organization

Weekend minimalism: 10 quickies

Here are ten ways I moved closer to minimalism this past month. Perhaps these will kick off ideas you can use to become more minimal (or just plain declutter) in your home:

Photo credit: David Mao

One daily coffee cup

Think about your favorite coffee cup. Everyone usually has one, right? Consider making that your only cup. I packed away all but my favorite cup, a squat little black one with a handle that seems made to fit my hand. (I kept a generic set of six on the top shelf for company use.) I was surprised to find I missed none of my other cups so they are going in the donate bin. In fact, I loved the extra space around my favorite cup in the cupboard and my kitchen counters were clearer. Francine Jay, author of Joy of Less, calls this the joy of one.

Housekeeping of the mind

Remove all your ad preferences on your facebook page. Go under settings, the little icon in the far right corner and poke around looking for a section on preferences. It’s a visual reminder of how much information social media has on us all. This is a good activity to do while you are waiting in line somewhere and getting restless.

Family participation: set up a discard/keep station

Make cards that say “discard” and “keep”, set out the pile in a visible space and let everyone sort through it when it’s a good time for them. Accept the results without comment and get rid of the discards right away. Recently, I pulled all our teas out of cabinets and drawers, piled them onto our kitchen table; by the end of the day, everyone had sorted through what needed to go back into the cabinet.

Go bagless no matter what

Bring your own bags to the grocery store and, when you forget, find a way to still achieve the trip without accepting the plastic bags. (Cloth bags are strong and soooo quiet; now I can’t stand the plastic one-use bags.) One day this month, my husband and I swapped cars and it wasn’t until I was in Aldis on a major grocery haul that I realized I didn’t have my bags. My work-around meant putting my Aldis purchases directly into my car, then using a laundry basket when I got home to shuttle everything into my kitchen.

(Casually) Watch your word count

Minimizing words is a powerful bringer of peace. Over-communicating, then overthinking over-communication is tiring. Okay, maybe this is just me. A few weeks ago, I was overthinking the silence that followed a far-too-wordy reply I made to a friend. Rather than chase the situation with more words, I just released the matter and choose the reality that the silence was nothing more than the end of a conversation. Emotional energy is finite and realizing where to spend that energy is good mind housekeeping.

Photo credit: Giulia Bertelli

Release unemployed hobby supplies to find other jobs

Consider your hobby supplies to be your staff. If you are not putting them to work, give them their release papers and show them to another enriching employment opportunity.

I had two craft projects this past month: painting a few mirror frames white and making beeswax food wraps. Because I was not particular about what shades of white I needed, I easily found two used cans of gray primer and a few cans of white for free at my city’s environmental center. I finished the project within a week and, once the paints were idle, they went straight back to the  environmental center. When my beeswax project was done, I texted a crafty friend a photo of my remaining supplies and asked her if she would like what I had. She said sure and we made the handoff an excuse to have a coffee and chat. If both of us were pressed for time, I would have left the supplies on her porch.

Be a museum curator. Move your art.

If you have decor in your home, move it around as a museum curator does. By rearranging it, you’ll likely find pieces that no longer work. Replace them with nothing. Get used to wall and shelf spaces staying empty for a while and you just might love it.

I had art above our bedroom doors in our hallway. I had hung the decor almost a decade ago and I just stopped seeing it there. I pulled it all down, as well as the hooks on which it hung. Every piece was filthy with dust … remind me why I would want to make housekeeping a harder job? They are getting replaced with nothing.

Pretend you are moving away.

This is simply a thinking-ahead category rather than an action item. Pretend you are moving a great distance in a month. Evaluate the “travel-worthiness” of your biggest furniture pieces. Would you take those or would be cheaper to replace them in your new locale? This is the first step towards either saying goodbye to these things or keeping alert for more dual-purpose, transportable replacements. For me, I found that our table and six chairs were something I was just enduring rather than enjoying so it is getting replaced … someday. We have no indicators that we are moving but it’s good to keep light on our feet.

For smaller possessions, limit surfaces to three items or less when at resting position. This philosophy was borrowed from a minimalist on youtube whose home I admire. Simple and inspiring.

Fighting the paper tiger

I made a casual effort to chip away at incoming junk mail. Rather than mindlessly tossing junk mail in my recycling bin, I paper-clipped them to a note that told me to unsubscribe. For a few concentrated minutes each week, I requested removals from mailing lists, usually by online means but sometimes via a standardized snail-mail letter. This was completely worth the (small) effort. I’ll elaborate more in a future blog post.

