We are a culture drowning in possessions.
We take in more and more at an unprecedented rate (holidays, birthdays, weekend sales, Amazon). But rarely do we make commitments to discard possessions as quickly as they accumulate. As a result, our homes fill with stuff.
Often, the proposed solution to this increased abundance of personal possessions is to search for better organizational tools, skills, or ideas. We think:
If I just had the right container, this stuff wouldn’t feel like clutter.
If I just knew the right way to store these, it would be easier to use this cabinet.
If my kids or spouse were better at cleaning up, this house wouldn’t feel so messy all the time.
Or how about this one?
If I just had a bigger home, it wouldn’t feel so cluttered all the time.
In each and every case, and in countless other scenarios, we fall into a trap. The thought trap is this: If I could just organize my stuff better, the clutter issue and stress would be gone.
This thinking is a result of the culture we live in. Keep in mind that we are constantly bombarded with advertisements and marketing messages to purchase more and more. Virtually every advertisement promises a better, happier, or more convenient life on the other side of this purchase.
We buy things because we believe they will improve our life, not distract from it. Taking a step back to realize the things we’ve bought are not contributing to a better life requires an almost 180-degree turn from what we’ve been told.
Even worse, it requires us to admit we were wrong. It’s easier to think we were right when we bought the items and we just need a better way to store them.
So we hold stubbornly to the belief that all this stuff will make our lives better if we keep it and organize it somehow.
Just for the record, there is nothing wrong with organizing our stuff. I certainly recommend it. But there is an important truth that we need to embrace:
Organizing better may not be the final answer. It might not even be the first answer.
Organizing your stuff becomes simpler when you own less stuff. Or, like I said in the title, organizing is always easier after minimizing.
In fact, a lot of times, once we own less, organizing almost seems to take care of itself.
Courtney Cuts Through the Confusion
Courtney Carver, blogger at Be More with Less, may have shaped my understanding of organizing more than anyone else. And she did it with two spot-on sentences.
I don’t remember the exact context or course of the quotes, but somewhere along the way I ran into them and have repeated them over and over again ever since.
1. “Don’t you think, if organizing was the solution, you’d be done by now?”
Organizing is always, only a temporary solution. You can organize all your stuff today, only to have to organize it again tomorrow—no matter how great your system.
That is one of the reasons why organizing tips and organizational tools never go out of style in stores. As long as the possessions are still in our home, we need a place to store them—again and again, over and over.
2. “If you have to buy stuff to organize your stuff, maybe you have too much stuff.”
We live in a way that is entirely foreign to past generations. Never in human history have human beings owned as much stuff as we do today. We own so much that there are entire industries and stores thriving based on the assumption that we’d rather buy more stuff to store our stuff than remove our stuff.
Have you stopped to think how crazy it is that department stores line entire aisles with plastic totes just so you have a place to store all the unnecessary stuff you’ve already taken home from the same store? It’s like we’re paying them for the privilege of keeping more and more of their stuff in our homes.
Reasons Why Minimizing Should Come Before Organizing
If you own too much, minimizing possessions is always better than organizing. And not just because of the reasons Courtney mentioned. There are other reasons too:
For one, minimizing possessions is a permanent act. Whenever something leaves our home, it frees up physical space and is gone forever. The action does not need to be repeated over and over again.
When that possession is out the door, whether it be by selling, donating, recycling, or discarding, the physical space is freed up and the mental space clears as well.
A second reason minimizing is better is that simply organizing our stuff never benefits anybody else. Organizing our things, moving them around from room to room, shelf to shelf, or bin to bin, affords no opportunity to help someone else.
The reality is that our excess stuff can be a blessing to somebody. The unneeded items in your home are the very things that somebody, somewhere, desperately needs. And that person may be someone right in your own community: the single mom, the recently laid-off father, the unemployed college graduate, the refugee family, or the homeless man trying for a fresh start.
