Throwback Thursday: Christmas Organizing

 If organizing is about balancing what comes in with what goes out, the holiday season can make us feel doomed from the start. No sooner have we finished giving thanks for all that we have than we start to acquire more. Gifts. Decorations. Food for future feasts.

If you have more storage space than you need, congratulations - this is probably not an issue for you. But if you, like me, feel maxed out when it comes to places to put things on a regular, run-of-the-mill weekday, all of these Christmas acquisitions can feel overwhelming.

At our house, the Christmas decorations are stored in the crawlspace off the master bedroom. This means that as I begin to pull out Christmas decorations and all the trimmings and trappings, they inevitably invade the space in my house that should, arguably, be the most tranquil. I wish I could tell you that I have a wonderful solution for coping with these interloping, festive, baubles but the truth is that it comes down to the same thing it does during the rest of the year: making sure our styles lead the way.

Take small steps. In order to minimize the amount of space that all these Christmas goodies take up in our bedroom, I take decorations out a few at a time. I have a red basket that I use to store the decorations I like to start with each year and that’s the first thing that I take out. Once I put up the decorations in that basket, I can use it to store anything that I’ve replaced during the decorating process (which also makes putting things away easier when I “un-decorate” in January). When I put the basket back in the crawlspace after putting out those first few things, I can take out a few more decorations. Decorating the house slowly makes it a little more festive each day.

Store presents according to your style. I need to see it or I know I put it somewhere organizational style? Don’t put everything in plain brown boxes! That’s a sure recipe for digging through the same container over and over again. Instead, consider the type of storage that works best for you during the rest of the year. If you’re trying to keep things covert, maybe do stick to the plain brown cartons that the gifts arrive in, but put a brightly colored sticky note on the outside of each one to signify whose presents are in which box. No need for covert operations? Use clear storage bins so you can see what you have. Cram and jam organizational style? Stick to one large container for storage, but consider subdividing it so you don't have a pile-up inside.

One in- one out. Opportunities abound to practice this! As you buy new decorations (or put them away), replace anything that’s become tired and worn (or a safety hazard). In addition, anything that doesn't make the cut this year probably won't next year either. Toss it, donate it, or recycle it now to create space. Cool stuff under the tree? Consider what you can do without now that you have all those fun, new things. 

The Christmas season brings wonder, joy, and stuff. We can't control all the stuff but, if we keep our styles in mind, we can keep some of it neatly under wraps.

qimono via Pixabay

Giving Up

 Getting organized can be a challenge, in part because being organized isn't just a matter of having a tidy workspace. At its best, organization is a complex concept that involves deciding where to put things and where to find things, as well as having an internal sense that we're on top of everything important.

Quite a concept. No wonder it's a process.

Knowing what to keep and what to get rid of is at the heart of organizing. It's what gives us that lovely, peaceful (albeit often fleeting) sense of having it all together. While what you keep is ultimately up to you, there are some universal guidelines about what to get rid of. Here are three of them, along with some first steps for getting them under control. 

Physical clutter. Okay, this one's obvious. De-cluttering is clearly a part of organizing, right? While this process is much more complex than simply throwing out anything that's in our path, it's something we can accomplish step by step. 

• The Fix: Pick a pile, any pile. Set a timer for ten minutes. Sort, toss, put away, add to a donation bin -- whatever is called for -- until the timer goes off. Then, stop, or reset the timer. Your choice.

Mental clutter. This kind of clutter is less obvious, but perhaps more annoying. We can walk away from physical clutter, but mental clutter travels with us wherever we go. 

• The Fix: Do a brain dump. Make a list -- or several. If you want headings (to do, to buy, to call, etc.), add them to the top of the page (or buy a cute notepad that does this for you. But just one -- see #1). While getting everything out of your head won't do the tasks for you, it will reduce the cognitive load of carrying them around in your head until you can check them off.

A bad habit. This can be anything that disrupts our peace, whether it's organizing-related or not. Maybe it's an unchecked style habit: the drop and run habit that leads to piles, the cram and jam plan that's destined to leave things rumpled or crumpled, or the knee-jerk I know I put it somewhere response of putting things "away" in any available space that leaves us ransacking the house to find a single piece of paper. Or, maybe it's something entirely different like biting our nails, drinking too much coffee, or eating too much chocolate -- the habits that are fun in the moment, but guilt-inducing (or worse) in the long run.

• The Fix: Take small steps, and celebrate their completion. Maybe it's stopping yourself mid-drop, putting something in a drawer instead of dumping it into an overstuffed bin, or thinking about where something really belongs before you put it into any random, available space. Or, perhaps it's going a whole day without indulging in a habit that we'd rather do away with. Remembering that it's not an all-or-nothing proposition is key to success here -- so often we give up because we don't succeed immediately, forgetting that change takes time.

While the physical and visible aspects of organization are the most obvious, their hidden benefits -- like confidence and peace of mind -- can be just as important. And sometimes, seeking them out can remind us of why we're doing all this work in the first place.