N – NO
The organizing word for ‘N’ is “NO”. I bet you’re wondering how this relates to organizing…well, learning how to say “NO” is a huge part of becoming and staying organized, not just in your space, but also in your life! Here’s how it works:
- When going through your things and deciding what to keep, say “NO” to keeping things out of guilt…like that ugly vase your BFF gave you for graduation or the life-size portrait of Bugs Bunny your aunt Rose painted for your room when you were 3. If you don’t like it, want it, or have a place for it, say “NO” to keeping it!
- Say “NO” to keeping ‘someday’ items. If you have an outfit you intend to wear for that ‘perfect’ occasion, but you haven’t worn it because you have no idea what the ‘perfect’ occasion is…it’s a “NO”! Stockpiling things for a possible zombie apocalypse is a definite “NO”!
- Say “NO” to impulse buys! If you see it and are drawn to it, before you put into your cart, ask yourself…”Do I need it?” “When/how will I use it?” If you can’t come up with immediate answers to those questions, say “NO” to buying it.
- When someone asks you to do something and you feel overwhelmed by the request because you already have too much to do, say “NO” (respectfully). The same goes for kids…they don’t need to have an activity every second of the day. According to an article in Health and Fitness Magazine, ““America is an achievement-oriented culture,” said Dr. Gina Manguno-Mire, PhD, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Tulane University Health Sciences Center. “Success is defined by accomplishment, and that mindset starts at a very early age. Today, we see both kids and adults who are so structured that they just don’t seem to know what to do with free time, so they fill it with activities.””
- If your stuff has outgrown your home, the answer is not to get a bigger home or more storage! This means that saying “NO” to more space puts you on the path to saying “NO” to more clutter and saying “YES” to reducing what you already have.
If you have the word “NO” in the back of your mind every time you even think of bringing more things in to occupy your space or more activities to occupy your time, you will stop to consider the consequences of doing it, which will put you on the road to organization. If you declutter with the word “NO” in mind, you will be able to part with more things, making organizing a much easier task.
No guilt keeping!
No ‘someday’ keeping!
No impulse buys!