If we’re just moving stuff to different shelves, organizing it over and over again inside our four walls, another person’s need remains unmet. Minimizing our things and donating them intentionally, on the other hand, gives us the opportunity to benefit people who need those things.
Most of us want to help people. We want to solve problems we see, and we want to be generous with our resources. Often, we just can’t seem to find the margin to do so—there’s no money left, no time left, or no energy at the end of the workweek.
But look around your home. That closet stuffed full, that drawer that doesn’t close, the garage you can’t park in because of the boxes— those are all opportunities to give and help! But not until you get past the thinking trap that keeping our stuff is improving our life and organizing is the answer for our excess.
A third reason organizing gets easier after minimizing is that removing unneeded possessions from our home begins to change us from the inside. Minimizing our things forces self-reflection in a way organizing cannot.
For me, this happened when I started taking mini-van loads of decluttered things to our local thrift drop-off center. I took one van load of stuff to the donation center, dropped it off, and felt great about myself. Then I took a second van load of things. Still felt great to free up the space in my home.
Then I took a third and a fourth… and somewhere along the line I started to ask myself some pretty difficult questions about my life and habits. Specifically, Why in the world did I have four van loads of things in my home that I don’t need?
I’ll admit, I didn’t like what I found when I started asking that question of myself. I started to realize some pretty unhealthy motivations in my heart: jealousy, envy, a desire to impress others, a fear-based mindset, and just plain unintentional living.
Those truths were difficult to discover about myself, and I continue to learn more and more, but they were helpful to recognize in that moment. Organizing alone would not have revealed those things to me. Just putting things in a box and setting them on a shelf in an organized fashion doesn’t prompt deep, life-changing questions like minimizing possessions will.
And last, minimizing blazes opportunity for life change. Just reorganizing your stuff may clear up some physical space for a little while, or make your home a bit more efficient for the time being, but it will never spark significant changes to your life.
Don’t Miss This
If you struggle with clutter in your home and life, the first step I recommend is removing some of the possessions from your life. When you do, you will permanently free up space, help others, and create an opportunity for incredible self-reflection and life change. Your view of your home and possessions will change, and organizing will become easier because there will be fewer items to store.
I read this article earlier this year. I read it again and saved it. I read it again to reinforce the information and to reevaluate. It makes so much sense to me. I purchase so many items I think I want/need at the time only to have them sit and not use them. It’s disturbing sometimes. I think I am organized, but not really. That’s why this article hits home real hard. I can’t “organize” all of the “stuff” no matter how much I try. I know minimizing the purchases will help the overwhelming need to organize. It all makes sense. Thank you so much!!!
I have been a professional organizer for twelve years. I always tell my clients that I can organize them but I don’t have a magic wand to make everything “fit” in their space. If you have to store it, you don’t need it. This, of course, doesn’t apply to holiday or seasonal items MOST of the time. I am a huge fan of minimalism. I try to incorporate the practice/ lifestyle in my work always.
I have started giving away the baskets abd containers I spent years buying to organise all my stuff. Less stuff, fewer storage containers, freedom!!
I have been watching your videos on YouTube and have found them so inspirational and spot on! I am in my fifties and am so ready to reduce clutter of all kinds in my life! I want extra margin in my life to devote to my faith, my family, and for helping others! I got a good start on this reduction when we moved into a new home, but recently have begun work on elimintating even more unused or duplicate items. Your information is encouraging me in this endeavor! Family photos and portraits have been a tough area for me. I have been removing the ones I don’t want to hang up anymore from their frames and storing them in a clear box, and then donating the frames!
Thank you for this blog post. I’ve always been an organizer, this read makes so much sense to me, very insightful! Now I know I can save both time and space!
I am Loving becoming Minimalist. All your articles hit home, and with great advice also. I am downsizing, and would love to move to a tiny home. I had to get past the ” I paid good money for this “. The mindset of someone else may need this or benefit from this is what continues to inspire me to let go of the “stuff”.
