Organization is one of those unclear words. What does it really mean to be organized? When I started college in 2002, I prided myself on being organized and prepared. Over the summer prior to my first fall semester, I neatly crafted a letter to my parents, my older siblings, and a few favorite aunts detailing what I needed for school. And how they could support me in being adequately prepared to live on my own to further my education. Surprisingly, my letters were a hit and I was provided with a refrigerator, a television, a laptop, a vacuum, and a microwave. All necessary college items. With money from my job at a fast food restaurant, I bought plastic three-drawer bins, stackable bins for under the bed, a shower organizer, and a wood nine-cubicle organizer with the fabric bin inserts. With visions of the perfect dorm room in mind, I filled each drawer, bin, and cubicle with school supplies, clothes, toiletries, and extra supplies from the store’s back to college section. Every bin and container was full just like in the commercials. I was ready. I was organized. I was prepared. This is what college success looked like.

Behind the mask of organization, I filled my tiny dorm room with stuff. And with a roommate who also brought her own stuff and organizational systems, it was cramped but I didn’t mind because I believed this was how it was supposed to be. There was no other way to be successful in college.  As I look back now, I smile because I created my dorm space based on what I thought I needed to be successful in life. There were many items that I purchased but never used because it was not a part of my usual routine. There were items that I learned I did not like but I kept it anyway because I had spent money on it. The refrigerator was actually too small but kept it because my Dad had given it to me. I had prepared, organized and planned ahead for a life that wasn’t mine. At that age, I was not aware that I was bringing myself to college. A person who was already successful.

Fast forward to marriage and children which meant more bodies, more stuff, more needs coinciding in the same space. I continued more of the same behavior. I bought too much stuff and allowed too much stuff to be brought into my space without thought to usefulness to my life. More stuff equaled success in life. I thought that if I could just clean enough, organize enough I could control the chaos. I was sadly mistaken. I spent hours organizing toys, office supplies, clothes, kitchen cabinets, all while thinking if I just created a better system I could keep up. I moved items from one space in my house to the other and then back again. I organized my clutter again and again.

Through my process of becoming a minimalist and implementing the principle of minimizing needless things and space while maximizing the use of one item and one space, I realized the importance of decluttering first, and then organizing second. I must first determine the usefulness of an item and its place in my life. If it belongs, then it will be included in the organization of my space. If not, then it will be removed from my space. And yes, I mean every item must have a purpose in my life and space. By decluttering first, and organizing second I am eliminating the myth that organizing alone will bring structure to the chaos. By decluttering first to eliminate needless things, I am able to provide space for things that I need, things that I enjoy, and things that I love. This is how I achieve harmony in my living space. This is what is means to be organized.