Seriously, isn’t order really just disguising our mess to look like something else? Perhaps this is the usual method for my family and other families have a better plan. My mom used to call herself a pilot. She’d pile-it here and pile-it there. (Say it out loud and it will be funnier.)
closet before purge
I decided to turn my search towards this cool new invention called the dictionary.
or·gan·ize [awr-guh-nahyz] Show IPA verb, or·gan·ized, or·gan·iz·ing.
2. to systematize: to organize the files of an office.
3. to give organic structure or character to: to organize the elements of a composition.
4. to enlist or attempt to enlist into a labor union: to organize workers.
5. to enlist the employees of (a company) into a labor union;unionize: to organize a factory.
If I understand this correctly, I am to enlist other people to do my work for me which requires money. A request my husband would certainly turn down at our weekly budget meeting. I don’t think I could convince him that Dave Ramsey did indeed want me to pay someone else to clean our toilets even though we still have credit card debt.
closet after purge
Actual Trunks of Junk (Note: this was right after we moved. It doesn't normally look this way. The dalek is in another room now.)
Great. I’m right back where I started wondering what it means to be organized. I made lists. I crossed a few items off my list. I can look at these beautiful ads of bathroom sinks organized to perfection and sigh. My hot mess under the sink is probably going to stay a hot mess. No one ever sees it. If a messy cupboard is never seen by others, is it really a messy cupboard? Does it mean I’m not organized? I don’t think so. When I have a task which needs done, I am able to make a list and complete the task. I think this is what it means to be organized. I’ve added pictures of the one project I completed last month – my closet. I was shocked at the amount of clothing I was able to purge. I did the same thing with my daughter’s closet. I’m off to the tackle the bane of my existence -> the spice shelf. By spice shelf, I mean the two shelves of hapharzadly placed bottles and boxes. Some are so old they have lived in three states.
Are you organized? Do you have your own definition of organized? Are you a supermodel of organization or do you attend Junk(literal and fictional) collectors anonymous? The answer to the question “Can I be Organized” is: If it means an organized house including spice shelf and under bathroom sink cupboard than no. If it means having a list and checking items off of said list than yes.
Next: Can I be a Fitness Warrior?
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
I am not sure a person can really be organized and have the amount of “stuff” that Americans tend to have. If all of our belongings fit into a pull cart… sure we could organize.
I am a super organized person but the truth is if you open my linen closet and see the marked baskets, the perfectly lined up, color coordinated towels, you would say it looks wonderful. Even with cute labeled baskets all lined up, once you fill them you tend not to use the contents because they become “out of sight out of mind”.
What I am trying to say, I guess, that organization can cause inefficient use of things because things are placed out of their normal space of usage. I am not sure that I am explaining that well.
BUT with that being said, as a Realtor, I see more disasters than not. Your closet’s before pic is a gazillion times better than most. You could see what you had. There are so many homes that you wouldn’t be able to enter a room because of clutter.
Cheryl P. recently posted..Less Than a Full Tank
Agreed! -> about American style belongings. A hoarder nation. LOL
Exactly my problem! I’m a huge ‘out of sight out of mind’ person. I can easily forget anything I can see.
I toured some homes as a buyer. Dang! Some people are slobs. My homes were always as perfect as possible when being shown and I’ve sold two houses in the past four years. I must do staging just right.
Sorry I missed on my road trip in July.
I am very organized with somethings, other things? Well that is another story (now if I could just find………..)
I agree with Cheryl – your before pic isn’t that bad… I try to be organized, but oh is it difficult! I go in spurts. Right now I’m in an organized spurt, and I love it!!! Good luck – it’s a tough one to tackle.
Alex recently posted..Transitions
“I don’t think I could convince him that Dave Ramsey did indeed want me to pay someone else to clean our toilets even though we still have credit card debt.”
That made me LOL for REAL.
“Are you organized? Do you have your own definition of organized? Are you a supermodel of organization or do you attend Junk(literal and fictional) collectors anonymous? The answer to the question “Can I be Organized” is: If it means an organized house including spice shelf and under bathroom sink cupboard than no. If it means having a list and checking items off of said list than yes.”
I’m organized in the same way you are. I make lists of things that need to get done, and check them off once they are completed.
Also, my closets are pretty organized, in that my clothes are hung up and/or folded properly.
And I definitely do NOT collect any junk. I am more of a minimalist than a hoarder!