Minimalism and productivity – 4 tips on getting your life organized

One of the “cult” movements was one where Japanese Marie Kondo pitched about tidying up everything, and having a structured system to it. On paper, that sounded like a good thing.

After Kondo-san gave birth to her third child, she finally realized that it was probably impossible to keep everything at home or at work the way she likes it. Priorities took centerstage.

However, the real philosophy behind minimalism is not about tidying, but about the mindset. Don’t be naive to imagine we, mere mortals, can “master” chaos and life. We do not have the superlative and absolute control the Divine has. We can only accept what comes, and deal with it with as much humility and grace as possible.

4 tips on getting your life organized

1) Acceptance

A messy place may be a sign of genius, just as Steve Jobs, Prof Albert Einstein, and Mark Twain were. Accept the chaos in life with humility, and embrace it.

2) Organized

There is a meaning of “organized chaos”, so as long as you KNOW exactly where your things are, there is no reason to organize things artificially.

3) Usefulness

Sieve through your things and discern as brutally as you can, if certain things have long past their usefulness (or expired), or if some things merely have sentimental value and no usefulness. Be ready and mentally prepared to throw things away or gift them (if they are pristine and useful to others). Remember the age-old Chinese saying, “we are born with nothing, and we will die with nothing”.

4) Scheduled

Whenever you can, just as you would handle personal and business accounting, tend to small organizing tasks. Don’t wait till you have a mountain of trash to start organizing – it will overwhelm you to inaction. Take small steps to clean unneccesary things out.

We are all human, and to hoard some things is not abnormal. We just need to make sure we don’t go overboard in hoarding, or overboard in tidying things.