My incredibly-shrinking book collection

I had 50 books at the beginning of the weekend. I gathered them together and held each one in my hands. After my joy-sparking session (one of a series), I ended the weekend with 35 books. Private book collections should only include already-read-it favorites and no more.

The closet-hanger backwards tip doesn’t work

One of the most oft-repeated tips for closet organizing is to reverse-hang all our clothes on the closet rod, then continue wearing our clothes as we normally do. When we return an item to the closet rod, we do that with the hanger facing the usual way. In a set time period (usually 6 months or a year), we will discover what we really wear and can get rid of any clothes still on reverse-hung hangers.

I would love for all of us to re-think this strategy for closet organizing because it doesn’t work. It’s a short-term solution to a long-term problem. But don’t get me started …

Here are six reasons why reverse-hanging isn’t our best approach to a messy closet.

#1 You keep making the same mistakes.

When your closet is cluttered, you are not wearing your best. You are wearing what is most convenient because it happens to be laundered at the same time you need to be dressed.

By habit, you are likely to reach for the same clothing over and over. Selecting the day’s outfit has not been a mindful act. You are in survival mode because of your overflowing closet. Reverse-hanging your clothes only reveals what survival-mode clothes you are wearing, not what clothes are your favorites, clothes that fit your body and clothes in your favorite colors.

If I had reverse-hung my clothes instead of the konmari joy-sparking declutter I did with them, I would have been left with some ill-fitting khakis and some bleach-stained purple cotton t-shirts. This was what I wore over and over again. I claimed that clothes didn’t matter to me. I called it my uniform. Secretly, I felt awful in those and I avoided being in photos. If you had asked me to discard those, I would have told you that I would then have nothing to wear. I seriously thought those were the only clothes I had.

Meanwhile, my better-fitting and cuter stuff was pushed to the far reaches of my closet rod. I was “saving” them for some special occasion. In the reverse-hanging tip, I would have discarded these more appropriate pieces in a mindless discard after a year.

#2 You are not saving any significant time.

One attraction to this tip is that you can reverse-hang your clothes in about 90 seconds. I did a purposeful decluttering session where I removed everything on a rod and made quick decisions on each piece. Total time elapsed? Less than 45 minutes. Those minutes were well-spent … I save a ton of time on my morning and evening routine with a well-curated wardrobe. That single session brought forth my best pieces that fit me and that fit each other.

#3 It extends your procrastination habit instead of addressing the habit head-on.

In order to represent all the seasons in a year, the reverse-hanging trick needs 12 months to show you all the clothes you do not wear. That is TWELVE long months of keeping too many clothes. Twelve months of cramming clothes back onto an overstuffed rod. Twelve months of clothes reminding you of a body type you are not. Twelve months of a storage space so full that the clothes you launder spill out onto beds, dressers, chairs and exercise equipment. Twelve long months. In my book, that’s not an organizing tip.

#4 Reverse-hangers leave you with a discard pile based on regret and sadness.

“Oh look, this cute top … and I never wore it.”

“This still has the tags on it. I wasted so much money.”

“I like this BUT since I didn’t wear it, I have to get rid of it.”

The discard pile from reverse-hanging becomes one more way to berate yourself and to watch your better pieces, your “save for special occasions” outfits leave you while you settle for what you’ve always worn.

What is the best discard pile? The one you CANNOT WAIT to get rid of. It is filled with stuff you don’t like (or don’t like anymore). It’s full of bad memories, awful sizing, ugly stains, not-me hand-me-downs, and faddish fashions. Discarding a pile like that becomes a freeing event, not a self-punishment. Reserve-hanging doesn’t produce a discard pile like that.

#5 Reverse-hanging doesn’t address your laundry problem.

At the heart of an overstocked closet is a laundering problem. As you get dressed, you say, “Let me see … that’s the dirty pile and that is the can-wear-once-more piles and there is the clean-and-ready-to-put-away pile.”

Stuffed closets make laundering chaotic and unpredictable. One coping habit you probably developed is to avoid wearing your best on an average day. You wouldn’t want to be caught with your best outfit in the hamper on the very occasion you need it, right? Trapped in your overstock, you wind up draping clothes everywhere; you fall behind on laundry; you procrastinate on the washing.

