You know that lovely feeling you get when you’ve just organized your shoes, decluttered the filing cabinet, or streamlined your vintage doily collection?
*insert plaintive voice* Why does it never last? Why does the chaos always return? Why can’t I stay ahead of clutter and disorganization?
The answers, respectively, are that it can, it doesn’t have to, and there is a way.
In other words, backsliding is not inevitable. You can prevent clutter creep.
By using my simple ‘OCI-OGO‘ formula, you can preserve all the gains you make any time you declutter or organize anything.
Even if you have yet to declutter, you can still use OCI-OGO. It will stop current clutter from getting worse, which will make the job easier when you get around to it.
Warning:
This strategy is life changing. Once you know it, there’s no turning back. So decide now if you want to read on. Because once you do, you’ll owe it to yourself to use OCI-OGO.
Ready?
OCI-OGO – How To Stay Clutter-Free For Life
OCI-OGO stands for One Comes In – One Goes Out. It’s pronounced oh-see-oh-go.
OCI-OGO means that every time something new comes into your home, car, handbag, briefcase, closet, or life – something old goes out.
Here are some examples:
- When you buy a new item of clothing, you donate or discard an old one from your closet.
TIP: Only have enough hangers for your existing clothes – that way you’ll have to get rid of old things to make room for new ones. - When you buy new shoes, you donate or discard an old pair.
- When the kids receive a new toy, they give an old one to a child who doesn’t have as much as they do (an excellent habit to teach them).
TIP: Have a donation basket for kids’ clothes and toys and encourage the kids to make regular contributions. - When you receive the latest magazine in your subscription, you automatically put the previous one in the recycle bin.
TIP: If you think, ‘But I haven’t read it yet!’, ask yourself whether you want to feel pressured to read everything, or to be happy and calm. Let it go. - When you buy a new book, DVD, or CD, you donate an old one to the library.
TIP: If you buy a lot of books, DVDs, or CDs, then have a dedicated library donation box. - When you file your latest statements or papers, you discard, archive, or shred out-of-date papers from your files.
TIP: File papers in reverse chronological order so you can easily remove the oldest ones from the back. - When you buy a new cosmetic, you toss out an old one.
TIP: Make-up has a shelf life. Use it, and then be happy to lose it. - When you receive a gift, you find something you no longer use or love and give that away.
TIP: Or re-gift it to stay OCI-OGO-neutral. - When you buy a kitchen gadget or utensil, you donate or discard at least one old one.
TIP: Having fewer, but more useful, utensils will make it easier to find what you need and use what you have. - When the kids get a new backpack, drink bottle, game, or whatever, they discard or donate an old one.
You get the idea.
And the idea is simple: the net amount of stuff in your life never grows.
How cool is that! You get to enjoy new things but without any increase in disorganization or clutter. You keep stuff flowing through your life rather than letting your space become a quagmire of crapola.
Will You Adopt OCI-OGO?
Now doesn’t OCI-OGO sound like a good way to live? Will you decide to become an OCI-OGO-er today?
Leave a comment and make a commitment!
Note: A version of this article originally appeared in Get Organized Newsletter.
Any suggestions for a good amount of clothes for a professional woman who also stays at home with a preschooler 2 days a week plus weekends? I would love to get a good working wardrobe for both of my lives 🙂
I have hundreds of pictures downloaded onto my computer…. what do you suggest I do to organize them? I keep waiting for the “someday ” to come so I can print them. But now if I printed them all it would cost a fortune..please help.
Do you back them up on an external hard drive? I learned the hard way when our computer crashed and I paid $300 to get them back. I’ve made photo albums at Walgreens & Walmart. Pick a year download your pics and you’ll have them in a book for about $30. Much quicker and cheaper then printing and scrapbooking.
thanks
why print them? Organize them online using one of the free sites and you can view them anytime you want without the clutter. if you want to print at some point you can also do that. Backing up on a hard drive or online using a second service is also important just in case something happens to the first site
Such a great idea! I love it & I am going to try to get my family on board with this.
I like the idea!
I love this strategy and will really try to make this a habit! I too can’t believe the amount of stuff that comes into my house or is created by my kids that I have no idea what to do with! Thanks for your great idea, Michele, of one box to put stuff in and if it doesn’t find a home it must not be worth keeping! I have some hope!
Let me know how it goes Rene. 🙂
Let me know how it goes Rene. 🙂
I cannot believe the amount of “stuff” that comes into our home (and my purse) that doesn’t have an immediate home. Pieces or parts of toys, things that just don’t belong anywhere, etc. then there are all the kids things from school. Yeesh!
Julia why don’t you keep one medium sized box for all this stuff and at the end of every month get rid of anything still in there.
Julia why don’t you keep one medium sized box for all this stuff and at the end of every month get rid of anything still in there.
OMG! This sounds impossible, I am such a saver and paper is the worst. I would like to do it, but am afraid I will fail.
Frances it doesn’t have to be perfect. Doing OCI-OGO imperfectly is still better than not doing it at all!
PS You might like this post Frances: http://www.getorganizedwizard.com/blog/2010/11/are-you-an-over-saver/
I know exactly how you feel! I thought I was the only person who thought that way! But with a little determination and courage we can do it!!
You sure can Lori – and doing it IMPERFECTLY is still way better than not doing it at all. 🙂
You sure can Lori – and doing it IMPERFECTLY is still way better than not doing it at all. 🙂