Out of Chaos an organizing newsletter
Don’t Wait for the Crisis
It seems like people around me are having a lot of crises lately-floods, mold, unexpected moves-traumatic stuff. But here is what I know: You can’t control the crisis. Pipes burst, mold grows and people move. This is why it is so important to get organized before the crisis.
When you have to empty everything out of the cabinet so that the mold abatement experts can do their thing, or take everything out of the closet because of a leak, it’s a rush job. It just needs to be done, and done immediately. And while you are pulling things out of the closet and filling your fifteenth box with sweaters, it dawns on you that you really need to weed, but you really can’t do it now, because now you have a crisis on your hands. When you need to be out of your apartment on the first of the month, it’s not the best time to categorize your library. When the IRS is demanding proof of your expenses from 2010, it’s a lousy time to try to organize the last five years of paperwork. The best time is before the crisis. The best time is now.
Hopefully you aren’t experiencing a crisis today, so take a few deep breaths and think about what area of your home has been neglected. What always falls to the bottom of the to-do list? Have you just been squeezing more and more into your closet without purging? Are there cans from 2005 in your pantry? Have you been meaning to organize and winnow your library for years?
Seize the day, folks! If you can’t do it today, look at your calendar; find a day you can do it and write it down: Weed closet, Sort books, File. Whatever it may be, schedule it and commit to doing it. You never know what’s around the corner, and it’s always better to be prepared.
While some crises are completely out of your control, there is another category of crises that might never become a problem at all if you stay on top of things (think taxes and insurance).And of course, when you aren’t organized, things tend to feel like a crisis, even when they aren’t. While I find it endlessly annoying that I can’t control everything, I find some measure of comfort in controlling what I can.
Sort and weed, weed and sort: It may not stop the floods, but it will make the clean up so much easier!