Home Organization Pitfalls: How to Deal with Them per Type

For as many To Do lists, organizational calendars and iPhone alerts you have, you are still a human being, and have as many (if not more) organizational pitfalls and snares to encounter in your lifespan. One cannot be organized 100 percent of the time; it’s just not possible. Life happens, and neatness and organization go by the wayside. We understand this, which is why we wanted to devote an article to how to deal with these pitfalls by personality type. What are the pitfalls? We are focusing on four specific ones, but there are many more (if you buy our book, you’ll see the comprehensive list, as well as how to deal with each one).

Clutter

We all know it; we’ve all got it. The question is, how do we deal with it and maintain what it takes to keep up with it? No matter what type you are, you need a system. One that works for you time and again so that clutter becomes more manageable and less of a major issue.

Classics: We all know how you feel about clutter — you despise it. You stuff it into any drawer, cabinet, nook or cranny you can find, because ‘out of sight, out of mind’, are we right? Because you love scheduling so much and live by your day planners, we suggest that you schedule regular purges so things don’t start spilling out of said drawers and cabinets.

Funs: Certain Funs are excellent declutterers. Others, not so much. These types need to purge when they are inspired to do so, or at least annually. We like to use the phrase, ‘When in doubt, throw it out!’, which means, get ruthless with clutter you’re even remotely unsure about keeping.

Organics and Smarts: These folks have visual memories, and need to see things in order to remember them. Thus, there is actually a method to their madness when it comes to piles and things that a Classic type might deem ‘clutter’. For these types, we say the following: enlist the help of a friend to purge clutter at least twice a year. If you want to go all out, hire professional organizers (us!) to come in and help you not only purge your extraneous clutter, but teach you ways to maintain the newly cleansed spaces you’ve created.

Moving

Moving, they say, is among the top most stressful life experiences to go through. It’s up there with divorce and death of a loved one. Might seem odd, but when you think about how many moving pieces (pun intended) there are to coordinate, the sheer magnitude of the project will seem insurmountable. Luckily, we have advice for each of the four personality types on this topic.

Classics: Because they are naturally organized, almost hyper organized, the place where these types will encounter difficulty is when things don’t go exactly according to their well thought-out plans and schedules (and this will, inevitably, happen at some point in the process). Make sure you leave a bit of psychic space for mishaps and don’t let over detailed planning get you caught up in a time vacuum — sometimes the only way to pack is to throw stuff into a bag and get it into the truck.

Funs: Give yourselves a deadline from start to finish. If unpacking is taking too long, invite some friends over, make some drinks, put on some music, and have the best unpacking party the new neighborhood has ever seen (keep the drinkies to a minimum to encourage productivity at first though — no one wants to clean up broken glass in a new home straight after moving in!).

Organics and Smarts: Use your strengths and avoid becoming mired in the details. You guys are big picture folks, so think that way at this time. Make master plans and break things down by To Do lists (lots of them). Don’t be afraid to make too many lists, and make sure to just keep moving forward, no matter what, keeping your eyes on the big picture finale.

Divorce

Classics: Just breathe and purge, purge and breathe.

Funs: Because you can, purge as though your life depended on it. Get rid of anything you possibly can, and especially anything sentimental or reminiscent of your ex. Invite friends over and have them bring sage to cleanse the space after the purging has finished.

Organics and Smarts: Take on as many projects and plans as you can during this transitional time to keep your mind off of your heartache. Keep your eyes on the future and not on the past. Make exciting plans and think about ways to execute them.

Death of a Loved One

Classics: If you must, get a storage unit and store everything in there until you have the strength and backup to go in and purge that storage unit. If you have the strength and backup to forgo the unit and just dive in and begin purging straight from the house, do it. It’ll feel better in the long-term, and you folks are not about instant gratification.

Funs: Like Classics, if you can’t deal with the sight of your loved one’s possessions straight away, it’s fine. Put it all into storage and deal with it when you’re ready. Bring a friend if it makes it easier when the time comes.

Organics and Smarts: Grieve for as long as it takes. Get the storage unit until you can’t afford it anymore, or you’re ready to tackle the arduous process of cleaning it out and purging the items from the unit.

These are only a few life-changing events that might occur, and only a few examples of solutions for each, but there are more examples in our book. Perhaps the most important thing to remember about how to navigate through these events is to just be yourself. Handle things in a way that feels best to YOU, and you’ll be successful, and get through it gracefully on some days, not as gracefully on others. Accept that this will be the pattern, have some grace for yourself, and you’ll get through whatever it is just fine.