How To Organize Any Space Like A Boss

Organizational videos, hacks, Marie Condo and the “Art of Tidying Up, the “Minimalists” and their unending barrage of Netflix specials combined with being stuck at home for the better part of the year has everyone wanting to have an ethereal work/living space with just the right amount of uniqueness to be interesting but also the right amount of restraint to appear refined.

So at some point, you’ve got to work on achieving your organizational goals that HGTV dreams are made of . . . Except you have one major problem. You have too much stuff. I want to say shit but after watching a few old episodes of Hoarders, I decided to stick with stuff for this article because some people do actually have actual shit in their living spaces . . . If they can make a path to find it.

As a writer who by some stroke of luck or irony, has been recognized mainly for work on financial topics, organizating your home is a lot like budgeting. Everyone wants to give you tips on how to get organized or on a budget but not a damn soul wants to help address underlying problems that cause organizational and financial chaos.

But then there’s me.

While budgets are cute . . . They only work if you have enough money coming in to cover expenses and have a surplus. Most budgeting articles never address the problem of just not having enough money and how to fix that.

Organizational tips and resources are cute. Some are even screenshot or Pinterest worthy (side bar: do people still use that?) . . . Anyway. Most of these tips will put a Bandaid on your issue, they don’t actually solve the problem to begin with . . .

Your space is cluttered because you hang onto things that serve you little purpose

And instead of actually dealing with each item piece by piece, you put it in boxes or totes or mason jars. The problem is still there . . . You have things that do not fit your life.

These things spread out on counters, in your closet, in your kitchen drawer (feel attacked yet?), in your purse (if you didn’t before, now you do) make it impossible for you to find the things you do value or that you actually need to use.

I dealt with this for years. Until I watched an episode of Wife Swap of all things. Sadly, it is not a show about swingers, but about two families who trade mothers for two weeks and get to see the way a different woman runs the home.

On this particular life changing episode, there was a mother who worked as a professional organizer, Lisa Fine. Lisa swapped places with a family of pirates, real, that family on the show was also responsible for the “Talk-Like-A-Pirate” Day that is now celebrated, and while they taught her “pirate-titude”, she taught them how to organize their living space by asking themselves three questions about each item in their space that I will never forget.

1. Do you need it?
2. Do you love it?
3. Does it make you money?

And if you couldn’t answer yes to one of those three questions, the item had to go. It doesn’t get simpler than that.

Do you need it?

Areas of focus when asking this question:

-Kitchen

-Bathrooms

-Garage/Tool Sheds

When you are answering this question you have to be 100% serious with yourself. Do you need a table setting for 16 when you eat out 80% of the time? No.

Do you need multiple tool sets with missing pieces when you would be better off with one? No.

Do you need all of those spices that you bought over the years and have only used once? No.

Be honest in this step and get rid of things you do not need. Stop trying to prepare for every occasion or situation that might arrise at some mythical point in the future. You can always go shopping later if you truly need a new dress or costume for an event.

Do you love it?

Areas of focus when answering this question:

-Bedrooms

-Closets

-Living Room

-Den/Family Room

Mementos, family pictures, and hobby items find themselves in this section as well as clothing.

This is where you separate the truly special mementos from the items that are better off scanned and saved to a file. The picture of your grandmother and you? Keep it. Your spelling test from second grade? Toss it. Or take a pic and then toss it.

Clothing and shoes are what trips up many people.

If you do not absolutely love the way a clothing item or pair of shoes fits and looks on you TODAY . . . Get rid of it. Donate it to a shelter or a local charity. Do not keep items that are not flattering to you or do not fit.

You are wasting space on items that make you feel self conscious or not beautiful. F-that noise.

Have a closet fashion show with every single piece you own. Anything that feels too big, too tight, makes your booty look like anything less than a dump truck . . . Get rid of it. And make room for things that make you feel fierce and sexy.

Does It Make You Money?

Areas of Focus when answering this question:

-Home Office

-Libraries

-Work Spaces in Larger Living Areas

This section is fairly cut and dry. If an item is in your work space and it doesn’t help you make money . . . Get rid of it.

57 planners and calendars do not make you more money, they only give the illusion of success when all that has happened is you being busy.

Is your chair or desk uncomfortable? Get rid of it. And find a chair or desk that is comfortable.

Do you have a pile of items you have promised yourself you are going to list on Poshmark or Etsy or have a garage sale with? Give yourself 14 days. If at the end of that time, you haven’t had the garage sale or listed the items, just give them away. Most people do not make a ton on those sites anyway.

Again, here our goal is to make money, not to just be busy.

Conclusion:

I value convenience and finding the easy way to do almost everything. The three questions in this article will change your living space and also your life. They can be applied to business, your stuff, and relationships.

Begin asking yourself:

Do I need it?

Do I love it?

Does it make me money?

And if you can’t answer yes to at least one of the three questions above, it’s gotta go whether it’s your new love interest, those heels that are too narrow, or those jeans that give you flat butt.