I personally don’t think so, but if you look at TikTok, Instagram, and Pinterest you may think otherwise.

Organizational product is EXPENSIVE, espcially when you consider the current preferred aesthetic and the volume you would need to match up to the perfectly organized, fully decanted, fridge full of nothing but produce and fancy beverages in a push forward beverage organizer, special vacuum JUST FOR DESK DRAWERS kind of organization that we see currently on social media. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

I’m currently reading The Productivity Chain by Casey Moore (which while it is about productivity, talks about organization often as an integral element), and according to Moore organization isn’t a great word anyway because the meaning is too vague. If you are organized it could mean your house is in order, but it could also mean that you get places on time, or that you always have what you need with you, or that you are good at getting things done at work, or any number of other things. And I can’t say that I disagree with her.

For another example- when working, many of my clients will ask if my house is perfectly organized. However, when they ask this it is usually apparent that they don’t mean organized in the same way that I apply it to my own home, they mean CLEAN. My house is always organized, but rarely clean, because I have three kids, two dogs, four cats, and a husband. Plus, myself and (at least) two of the kids have ADHD, so we aren’t the best at putting things away between activities. But I still consider my home organized because everything has a home (even if it’s not there at the moment), because we know where to find most things we need most of the time (barring one of the kids losing it in their rooms), and we don’t have overflowing doom boxes, storage rooms, closets, or other places where we stash junk and then forget about it.

Organization doesn’t take oodles and oodles of expensive clear acrylic bins, bamboo dividers in all your kitchen drawers, or fancy storage units with clever inserts. It does, however, take a few other resources that people tend to be short on:

• Time
• Decision making
• Space

If you are in a place where you are working most days for most of the day (either outside the home or taking care of kids or other family, plus your home), this will be admitedly difficult, but it is possible.

Before I get more into that though, I want to address another reason many people tell me organization (and in this case they mean decluttering) isn’t possible for people with less disposible income- they can’t just get rid of things because they can’t afford to replace them if they end up needing them.

I cannot say this is never the case, obviously. However, in all of the cases where this has been said, and in every single client I have ever had who has had clutter due to either the unreasonable inability to part with items or compulsive acquiring (and in many cases both), they have had many multiples of basic, utilitarian items. And when I ask them why, in every single case except one it was because they could never find the item, so they would buy another, and another, and another.

(in the one other case, a client had a bag of 20+ pink lighters, the long ones you use to light candles. She didn’t buy them all because she couldn’t find one, she bought them all at once because she liked that they were pink and was afraid she wouldn’t be able to find pink in the future. This is buying from a fear/scarcity mindset and I will talk about that in another blog post)

Being cluttered, having items with no homes, and not knowing where to find things can get EXPENSIVE. Aside from having to buy things like scissors and screwdrivers over and over because you can’t find them when you need them, there can be higher stakes items lost in the shuffle. A lost passport can cause you to cancel travel at the last minute, or at the very least to pay the replacement fee and wait UP TO 8 WEEKS to get the new one. A lost vehicle registration card can cost hundreds in late fees or tickets, as can lost bills. And medicine is often super expensive- losing a prescription medication and having to replace it can get pricey. Plus, some medications can’t be refilled when lost, like the stimulant medications prescribed for many with ADHD.

I don’t know if it’s an excuse, a cultural misrepresentation, or some other reason, but decluttering your home will absolutely not cost you money (unless you chose to hire help), but choosing not to will.

BUT HOW DO I GET ORGANIZED????

Bite by bite, that’s how. There truly is no right way.

Mari Kondo says to go through by category, not by room or space, and to always start with clothes.

Lisa Woodruff says to start with 2 things first- 1) organize your closet (your own only, not your kids or your partner’s- if you share a closet do your half… this isn’t Lisa’s advice though, it’s mine). And 2) gather ALLLLLLLLLL the paperwork in the house and put it in one place- she recommends a laundry basket to start- and go through as much of it as you can every weekend, sorting by what you need to do with the paper (act on it, store it, or toss it).

