Out of Chaos an organizing newsletter

Get That Low-Hanging Fruit

When I work on the crossword puzzle, I start by just filling in the words that come to me right away. Then, on the second pass, more words reveal themselves. It works the same way with clutter.

Think of it as the “low-hanging fruit,” the obvious and easy stuff. It’s not about fretting over parting with the manuscript of your father’s unpublished novel, it’s about shredding your 2010 credit card statements. Once you’ve decided to let go of that food processor, dig to the back of the cabinet and get rid of the bag of blades that go with it.

I know people want to do things right—they want to be sure that piece of paper is important enough to keep, or that they will wear that pink dress again, but I’m here to tell you, the best strategy is to keep moving.

It’s not a new idea. It’s a test prep-strategy that was as true for me in 1982 as it is for my kids in 2020. Stanley Kaplan tells students, “If you can answer it, answer it, but don’t get too caught up on one question, keep moving.” It works as well for getting through the SAT as your kitchen cabinets. You might not do it perfectly, but you want to finish. Whether you’re going through a pile of papers or a closetful of clothes, my best advice is, “Don’t get stuck, just keep it and move on.”

Your clutter may seem big to you, but it’s just a lot of small stuff—flyers and turtlenecks and cheese graters.  There is no “perfect” in organizing, the idea is just to go through and get rid of as much as you can, without agonizing over it too much. It is the embodiment of phrase, “don’t sweat the small stuff.”

One of the most important things I’ve learned is that not everything has to be hard. If you just take care of the easy clutter frequently, it might not be perfect, but it would be better—and who knows, eventually that might free up enough time and energy for you to tackle the hard stuff.