- When to organize and when to simplify.
Now, I often have people telling me
that they need to organize their kitchen,
their garage, their storage room, their basement.
It goes on and on.
Now sometimes this really isn't the case,
but sometimes it is.
So let's explore when you should organize
and when you should declutter.
Now if this is your first time here, my name is Robyn.
I help overwhelmed people
simplify their lives through organization, productivity,
and creating an environment where they can thrive.
Now grab your tea and let's go.
(upbeat music)
So I am going to start with the junk drawer.
Now, the junk drawer is something
that a lot of people have in their house,
and I actually have had the odd person who was like,
"I don't have a junk drawer"
and I was like "That's awesome,"
but we do,
we have a spot where we keep like our pens and erasers,
and what else?
Like I've got hand cream in there, lip gloss,
just sort of like a spot to put things
that you need to keep but you just don't want out.
You know, the thing about the junk drawer
is it is an area of the house
that needs a lot of maintenance.
Now there are certain areas of the house
that need maintenance.
The junk drawer is one of them.
The garage is another one.
If you don't have a garage, but you have a carport,
it might be that.
It's areas where a lot of things
are coming you in and out of,
and the junk drawer is one
just because people throw things in there,
people in my house being my kids
and sometimes my husband when they're cleaning up.
This is my pens.
Now, here's the thing.
If I'm going to look at these,
I'm going to either declutter or I'm going to organize.
This is an example
where I will be doing a little bit of both.
So I have this thing of pencil crayons.
My kids use it for school projects and stuff.
So we'll hang on to those.
But if I look through here,
I can probably find more pencil crayons to put in there.
There's one.
Now in the past I have talked about
how we are reasonable minimalists,
like we are going to keep some things
that maybe your more major minimalists aren't going to keep.
So, we have different pen preferences.
I'm going to keep the pens that I like,
which are like these Sharpie fineliner
and my husband, he likes more this style.
So I'm going to organize the pens and pencils
because I love to use a pencil,
and then anything that doesn't work,
we're also going to declutter,
and then I will have them neatly organized in this basket
when we're done.
Any broken things we're not keeping.
Here's a tire gauge or a tire tread depth gauge,
this can go in the garage.
So this is an example of organization
and a little bit of simplifying.
Here is another example of an area where you need to decide
if you're going to organize or simplify.
Now it is the kitchen.
Now you find it is disorganized,
there are things in random spots.
When you try to cook,
you spend half of your time looking for things,
half of your time digging through cupboards
and moving things around.
You get frustrated
because this meal should only have taken 20 minutes,
but you have spent over an hour cooking it.
You still don't know where your zester is,
but you did manage to uncover an apple corer,
a strawberry huller, and an old wooden spoon
that you're pretty sure you've never seen before
and you just aren't sure where it came from.
Now, not only is the annoyance of finding things frustrating
but you also can get distracted and maybe you hate cooking
because it is just so time-consuming and aggravating
to work in your kitchen.
Cleanup can be a challenge
because things get shoved into random places,
which ultimately leads to cooking woes the next day.
I mean, honestly, it's not a winning situation,
let's be clear about that.
Now this scenario might sound familiar.
Obviously, some organization needs to take place here,
but where would we start when we are organizing?
Things are all over the place.
So we need to place like with like.
This is a situation where we're organizing.
So, all of the plates should be together
and they of course should be near the bowls.
Well, what about the cutlery?
Obviously, keep all of the cutlery pieces together,
I hope that you're already doing that,
but also keep it near the plates.
Your cups and glasses, they should be near each other
and maybe they should be near the fridge or the kettle.
Okay, so yes, this is an example
of the very easy things to declutter,
but in organization, everything should have a place.
A lot of people don't recognize
that when you are decluttering your home
or when you're organizing your home,
everything should have a place
and you should know where it goes.
Everybody in the house
should have an idea around something would go
because that is the common theme of where those things go.
For example, my utensils in my kitchen
are organized by most used,
small handle, and large handle.
That way, even my completely disinterested kids
can put away things in usually the right place.
If they don't, then it's fine, it's an easy correction,
and I can be like, "I've told you before,
"this is where the short handle things go
"and this is where the long handle things go."
Now, should you simplify anything?
That is easier to decide than you might even think.
If you don't use it, then you simplify it and you remove it.
Now I know you might be like, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa,
"it's really not that easy Robyn, okay?"
Well, here's the thing.
You could use it eventually, but do you use it now
or did you use it last summer?
For example, my ice cream maker.
Yes, I used it last summer and so I've kept it.
If there are one or two summers where I don't use it,
I'm gon' be decluttering it, that's for darn sure.
If you don't use it,
I'm going to say, you should simplify it.
Removing as many extraneous things from your life
is an absolute gift to yourself.
We are removing the burden.
Everything can be a burden if you are not careful.
That strawberry huller that you were holding onto,
did you use that last summer to make jam, did you,
or, do you really not want seeds in your jam enough
that you need to keep a special little trinket
in your cupboards or your drawers?
Maybe, but maybe not.
I like to break it down like this,
put everything in its home, it all should have a place,
and it should make sense and it should be simple.
That is organization.
That is order.
Oh, gosh, I love order.
I love when things are nice and orderly.
Simplifying is when you choose freedom from an item,
no matter what that item is.
If it is not serving you, you need to let it go,
you need to simplify.
And look at all the things that don't work
or are going to a certain child's desk.
Simplifying, in my opinion,
should be the end goal for everything in life.
I feel like we need to remove commitments, appointments,
extra clothes, extra people,
the kind that don't make you feel good,
extra habits, extra food, extra online activities,
I could go on.
Belongings are some of the easiest things to let go of,
believe me.
Ultimately, they are one of the simplest things.
And now look.
I didn't take a picture before of the drawer,
but it was messier.
My husband's favorite pens, my pencils, my pens,
everything there, it's perfect.
Recently, here's a crazy story, I bought three shirts.
I'm going to be honest.
I hate trying on clothes, I really hate trying on clothes.
I always have at the store.
Curly hair, I mean, like it gets frizzy,
laziness, the whole shopping shebang,
I mean, I don't like it.
I don't buy clothes often either,
but I normally know what I'm going to like
and I don't usually need to make many returns.
So one day we were out of town not long ago around Christmas
and I saw a shirt that I loved and I thought,
"You know what?
"That is exactly what I'm looking for
"and I going to get one in each color
"because I think this is exactly what I need."
Now, I'm not really sure what is wrong with me that day,
I mean, we all have our off days,
I mean, it could be that I was out of town with my family
and you know, sometimes you get a little tired,
but when I got home and I put on that shirt,
the fit was all wrong.
So I was left with a bit of a decision to make.
Do I keep these three shirts?
Do I put them in my drawer?
Do I organize them by style and by color,
short sleeve by long sleeve, et cetera
or do I declutter right away?
I had just bought them and I couldn't return them
unless I went drive to the other city,
which really, just would be silly,
and that does not simplifying my life.
So I won't lie, I hesitated, but I decided right away
that I am not going to keep anything that is not serving me,
chalk it up to a mistake.
If you're out of town and you're clothes shopping,
even if you don't like trying clothes on,
just try them on, right?
Wearing a shirt that doesn't fit
and doesn't make me feel amazing has no place in my life.
I only live once.
So you know what I did?
I donated those clothes the very next day.
Check out this video, it's all about decluttering,
and I think you're really going to like it.
And thank you so much for watching
and I will see you next time.
Bye.
(lighthearted music)