Organized *enough*

I’m not that organized. But that’s okay.

I have written a lot of home organizing articles. While reporting for magazines over the years, I talked to dozens (hundreds?) of professional organizers about strategies, tools, and mindsets to get our homes into order. While I wrote those tip-filled articles for magazines, I personally came to the conclusion that the problem wasn’t about the organization of our homes–the real issue was people having too much stuff (often in too-large homes).

As a result, I’ve very rarely written about “organizing” in the Living Small newsletter, but I wonder if maybe that has been a mistake. Last week, I took everything out of every cabinet and drawer in my kitchen for a much-needed deep cleaning. I naturally found myself pulling a few things out to donate and, well, organizing the spaces. Going through the motions, I thought to myself: There might be something to say about being organized enough.

My kitchen is a great example of striking the balance between being “organized” and totally laissez faire. If you open a cabinet door things are orderly, but nothing like a professional organizer’s Instagram page. I decant most of my pantry staples into clear glass jars, but they don’t all match. I’ve mostly banished the “junk” from our drawers. Some things are labeled but the labels are just strips of masking tape with Sharpie lettering. I’m organized-ish.

I think this attitude of being “organized enough” is one of the secrets to a harmonious home. A little organization smooths the friction away from daily life in countless ways: Putting easy-to-read labels on spice jars makes cooking go more smoothly (especially for those of us that have to wear reading glasses for fine print). Adding drawers to our utility closet shelves and labeling them makes it easy to find the tool or tape I need. Thoughtful organizing can make everyday life flow more smoothly, and in turn, that makes your day to day just a little better.

But too strict or rigid a standard of organization can quickly drive you crazy. Once upon a time, I tried decanting my spices into matching jars. It was a ton of effort with zero return on my time. Back when The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up was all the craze, I tried to Konmari fold my t-shirts and pants (even then I knew underpants and baby onesies were a step too far), but it took twice as long to fold the clothes. I’m sure every person reading has tried some organizing concept that was just too much work to bother with.

A lot of books and articles aimed at people who are not naturally organized promote the idea of setting up “systems” to stay organized. But I never felt that “systems” was the right language to describe the habits and structure that keep a home from slipping into disorder–”systems” just sounds too complicated, doesn’t it? It’s more like a set of ground rules–a playbook of basic guidelines. So, I decided to distill my own “organized enough” methods; below are the organizing principals that I live by: