The Most Common Organizing Mistake (& What To Do Instead)

November 12, 2014

There is one particular habit that every one of my clients confesses to doing prior to hiring me, and it goes something like this:

Are you guilty of this? The most common organizing mistake (and what to do instead!)

In a moment of overwhelm at the state of their space, they jump in their car, head to their nearest home goods store and buy another big plastic bin.

I say “another” because you can bet that before this time there was the time before and the time before that and years back.

When they get home, they lug their newly acquired bin–or bag or box or basket– inside, shove a lot of stuff in it, and close the lid. Oh, and then they shove the bin somewhere really good (read: bad), along with all the other past bins.

The contents of all the bins are very mysterious to their owners and very much a random assortment of whatever happened to be in one spot in their house at that point in time. The closest comparison I might make of this habit would be to Andy Warhol’s Time Capsules.

If this behavior didn’t lead to such dire situations it might be kind of perplexingly amusing. As it is, it’s curious but overall, troublesome.

I don’t know who taught you that buying more bins was the ultimate stuff management technique but listen: they were misinformed, okay?

Storage bins, themselves, are great, I’ve got nothing against those. There are endless circumstances in which I would call upon them as a primary organizing tool. Feeling totally overwhelmed by the amount of stuff you have, the lack of systems you have in place, and the general feeling of having no idea where to start, what to do, or how to make things better, and thereby buying yourself another spot and way to delay actually dealing with things and having to make any kind of decisions just isn’t one of them.

Here’s what buying another bin and shoving a big pile of stuff in it is: a really, really unsuccessful strategy.

Here’s what would be better: almost anything Don’t buy another bin. Don’t even put buying one on your to-do list and definitely don’t go to the store to fetch one. (When I instruct my clients as such, they look at me like I’m a dentist who’s just told them not to brush their teeth.)

Whatever sized bin you would have purchased (if you didn’t have one in mind let me tell you: you were going to get the biggest one possible) take that amount of stuff and get rid of it. Isn’t that fun?

However much stuff that would have fit into that bin, that’s your measure of how much stuff you need to eliminate from your space. It’s okay if it isn’t the particular pile that had initially caused you to mistakenly think you needed another bin. Pick any bunch of stuff you like!

There’s your new default move. You heard it here first! (Evidently.)

Image credit: IKEA

10 Comments

  1. Michaela on November 12, 2014 at 8:36 am

    So, what you’re saying is that the stacks of bins currently being rained on (and now frozen) on my cute little deck, rendering that space completely unusable, were not the best option? Huh. Who woulda thunk it….?

    • Annie on November 14, 2014 at 9:44 am

      I am possibly saying that, yes… 😉

  2. Monica on November 12, 2014 at 9:08 am

    Time Capsules!! You are so right!! I dont know where this obsessive “keep all my kids things came from”. I have one small little box of what my childhood had. I guess i never had so much stuff growing up but now with 4 grown children i find it hard to let it go. it is all neat and in ALL plastic bins!! funny…I keep telling myself i will give to them once they settle for them to discard.

    • Annie on November 14, 2014 at 9:44 am

      Hmmm, yeah, maybe think about getting on this bins sooner than you had initially planned..or at the very least, changing your ways going forward!

  3. Erin on November 13, 2014 at 5:30 am

    LOVE this. You are SO right on.
    I try to implement this tactic as often as possible. We have a constant “donate box” running down in the laundry room…I’m always chucking stuff into it. We also have several people to whom we give our hand-me-down clothes, and I keep those bags up and running, too. A constant OUTflow is a GOOD thing!!!

    • Annie on November 14, 2014 at 9:43 am

      It is SUCH a good thing. Way to be Erin!

  4. Jen McGahan (@JenMcGahan) on November 14, 2014 at 6:13 am

    You are brilliant. I’m a new fan.

    • Annie on November 14, 2014 at 9:42 am

      Thanks Jen!!!

  5. […] fail at “getting organized” because they assume the process starts at #2. They have another-bin-itis in a big way and that approach will always only end in overly cramped spaces and too much […]

  6. […] can keep buying more plastic bins instead of spending the time to thoroughly edit their stuff, can keep buying cheap, poor quality […]

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10 Comments

  1. Michaela on November 12, 2014 at 8:36 am

    So, what you’re saying is that the stacks of bins currently being rained on (and now frozen) on my cute little deck, rendering that space completely unusable, were not the best option? Huh. Who woulda thunk it….?

    • Annie on November 14, 2014 at 9:44 am

      I am possibly saying that, yes… 😉

  2. Monica on November 12, 2014 at 9:08 am

    Time Capsules!! You are so right!! I dont know where this obsessive “keep all my kids things came from”. I have one small little box of what my childhood had. I guess i never had so much stuff growing up but now with 4 grown children i find it hard to let it go. it is all neat and in ALL plastic bins!! funny…I keep telling myself i will give to them once they settle for them to discard.

    • Annie on November 14, 2014 at 9:44 am

      Hmmm, yeah, maybe think about getting on this bins sooner than you had initially planned..or at the very least, changing your ways going forward!

  3. Erin on November 13, 2014 at 5:30 am

    LOVE this. You are SO right on.
    I try to implement this tactic as often as possible. We have a constant “donate box” running down in the laundry room…I’m always chucking stuff into it. We also have several people to whom we give our hand-me-down clothes, and I keep those bags up and running, too. A constant OUTflow is a GOOD thing!!!

    • Annie on November 14, 2014 at 9:43 am

      It is SUCH a good thing. Way to be Erin!

  4. Jen McGahan (@JenMcGahan) on November 14, 2014 at 6:13 am

    You are brilliant. I’m a new fan.

    • Annie on November 14, 2014 at 9:42 am

      Thanks Jen!!!

  5. […] fail at “getting organized” because they assume the process starts at #2. They have another-bin-itis in a big way and that approach will always only end in overly cramped spaces and too much […]

  6. […] can keep buying more plastic bins instead of spending the time to thoroughly edit their stuff, can keep buying cheap, poor quality […]

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