Outer Order, Inner Calm: Declutter and Organize to Make More Room for Happiness

by Gretchen Rubin

By getting rid of the things I don’t use, don’t need, or don’t love, as well as the things that don’t work, don’t fit, or don’t suit, I free my mind—and my shelves—for what I truly value. And that’s true for most people.

Once visual noise is eliminated, I feel more focused and there’s more room in my mind, my schedule, and my space for creative activity. Instead of being sources of stress, my home and my office are places of comfort and energy. I can revel in the beauty of my possessions because I can see

OUTER ORDER ALLOWS ME TO PROJECT A MORE POSITIVE IDENTITY TO MYSELF

AND TO THE WORLD. I feel greater self-possession; I feel more self-assured and capable. Once I’ve cleared away the things I don’t need, use, or love, my surroundings reveal to me, and to others, the things that matter most to me. Careful curation means that my space and my possessions reflect my truest identity.

OUTER ORDER REFLECTS WHAT’S HAPPENING NOW IN MY LIFE. Because I’ve let go of things that once—but no longer—played an active role in my life, I have more time for what’s important right now. No more giant toys from my children’s babyhood, no more rows of thick law books crowding my office bookshelves. I keep a few precious mementos from the old

days, but most of my space is devoted to what’s important now. 8 OUTER ORDER CREATES A SENSE OF POSSIBILITY. When too much stuff piles up, I feel paralyzed. Digging myself out of the mess seems insurmountable, so I stay stuck. When clutter is gone, I have more choices about the future: what to buy, what to do, where and how to live. Because I’m no longer hemmed in by possessions, I feel a sense of renewal.

We’ve achieved the right level of order when we can find what we need, feel good in our space, and don’t feel hindered by stuff. For some people, what looks like disorder works just fine.

Outer Order, Inner Calm lays out the five stages for establishing outer order. First, we make choices—what possessions to keep and what to do with them. Once we’ve cleared through our things, we create order by organizing, repairing, and attending to neglected areas. Next, we reflect on ourselves, to know ourselves—and others—so that we can take those individual insights into account. Then, once the clutter is vanquished, it’s useful to cultivate helpful habits to maintain that order, so the clutter doesn’t return. The fifth and final step is to add beauty to make our surroundings more inviting and comfortable.

If you want a golden rule that will fit everybody, this is it: Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful. WILLIAM MORRIS

Oh! Old rubbish! Old letters, old clothes, old objects that one does not want to throw away. How well nature has understood that, every year, she must change her leaves, her flowers, her fruit and her vegetables, and make manure out of the mementoes of her year! JULES RENARD

Life is barren enough surely with all her trappings; let us therefore be cautious how we strip her. SAMUEL JOHNSON

They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself. ANDY WARHOL

To live in perpetual want of little things is a state, not indeed of torture, but of constant vexation. SAMUEL JOHNSON

In fact, David Ekerdt, professor of sociology and gerontology, observed that after age fifty, the chances that a person will divest himself or herself of possessions diminishes with each decade.

Set all things in their own peculiar place, And know that Order is the greatest Grace. JOHN DRYDEN

Brass shines with constant usage, a beautiful dress needs wearing; leave a house empty, it rots. OVID

IMAGINE YOUR HOME THROUGH THE EYES OF A STRANGER.

Walk around your house as if you were a real estate agent preparing to put it on the market. With a dispassionate eye, evaluate its worth. What aspects might drag down its value and what changes would allow it to command a better price? That junk room could be transformed into an office or an exercise room. Those overloaded shelves could be cleared out. Those burned-out light bulbs could be replaced. Or imagine that you’re someone who’s considering paying for a short-term rental of the space. What would you think of those photos on the Airbnb website? Or imagine that you’re the executor of the estate, or a professional organizer, or a house cleaner called in to bid on a big job. By assuming another identity—a stranger who doesn’t have a personal love for our possessions and space—we foster the detachment that makes it easier to create order.

It is by studying little things that we attain the great art of having as little misery and as much happiness as possible. SAMUEL JOHNSON

PRACTICE MISE-EN-PLACE.

Sophisticated cooks talk about mise-en-place, which is French for “everything in its place.” Mise-en-place describes the preparation that’s done before the actual cooking starts: gathering ingredients and implements, chopping, measuring, and all the rest. Mise-en-place means that a cook has everything at the ready, with no need to make a trip to the store or begin a frantic search for a paring knife. Whenever possible, practice mise-en-place. Creating order is easier when we take the time to set up properly. Is your mail situation out of control? Establish a place where you can find your stamps, envelopes, return-address labels, checkbook, and letter opener. As soon as you’re ready to act, the materials are ready for your use.

The things that we love tell us what we are. THOMAS MERTON

You learn more about a person by living in his house for a week than by years of running into him at social gatherings. PHILLIP LOPATE

ARE YOU A MARATHONER OR A SPRINTER? If you’re gearing up to clear clutter, what appeals to you more: doing a little bit each day until the job is finished or taking a solid chunk of time and blasting through to completion? Marathoners prefer to work at a slow and steady clip, and they don’t like being pressed against deadlines. A marathoner might decide to tackle clutter for thirty minutes each day, or to clear one shelf or drawer at a time, until all the clutter is gone. Sprinters prefer to work in bursts of intense effort, and they often welcome the pressure of a deadline. A sprinter might choose to go to the office on a Saturday morning for a massive single effort to clear out a desk, or to invite guests to stay for the next weekend as a way to create clutter-clearing pressure. There’s no right or wrong way to clear clutter.

A true home is the finest ideal of man. FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT

Or as writer Flannery O’Connor put it, “Accepting oneself does not preclude an attempt to become better.”