The 2 Keys to Keeping Your Space Organized

Vladimir Elie
Aug 29, 2017 · 2 min read

I’m not an expert in home and office organization. In fact, I struggle with it. In particular, paper and I are fierce enemies; paper often launches severe attacks against me and attempts to overrun my space.

However, despite my struggle, two key concepts help me stay afloat. They help me keep my space organized and more importantly perhaps, help me get back on track when I lose my way.

The 2 keys to keeping your space organized are purpose and place.

Purpose

To stay organize and avoid clutter in your space, make sure everything in your environment has a purpose. Each item must have a reason for occupying your space. Why do you own this item? Why is it in your space (e.g. house, office, kitchen, or wherever)?

If the item has no reason for occupying space, you must get rid of it. If your space is out of control, there’s a good chance it’s filled with items that serve no purpose.

Some items may have been useful in the past, but no longer fulfill any purpose in your life. Thus, they are occupying space needlessly. It’s time to let them go. This may be hard; you may be attached to those items. You must come to terms with the fact that those items have to leave your life.

As an exercise, you can point at random items in your environment and ask the following question: “What’s this item’s purpose?” If you can’t state its purpose, perhaps you should get rid of it.

Place

To stay organized, the concept of purpose is important but not sufficient. Each item must also have a place (a home). If your items have a purpose but are all over the place (misplaced), your space will still be disorganized.

To everything, it’s home. You must find a home for all your items. And when you use an item, you must bring it back home (i.e. put it back at its place) when you’re done.

You leave home to go to work or to go do groceries or to go work out or whatever else you do, but you always return home. Similarly, your items may go on trips, but they must return home.

To keep your space organized follow these two simple rules: every item must have a purpose and every item must have a place (a home).

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    Practical Insights for people doing great work in the world. Topics: 🔹Productivity 🔹Goals 🔹Mindset 🔹Personal Growth 🔹Leadership ResultsEmpowerment.com

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