You cope. You wear your subpar pieces. The ones plucked from the I-think-it’s-clean pile on the chair. Reverse-hanging just prolongs that cycle of chaotic laundry.

#6 Reverse-hanging ignores the mix-and-match versatility of a good wardrobe.

Looking at all your pieces together and making discard-or-keep decisions means your tastes emerge. Certain colors will dominate and thus, your wardrobe and your ensembles will naturally fall into place. If you randomly discard any piece on a reverse hanger, you are denying yourself the chance to see potential combinations of clothes.

 

So what can you do instead of reverse-hanging your clothes? Devote an hour — just an hour — to fine-tuning your wardrobe on hangers. Take everything off the closet rod and pile it somewhere. Then spend a few seconds with each piece to really consider if it stays or goes. I like the konmari method of holding each piece (still on its hanger) and determining if I like the item or not. To me, that is the simplest way.

If it helps, you may want to add questions to help you arrive at that emotion-driven determination. Is it hard to clean? Does it have bad memories attached to it? Will that stain ever come out? Does it pinch or gap when you wear it? There are all kinds of questions you can ask yourself. But the bottom line is that, if you don’t like an item, it’s gone. As soon as possible. In the easiest way possible.

You deserve a great wardrobe, with everything on hangers pointing in the right direction.

4 sample vision statements to kick off your minimalism

People skip their vision statements in konmari all the time. It’s easy to do … In her “Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up”, Marie Kondo spends very few words on this part of konmari. And she is intentionally vague about what a vision statement is.

In her manga book, Marie highlights the vision statement much more clearly. The manga-Marie-Kondo tells the sloppy protagonist to think about her dream space, to develop her WHY for tidying, as her first assignment. The protagonist sputters and asks to take action while the manga Marie assures her that this step is the most important first one to take.

That is really all a vision statement is, at its core: it is your why for taking on simpler living.

Having a compelling vision statement is absolutely the difference between finishing konmari and stalling out.

So how do we get to your why? Let me offer you a few approaches.

#1 Just pictures.

First, if my client is a visual person and is active on Pinterest, I encourage her to let loose on Pinterest with dream spaces. Drawn to Scottish castles? Sure. Love those opulent chandeliers? Pin ’em. Cat canals throughout the apartment? Why not. What emerges is, of course, their decor preferences and their dream activities to carry out in their current space.

#2 A few words. Like, maybe just three or four words.

My most successful konmari client began her konmari with her usual brand of personal decisiveness and direction. I watched in amazement as she developed her vision statement in a few minutes, using three words: “an open-house-ready home”.

She had just moved into a rental house with her family after their previous home sold. It sold quickly and her realtor attributed that to the home’s clean condition, a condition she told me was a rarity for her family. For a glorious month, she recalled, her family lived in a home stripped of all their clutter. They could be ready for a potential buyer in 15 minutes of putting-away and polishing. My friend said those four weeks showed them a glorious way to live and that her family loved it. When it came time to unpack the boxes at their rental, her kids were reluctant. They liked the space and didn’t remember what stuff had been packed away enough to miss any of it.

She craved that lifestyle again. “An open-house-ready home” became her mantra. As she discarded much of her clothes, books, papers, and kitchenware in those early coaching sessions, she repeatedly asked herself if the item she held in her hands brought her closer to that kind of home.

# 3 Reframe your most frustrating house moment.

My own vision statement was less of a picture or a few words and more of a feeling. I wanted inner peacefulness. I replayed my peak moment of frustration with my home (repeated each week): the moment when I would come in all hot and sweaty from mowing my lawn and realize what an absolute mess my home was. Then I reframed it. I envisioned that I would come in, sit at my empty kitchen table, and sip a glass of ice water. As I scanned my surroundings, I would not see a single task that needed to be done. Empty counters, no dirty dishes or laundry, no pantry or fridge or cabinets or closets needing organizing, nothing in need of repair. Nothing. I would be done with housework that day. It seemed impossible at the time but now that is standard operating procedure. When it comes to housework, I have very little to do on a daily basis.

Since then, I developed mini-vision statements as I went for each category, all of them based on my desire for that feeling of peacefulness. That helped keep me motivated. Fueled by my vision of peace, I finished my first round of konmari in four weeks.

