Out of Chaos an organizing newsletter
Are you a finisher?
In her new book, Better Than Before, Gretchen Rubin asks: Are you a Finisher or an Opener? She says, “As a Finisher, I get a sense of accomplishment when I use the last egg in a carton, and I feel a weird satisfaction when something breaks or wears out.” I hear you, Gretchen. Me too! But unlike Rubin, I don’t think that being a finisher is my essential nature, I think it is a trait I developed. I look at my daughter and I remember my childhood and I think that I am an Opener by nature. I love to start things: Plan parties, start craft projects, open boxes. However, somewhere along the line I realized that it would all come to naught if I didn’t finish the things that I started. If I talked a big game about starting my own business, but never did it, then I was just a blow-hard. The other reason that I evolved to become a Finisher is that I am by nature frugal and I have always been concerned about the environment, so I am adverse to waste, and if you open but don’t finish, there is often waste involved.
Nowadays, finishing is second nature to me, and it builds esteem. As Rubin says, I feel accomplishment when I manage to chop the on-the-verge crudités and use them in the veggie chili; I feel entitled to a new pair of jeans when the old ones are worn out in the seat (when they are just worn out in the knees, I make cutoffs).
A lot of clutter and chaos springs from things unfinished: abandoned knitting, out-of-control renovations, scrapbooks purchased and never filled. I want you to have all these great things in your life, but one at a time. Build the discipline of not starting one project until the last one is nearing completion. Like I said in out of chaos no.85, if it’s too much to keep in your brain at one time, it’s too much. Take on one extracurricular thing at a time and accomplish it before the next one.
The same holds true for your shampoo and rye crackers. Finish what you have before you open more. If you hate your shampoo, throw it out. Don’t clutter your bathroom with toiletries you aren’t using, use it up or let it go. Sometimes I’m with a client in their bathroom or their pantry and we realize that they could probably go a month without shopping. Think of that! Think of the time. Think of the impulse purchases you would avoid. Think of the money.
Make it your mission to use up the little hotel shampoos you’ve swiped; make it your mission to finish the seven-grain flatbread before you open the rosemary and sea-salt package. With the money and time you save, you can have a little splurge and buy some Bumble & bumble shampoo or some of that really expensive cheese from the farmers market. And those you are going to want to finish.