putting things away

I haven't always had the habit of putting things away - away to where they properly go.  I am really good at moving things.  From spot A to spot B to spot C, but never to spot this-is-where-you-belong.  Examples:

When brushing my teeth I pull the toothpaste out of the cupboard and then set it on the edge of the sink or the counter.  It may sit there for a while - then when I "organize" I put it back in the cupboard where I originally got it.

When removing shoes I leave them where I remove them.  Which usually isn't in the shoes-go-here location.

I'll put a dirty pan from one side of the sink to the other.

The bag of almonds that I just got out of the cupboard is placed on the counter and left there.

Socks left on the bathroom floor, coat draped over the back of the couch, magazine lying open on the floor where I was when last reading through it...

I think you get the picture.

While you are getting the picture - please note that I am a clean person and not some loathing pig in the mire.  It's just that while I have been quite clean - I have not always been extremely neat. And for my mom's sake - I will say that she did teach us kids to put things back (she's nodding her head right now and saying, "yes I did!!!")

I have been noticing over the past year that it seemed like I was always organizing, always putting things back from spot A-Z, always cleaning.  It seemed that's all I did with my life!  Enough.

So over the past month or so - since I moved to my new chez - I have been rather vigilant in this area of my life.  I have been putting things back where they belong - and doing it promptly and consciously.  I have been neat.  It is such a relief and it only takes five extra steps here - two more minutes there - one brain cell more in being just that much more disciplined.  And I am finding that I am cleaning and organizing and arranging less and less and less.  It's like a revelation.  Now one thing that I do believe, in order to be neat, is that everything needs a place where it does actually belong or it will always be left out - moved around - etc.  So ample storage space is necessary and then being neat and organized within that storage space is vital as well.  It's no good to open a drawer or a cupboard door or your closet and find a disarray of who-knows-what.  Sure, we have all stuffed our piles of clothes under the bed as someone coming to visit just pulled up outside, or pushed all that nonsense that's all around the front room into the nearest closet, hoping that during the visit you won't need to access that space.  Maybe you haven't done this, but I surely have!

But I am happily a changed person - and it's great.  I am not perfect at it yet - but just give me a few more weeks of consistently and consciously restoring everything to it's proper place and then I still won't be perfect at it - but I will be that much closer.



 ***And if you have more stuff then space....maybe you should consider reversing that.  Time to de-junk or creatively create more space.***