Thank you for the continuing inspiration.
Realizing I was preventing a needy person from benefitting from my excess was a turning point for me. Listening to a friend tell me moths ate through stacks of sweaters and belt loops ripped off due to dry rot (decades of storage) drove it home. For every object that comes in, two must go out until a sensible level is reached. Track it on ItsDeductible and you get a tax deduction in the process. Keep up the good work, Mr. Becker!
I used to have a large paint box collection neatly organized in a closet. Except every time I prepared for an outdoor painting trip, I became overwhelmed trying to decide which paint box to use. So I sold them all and kept one small paint box for travel. Ah, blessed simplicity!
This came at a good time. I’m drowning in craft supplies and was ready to order something new but instead I read this blog post. I emptied the cart and started clearing out. I don’t miss any of Joshua’s blog postings because he helps me get back on track.
Another great article Joshua! Yes I have plastic totes, tubs, boxes, bins and even little jars, old formula or soup and coffee cans to store a myriad of unnecessary and unwanted stuff. Garbage cans and cardboard boxes that have minimal items stored in them from our constant remodel project. It’s overwhelming and stress inducing. And every single time I start to try and go through it I stop, because; what am supposed to do with it? Usually I put it in another box and it sits for another good while. Ugh!
I have spent years just organizing all my stuff and now I realize that I have to go into all those boxes and get rid of most of it. As we age we realize we have limited time left on this planet. I appreciate this article and Josh’s inspiration and often think about what my family will have to go through when I pass. I would rather have done it myself while in good health than have others picking through my stuff. My goal is to be generous with what I have to people who want it. I also love the Facebook Buy Nothing Project. I don’t even have to leave my house!
So true!
My problem is that I’m trying to become a minimalist while my wife is attached to almost every item she brings home from thrift stores and church bazaar’s. I’m desperate, please help save my marriage!
Some people live side by side in two separate houses and that seems to work quite well if you can afford it. If she ever helps settle an estate or two or three, she will stop buying “stuff”. It is over whelming and super time consuming to sort other people’s junk. And most of us would rather be doing something that is a lot more fun. And the older we get, the more energy it takes…. so it is best to sort and discard while you are under 60…..
Well, it’s too late for the “under sixty,” but I am starting now at 73! It’s never too late. :)
Empowering question that helped shift things in my mind when I was just a little too keen on garage sales.. “if they don’t want it in their garage (or house) why do we want it in ours?”
I love this, and organizing really does seem to take care of itself once we own less.
Thank you
XO
I am so thankful to have stumbled across this article. It is honest and logical and points to what my daughter despises about capitalism, it thrives on consumption and we measure one another by the quality and quantity (clothes, jewelry, cars, homes, boats, vacations) of things we have. This article is a huge wake up call to me not only in minimizing the things that I have but also developing a mindset of minimizing what I want versus need to buy in the future. I fall prey to advertising for things in the latest fast food too. And thanks to this article I will be more mindful in all aspects of my life.
I agree with Paulette. This is one of the best posts I have read! Thank you for your continual inspiration. My favorite quote was “minimizing blazes opportunity for life change.”
I once attended a declutter workshop ( ha! Years ago! Which shows I have been working on decluttering for half my life!!) and the presenter said, keeping stuff you don’t need is holding items captive!! Set them free for others to use!! And the infamous comedy set by George Carlin about our stuff!!! Genius!!
I really appreciate your thought process !! It is so true and having less is the most freeing experience. Finding you on YouTube has changed my life !! thank you !
One of the best posts I’ve read … somehow you’ve said nothing new and yet this time the message truly got through. Plastic tubs to hold our stuff is a huge industry … we can get them in all sizes, shapes and colours.
The true rulers of our world are the advertising giants who consistently find ways to convince us of all the things we “need” to be happy. Stuff is not the answer. Plastic tubs for our stuff isn’t either.
But stopping is harder than we realise. Thanks Joshua and please keep ‘em coming … the wall is crumbling.
