Filed under: Storage & Cleaning, Storage & Organization
If you cringe when other people touch your perfectly organized space, then you may be considered an extremist. Photo: Post-it Notes Brand
If your closet is filled with shoe boxes in perfect condition, then you are just plain organized. But if your shoe boxes have photos of the shoes taped to the front of each box and the boxes are arranged by shoe style...well, then you might be a "freakishly obsessed organizer," according to student-run blog, SparkLife.
"I have clients who are overly obsessed with becoming organized," says Julie Morgenstern, time management expert and author. "People are overwhelmed by so many things going on in their life, and so much information coming at them, they are hungry for organizing and feel the need to contain themselves. Organizing is a way to contain the overwhelming details." But there are those who take it too far, says Morgenstern.
And it's not healthy. Organizing extremists often become inflexible in other aspects of their lives -- and they miss out on fun events because they're always busy putting their life in order.
Morgenstern says there are three key indicators that you're becoming an organizing extremist.
"Hint number one is that you're too busy organizing to go out and have a good time," she warns. "You don't have to rearrange your bookshelves after pulling out a few books -- just put them back and go out!" She points to early adopters of technology (those who are first in line to buy the latest technological gadget) as a group susceptible to becoming overly organized because they gravitate to the next, newest, greatest organizing product in hopes that it'll be the perfect one.
Stores like the Container Store and Staples only feed the obsession with putting everything in its place. For those who embrace micro-organizing, the choices for organizational products, tools and applications are endless. "The organizing industry has increased dramatically over the past five years," says Morgenstern. "But there's no perfect bin or perfect calendar so stop searching, choose one thing, and stick with it."
Hint number two, she says, is that you are so orderly that you're inflexible. You're reluctant to add anything new to your closet or to your calendar. "The overly organized have tremendous inflexibility which means they are losing out on opportunities and relationships because they just can't 'fit it in,'" says Morgenstern, who points to a client whose children were so organized and regimented that mom zapped out all of the joy and spontaneity in the household.
Hint number three: You can't have anyone near your space because you can't handle the thought that everything may not be put back exactly as you like it.
"Whether you are highly disorganized or highly organized," she says, "you are a slave to that problem and you are not contributing anything unique to your life." In other words, being organized isn't always a good thing.
"If you're stuck inside looking for things you can't find, or overly organizing things so you can find them, then you are losing out on life," she says. Just be organized enough so you can get on with your life.
There's no law that says you need a special color-coded orange and black bin to store your Halloween decorations. Find any old box, tape it shut, slap on a Post-it Note -- and move on.