I say start one of two places- either where you will have the most impact OR where you can have the quickest (or more lasting) win. The reason Woodruff says to start with your closet and not the kitchen is because the rest of your household isn’t as likely to come in and immediately mess it up, which makes sense, but that might also apply to the surface of your desk, your bathroom vanity, or any other place that you primarily use. For some paperwork can be an easy win itself, but it is a good idea to start getting in the two habits of 1) keeping it all in one place (unless its filed), and 2) going through it every week.

But tangible first steps aside, there is one first step that I think is universal, no matter your income, your neurospicy level, your age, or any other percieved strength or weakness that you have.

You have to change your mindset. I know that sounds gross and cheesy but it’s also true. If you continue to give yourself an out because you can’t possibly do it due to (insert excuse here), you are going to prove yourself right. But do you deserve to keep living in clutter? (Hint, you don’t)

You have time. You might not have a lot, but you have it. I won’t throw around platitudes like “we all have the same 24 hours” because I know people with more income can afford to pay others to do tasks that you have to do yourself. But if you really, truly want to get organized (and if you’re reading this, I assume you either do or you want to find a flaw in my argument. If the latter, see you in the comments), you can find a time to do little bits at a time. You just have to make the decision that it is worth it to you, and possibly sacrifice other activities for the near future.

You can make decisions about your things. There are a lot of tips out there to make this easier. None work across the board. Here are a few, use what resonates for you.

• Put items you are unsure about in a box with today’s date on it. When you stumble across this box in 6+ months look at it’s contents again- if you didn’t miss them or need them in that time, consider donating.
• Find a charity or cause you feel strongly about to donate to. Knowing your items will do good in someone else’s life may make it easier for you to let go.
• Take a picture of any items that you are keeping solely because of the memories they hold, or because of who gave them to you, not because you find them attractive or useful, then let that item go.
• Ask yourself “does this item need me?” instead of “do I need this?”
• For clothes, turn all your hangers backwards (so they hook from the wall side of the closet). Then when you wear an item and put it away again hang the hanger the normal way. After a set period of time consider donating what hasn’t been turned.

But these are just a few suggestions. Whatever self talk or guidelines you use have to resonate with you. Don’t ever let anyone, paid organizer or otherwise, guilt or pressure you into getting rid of something you’re not ready to get rid of. Especially if you are dealing with chronic disorganization, this can set back your progress a great deal because you will lose trust in others and in your own decision making skills.

Similarly, you have space for the things you need. You may not have space for all the things you want, though. In most cases, you have to let your space at least partially dictate what you keep. I would absolutely have more books than I have now, but I can’t because they would make my space unlivable, so I make choices and set limitations for myself, and purge periodically as needed. If you clear out most of your living space by deferring most of the hard choices to a storage unit, you definitely aren’t saving money, and you will likely continue to acquire at the same rate as before because you haven’t come to terms with your space limitations, but as I said, compulsive aquiring is another topic for another time.

Yes, the wealthy will have more space, more money to buy fancy organizational products, and more resources that allow them to outsource tasks (like organization) to others. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t accessible to the rest of us.

**There is one resource that mindset can’t change- ability. Sometimes our bodies can’t do the organizational tasks we would like to do and no mindset can change that. Inability to do these tasks is one time you might want to spend some time saving and then reach out to a professional. The ideal situation would be regular weekly or biweekly visits from someone who can help you with these kinds of tasks on a maintanence level, whether it’s a friend or family, someone you pay, or otherwise. I think that, in a perfect world, both coaching and organizing would be things that could be covered by insurance, at least in certain cases, but we aren’t there yet. However, many organizers (including myself) work with people at discounted rates. There is also a really wide range of pricing in the organizational industry- if you look for someone trying to get a start their rate may be significantly lower than others in your area. Alternatively, if you know what needs done and simply are not able to do it yourself, find someone on Taskrabbit or through your local networks who does odd jobs for possibly a lower rate than what an organizer charges.