Did you know I was the mascot for the Miami Dade County Library System?  That’s right, my name was Seymore Readmore and I was the most bookloving-est and awesome manatee ever!

So it will probably come as no surprise to you that I love libraries.  In fact, I set up my own library at the tender age of 6, complete with card pockets and book labels!

It will also come as no surprise to you that I am extremely organized.  Like idiot-savant level organizational awesome.

But here’s the thing about being an organizational genius, you just have to find your sweet spot!

The two biggest hurdles to finding your sweet spot of stuff-iliciousness are trying to do too much with too much and trying to force yourself into someone else’s system!

The “Stuff” Horizon

Hayden’s Rule of Stuff says that it takes longer to go from great! to bad than it takes to go from bad to hideous.  Once your clutter reaches critical mass, you are quickly sucked into a black hole of no-space-to-live-in-your-own-home.

That’s why decluttering is a HUGE and MASSIVELY IMPORTANT organizational step.

The second hurdle, however, is much trickier…especially if you “need to see what you have”.

Information in 3D!

Most houses and work spaces are designed to hide things away until you need them which works if you have an intuitive understanding of what you have and where you would put it.

But some people are literally “out of sight, out of mind” meaning that if they can’t see it, it doesn’t exist.  These are the people that buy three staplers because they don’t remember, or can’t find, the other two they own!

If you need to “see” your stuff then trying to conform to traditional organizational methods will only frustrate and dishearten you because those methods are based on putting things away instead of leaving them out.

Remember that “stuff” is simply information or capability that exists in 3D!  Everyone processes information differently and you shouldn’t feel inadequate for being unable to conform.  That doesn’t make you a failure, that makes you a revolutionary!  A noncomformist of stuff.

The Secret to Sustainability

After you’ve tweaked your living space to accommodate your specific organizational style, the key is to remember to put your stuff back where it came from.

This is where almost everyone who falls off the organizational wagon gets left behind!

The key to being organized is to immediately put things away where you’ve decided they belong when you are finished with them.

Like Bob Ross says, it’s your world!  You can do whatever you want with it, whatever makes you happy.  And once you’ve made that decision, you must bolster it through daily action.

Rock your space!

Don’t try to do too much with too much.  Don’t try to force yourself into someone else’s system.  Create your world, in your space, in everyday.

Find your sweet spot!

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