5 Ways to Declutter: 3) A Place for Everything

A place for everything and everything in its place.

Keys, glasses, phone, remote control… What do these have in common? Ever find yourself losing time while looking for them? Or when you want to use that thing you’ve been saving for just the right moment, but don’t remember where you put it… Can you see the connection between space and memory?

When you allow an object to inhabit your space, you give it a place in your attention. And your attention is your most precious resource. It’s with your attention that you create solutions, build relationships and make things happen.

There are three reasons that give an object meaning:
– It has utility;
– You find it beautiful; and
– It has an association with an experience or person.

If it’s valuable to you because of one of these reasons, it’s worth keeping it in your space. When an object is worthy of your attention, by giving it a place, you honour its meaningfulness.

For example, a client of mine has severe a hoarding issue. Severe as in you can’t see the floors or walls in most of the rooms because they’re so full of stuff, floor to ceiling, You can’t even get into many of the rooms because of the dusty, slowing rotting sea of abandoned objects. It’s taken months just to clear the floor in the kitchen. It takes time to re-acquire the habits of organisation.

Much of this stuff are things they would say are precious. But when you look at the way they treat their possessions this cannot be true. The stuff is serving a purpose but it’s an unconscious one… to cover up feelings. Because our physical space is analogous to our being.

And how we organise our space corresponds to how we feel about being alive.

The process of minimising is therefore a sacred act of acknowledging the life that flows in us. Your space is the temple of your life.

If an object is valuable to you, honour its utility, its beauty or its meaning by giving it its own place. What you’re really doing is honouring yourself; your purpose and your place in the world.

Remember the metaphor of the bowl?

The object itself is not important, it’s the space it creates that is useful. Likewise, your possessions are not important… this is not idolatry… What’s special is, how you feel? Don’t lose yourself in your possessions and become possessed by them.

Once you make a space keep the space.

As you remove items, you’ll create a space. Make sure that you keep that space available. Don’t put other things there ‘temporarily’.

Give items plenty of space around them. So they can be appreciated. This way, each major item gives a space its purpose, (I.e. A desk for writing, a sofa for lounging, a table for gathering), and the item becomes an aesthetic feature also. Place supplementary objects around in an ergonomic and eye-catching way. Either one item on its own, or in groups of two or three matching items. Refrain from storing items on top of or under other pieces of furniture – keep the space.