# 4 Tell your house story.

Unleash all your complaints about your home while you take notes. This is often the first thing I do with new clients. They tick off their frustrations while giving the house tour and I scribble rapidly. Then I write a sample vision statement in story form. It is important to note this: I always, always, always get it wrong. Why? Because a vision statement is deeply felt and deeply personal. But my erroneous first attempt at their vision statement usually gets them started.

Here is one such vision statement story for a client, a recent empty-nester whose frustration is so high that her only house wish is to get to her next home. (Marie Kondo would tell her that preparing this home and becoming satisfied with it will bring her next home more quickly. Hard words to hear for someone who just wants to light a match and leave.)

Corey’s Vision Statement (Take Two)

It’s Friday afternoon. Corey pulls into the driveway, noting that their realtor’s car is out front so she waits until the realtor and the potential buyer come out. Corey feels no fear about the condition of her house. It is always “open house ready” without much effort from her or her husband Charles.

The realtor gives her a thumbs-up sign while the buyer is not looking and the two drive away. Corey pulls into the garage, which used to be an Olympic obstacle course even with one car gone. It has become a place of order and efficiency. Charles’ and Corey’s tools are attractively displayed and accessible. It should come as no surprise that they finished most of their home improvement projects within a year after she completed her konmari.

Corey enters the orderly, productive laundry room. No clothes are on the floor. Hangers on the rod are empty. She notes that hers and Charles’ laundry basket of “to be washed” clothes has reached the half-load mark so she puts down her (tidy) purse on the top of the dryer and pops dirty clothes into the washer. When the house is almost on auto-pilot, tasks like this seem invisible.

Corey goes down to the basement to check for workout clothes and towels to add to her half-load of wash. The basement now serves as Charles’ extensive workshop, which is part of the reason the garage has such a spacious feel. His car project supplies stayed in the garage and every one of his home projects moved down here. The set-up of this workspace meant he made rapid progress on home improvements and, as a result, there are few projects left to do. Corey surveys everything with satisfaction … this arrangement has meant the exercise stuff is used more too. Corey takes the workout towels and clothes from a cool and funky clothes hamper. After some trial-and-error during her konmari, Corey mindfully chose to place this hamper by the basement door. Since it is convenient, the hamper is now getting used just as she wanted it to be.

When Corey ascends the stairs, she scans the first floor, seeing it as her realtor and the potential buyer must have seen it. Every floor, counter, and surface in the kitchen and living room is clear. The kitchen counters are ready for dinner prep. With no tasks to impede her progress to her bedroom, Corey strolls through.

Corey looks up the stairs for just a moment. The second story is a place Corey goes often. The sunniest room is now her studio and her art supplies are arranged in pleasing and off-beat ways. She has plenty of workspace and she can retreat there and lose track of time on weekends … or she can just as easily spend 10 minutes before leaving for work on a weekday morning, just moving forward on the next step in whatever current art project delights her. The other two bedrooms are guest rooms for when the kids and their friends visit for a night. The floors are hardwood and the new baseboards look fabulous. The closets in both guest rooms are empty, as she made sure her grown children took all their possessions with them to their current apartments. The upstairs bathroom is no longer full of the kids’ half-used and abandoned personal care products; it is a spa-like set-up with folded towels, favorite soaps and a few toiletries for guests.

She moves into her bedroom. Ah, her bedroom is such a sanctuary now. The bed is made with her favorite sheets, pillows, and comforter. Her nightstand is bare except for a favorite lamp and the novel she is reading. Everything in the room points to rest and sleep. The bookshelves display art. No laundry or home project materials are in this room. The lighting is soft. The room breathes calm and serenity for both her and Charles.

Corey unpacks her purse at her bag station. She changes into comfortable clothes that play to her strengths. She could leave the house for a restaurant meal in what she is wearing if Charles suggested that. Otherwise, she has a bowl of chicken salad for the two of them to finish up for dinner at home, if they decide to stay in.

She gets a text from the realtor saying the potential buyer loved their home, finding every part of it to be spacious and clean. The buyer wants to return next week with her spouse for a second, more serious tour. A year ago, this second tour would have caused a flurry of household chores, packing up stuff and hiding it away. But now, none of this is required and Corey gets to enjoy the wonderful news without worry. If the house sells this fast, it’ll be a great development. It means she and Charles can move to that custom-built home in the country and really get the open outdoor space that they want.

She drifts into the kitchen, pours herself a half a glass of red and idly makes plans for her weekend, none of which involve housework.

Allow yourself some daydreaming. Conjure up your own vision statement, tailored just for you!