Where are my glasses?
Where are my slippers?
Where are my clothes?
These are some of the common day to day questions Kate used to ask me in the past before we started on this journey to minimalism. Subconsciously, I would reply to her, “Do you remember where you last seen it?” or “Please do not always place your stuff all over.”
Locating stuff might seem to be a daily norm to many but if you think about it, this happens often when you do not have a designated spot for putting your items, or you tend to randomly toss your stuff all over the place. In other words, you are disorganized.
I first learnt about having a designated place for all my stuffs when I was in conscription. During then, we have regular routine checks, also called “standby bed”, which simply means that the platoon commanders will conduct routine checks on your personal wardrobe to see if everything is in order. This mean that there is a a designated location for every single item, including your toiletries, clothes, rifle, personal stuff etc.
The rationale of doing so is to instill a sense of order and discipline among all young soldiers. Occasionally, the platoon commanders do make surprise checks, and I was one of the few that had little issues arising from these checks. However, the same could not be said for the rest of my bunk mates.
Perhaps it was one of the positive habit formed from then, I always try my best to assign a designated location for all my stuff and to put things back to their original place. Having said that, there is still a limit to that once you start accumulating stuff. Having decluttered previously, the process of decluttering and organising has never been easier. It’s always harder to take the first plunge. But once you made it, you will find it a lot easier going forward. Also, lesser stuff means you have less to organize.
Besides at home, I am trying to be more organise at my work place as well. I realised that I could actually function more efficiently with a more organised work station. I threw and shredded a lot of unnecessary documents and try to work towards a paperless environment. This is still a work in progress, but I guess the initial benefit has been evident as I feel a lot calmer and less panicky as compared to the past when my office table is quite messy (probably because I couldn’t locate my materials and everything seems to be in a mess).
You will become calmer as you know exactly where your stuff are. You will also gain more time as you do not spent a lot of time in locating them. A well-organized environment means a well-organized mind. And that leads to lesser distractions with better focus and more time on the important things.