52 Weeks of decluttering - week five, part two!

I am taking a break mid-way through my kitchen organising and thought I would answer the prompts on this week's thread at I'm an Organizing Junkie


Questions to ponder:
1.  Name ONE reason you want to get organized.  It will be neat to see the variety of answers.
I have read a few other people's responses to this and observed a common theme of wanting to be "in control". My answer is different and I wonder if that is a reflection on my ten-year journey of organising?


I want to get be organised because:

• it allows me to focus on doing stuff, not being delayed in the process. 
• it removes the pressure for me to have sole responsibility, by allowing others to find/use things
• it reduces mental confusion and physical effort when I have a health flare-up
• we can use what we have without duplicating unnecessarily, better for our environment (personal and global)

2.  What did you organize last week & were you happy with the way it turned out?
I will skip back to the week before, because last week doesn't count.
I organised the hall and linen cupboards and am really happy with the result. And the change of labels for the towels was successful in modifying my cleaner's confusion between bathrooms!

3.  Have you had any breakthroughs or a-ha moments yet?  I would love to hear them!
I have been reminded that the main reason for clutter is having too much of everything. I could never be a minimalist, but it really helps to limit our options to that which we love or use. Our wardrobes become cluttered with clothes we don't wear, we have linen we don't want to use; the kitchen contains food we won't eat and tools we won't use. But we cling onto them because we don't want to be wasteful or we fear not being able to get things again. This mind-set has been passed down to our modern lives from the stories of the Great Depression and two World Wars. But we live in fear of something that will probably never happen and it prevents us enjoying the things we do have, which get trapped amongst the stuff we shouldn't have. 


We also cling to things that represent who we used to be or who we would like to be - for example, I have just moved our wine glasses from an eye level shelf to an out-of-the-way top shelf: I don't drink because of my medication and I don't have friends around to drink like I did a few years ago, so why did they have prime storage real estate and the mugs and cups I use constantly for tea jostled for space? It took maybe ten minutes and now the person I am right now is represented in this cupboard we use every day:" I am a person who drinks tea everyday and has glassware for special occasions like family celebrations."


We also hang on to things people gave us, as gifts or hand-me-downs, even when we don't like/use them.


Anyway, break-time is over, so it back to the coal-face!!!!!