Organize Your Things Using the “chaos Method”
When you ‘re decluttering and decluttering , you can use several methods to make sure you’re following the basic principles of keeping like items together and making sure they all have a designated place. It seems logical to designate a space for each category and then place items from that category there one by one. It certainly works, but it has some drawbacks, and if you continue doing it this way, you may end up doing more work than you planned. Instead, why not try a little chaos?
What is the “chaos method”?
This advice comes from Kim Jones , a Kentucky-based organizer who described her method to The Kitchn . She described what to do when moving to a new place, explaining that instead of unpacking each box piece by piece, you should unpack them all at once, leave everything in plain sight, and make a big mess (“chaos”). , and then clean up this mess. The idea is that by classifying and grouping each outdoor item before putting it in its designated containers, shelves or drawers, you can estimate how much stuff you have and figure out whether it all will fit in the space you’ve allocated. aside for this. The other option, moving each individual item to your new home one by one, leaves a lot of room for misjudging how much storage space you actually have. More often than not, this results in you having to reorganize everything, move things around, or even start over.
How to Organize Chaos Even When You’re Not Moving
You can use this technique even when you are not moving. In fact, I recommend this as a standard organizational practice for the home you currently live in. This gives you the opportunity to declutter and organize in a way that makes the most of the space you have.
First, select a small area of your home, such as a closet, drawer, shelving unit, or small room. (Don’t try to do the entire large room at once if you can help it.) Then clear out that space completely by placing everything in the center of the room. If you’re decluttering your hallway closet, take out all the coats, scarves, pairs of boots, umbrellas, etc. Once you have a big pile of chaos, don’t worry, even though it will definitely look a lot more disorganized and cluttered. cluttered than before. Start categorizing everything, moving them into smaller piles away from the big one. Coats are placed in one pile, boots in another, and so on. Once you have smaller stacks and categories, you can see how much space is in each and then decide again where they should go in the closet. You can place them in the most logical and economical location ( ideally a container !) and make your decision based on how much space they actually need.
While you’re creating these piles, declutter a little if you feel like you need it. I recommend the five-second rule and the classic approach to decluttering: keep bags and boxes on hand and mark one for things you want to throw away, one for things you want to donate, and one for things you want to sell. Typically you’ll have a fourth bag or box here for things you want to keep, but since you’re doing this with the goal of getting your “items back in place” immediately, it’s not really necessary. Every time you take something from the main pile, give yourself five seconds to decide which of these categories it belongs to. If you throw away, sell or give it away, put it in the appropriate bag or box immediately. . Once one of those bags or boxes is full, use the five-second approach again, forcing yourself to immediately take it to the trash or car. By reducing the number of items you have, you can reduce the amount of space that needs to be put back into place, giving you a little wiggle room in your original closet, drawer, or wherever. When the space you’ve been working on is done, move on to another small space and start the chaos again.