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Minimalism is the secret of being organized

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Dana had stumbled onto the open secret of home organizing: Most “cleaning” and “organizing” is actually decluttering. Surfaces look neater when there is less stuff on them, and it’s easier to clean when you’re not wading through old Tupperware and tinsel.

Even professional organizers will tell you that minimalism is the secret weapon of the organized. “The biggest impediment to having people put things away is lack of space,” says Nicole Anzia, owner of a home-organizing business in DC called Neatnik

The first step of Nicole’s process is typically purging. To stay organized, Nicole told me, you have to “continually be getting rid of stuff

Do people feel guilty about the seeming wastefulness of this stuff-culling? Oh yes, and that’s one of the biggest obstacles. But think of it this way: “Either you’re gonna throw it away, or somebody’s gonna throw it away,” Nicole told me. She paused. “Like when you die, somebody is going to come into your house and throw everything away.” So you might as well get it over with

But the stories of the newly conscientious people I interviewed suggest that you will accomplish more if your goals are more specific. It will be easier to clean if you have fewer belongings. You’ll be more punctual if you are less overscheduled. After a life spent hacking through a thicket of tasks and tchotchkes, minimalism can feel like reaching a sunlit clearing—a sense of achievement, but with space to breathe.