I enjoyed reading your article. I started working on being a minimalist and I finally I can say that I am enjoying my home now and was able to work on my home projects better. Thank you for sharing and continue inspiring – God Bless.
I love the idea behind this message. Our family situation is a little unique (we have 4 kids: one 3 year old and 18-month old triplets). It seems like even when we minimize, the house is constantly in disarray. No matter how “organized” we get, the end of the day the house is blown apart with toys everywhere and dishes scattered throughout the house. Laundry might be “clean” but not put away. Seems like there is never enough time in the day to catch up, and by the time the kids are in bed, we are both too exhausted to take the time to meticulously put each item back where it belongs.
Would love any advice to help us regain some control over the “stuff” in our life so we can pay more attention to each other and our kids.
Thanks!
-Jacob
I helped out a friend for several years who had a set of triplets now 11 years old & a 13 year old. Starting when they were babies. Organization & making the work fun, having friends, family to volunteer to help as per schedule is key.! At the beginning I volunteered from 9am to 1:00. Nap time after lunch was important for her & the kids, to have a nap herself, start supper or get work done. Days were hard but very rewarding! It was freeing for her to once a while have a few hour to herself, to do what she wants & have good child care in place. We had 2 different play structures close by to walk to for an afternoon of fun. Being organized, creative, adaptable, having some tough love in place, and having all the kids to help out before going on a play date. If the work doesn’t get done we don’t go was a rule as the kids got older. They learned quickly to get to the work done. Hopefully some of this is helpful!
I helped out a friend for several years who had a set of triplets now 11 years old & a 13 year old. Starting when they were babies. Organization & making the work fun, having friends, family to volunteer to help as per schedule is key.! At the beginning I volunteered from 9am to 1:00. Nap time after lunch was important for her & the kids, to have a nap herself, start supper or get work done. Days were hard but very rewarding! It was freeing for her to once a while have a few hour to herself, to do what she wants & have good child care in place. We had 2 different play structures close by to walk to for an afternoon of fun. Being organized, creative, adaptable, having some tough love in place, and having all the kids to help out before going on a play date. If the work doesn’t get done we don’t go was a rule as the kids got older. They learned quickly to get to the work done. Hopefully some of this is helpful! Dawn
there is nothing that toddlers need to wear, except maybe at easter and christmas for fancy clothes, that needs to be “put away.” Dump their clothes into bins and dress them from that. Use the kids as runners to take empty plastic dishes to the kitchen. Minimize toys. Get those kitchen stools they stand in and “help” you cook. Train them now to be household assets. Put the stuff far away that you are too tired to take care of..or get rid of it. Kids can entertain themselves with rocks in the driveway if they have to..pine cones, twigs etc. Don’t get pets if you are overwhelmed now.
Jacob – I would recommend Minimal Mom on YouTube. I wish she was around when my children were young, her advise is excellent!
You are currently in the eye of the hurricane called little children. From experience, I did laundry every day and folded and separated into piles right out of the dryer for each person putting the stacks on a shelf or bin. And keeping things tidy requires a specified place for all things. As soon as it leaves your hand, put it in the place designated. Kids, however, are kids. A centralized “toy room” is better than individual bedrooms or the middle of the living room. It helps but you’ll drive yourself nuts if you want anything close to perfection. Remember that in a blink of your eye your babies will be asking you for the car keys and your worries will be bigger. The house will be clean and quiet at some later date and you will miss what you have today. Enjoy the gifts you have been given each day and don’t think too much about all the garbage of the day. Hope I helped a wee bit!
I’m so glad to have stumbled upon your post, and to have read it at the time I think I needed it the most. Lately, I’ve been feeling restless and bothered whenever I move around our house, but I cannot pinpoint exactly what’s bothering me. I felt like I wanted to organize but I didn’t know where to start. Now it all makes sense. Minimizing should be my goal and not organizing. Thanks for this inspiration, as always!