I used to be a complete mess. It was reasonably legendary.
- I remember walking into my college dorm room Sophomore year and realizing that in no place could one see the floor, and that I could rest a book on the pile of clothing 3 feet tall next to my bed.
- I once had a microwave in my dorm that I used once or twice – then had to throw out due to mold.
- A pumpkin on-top of my monitor from Halloween eventually rotted right in front of my eyes.
- A constant refrain from roommates of ‘Ben doesn’t do anything’ is common.
- My carpet looks dark blue. It’s light blue. My dog Lyra has dark fur. This one is very recent…
Horror stories aside – I found there to be numerous disadvantages to being a mess.
- Hard to find anything. ’Where is my wallet?’, ‘Where are last years taxes?’ etc.
- Embarrassing – friends, women, etc. didn’t appreciate the mess.
- Did having tons of pet hair, dust, etc. around everywhere impact my sinuses and allergies? Probably…
- Most importantly – I believe the general clutter and messiness created a blanket level of stress that was constantly gnawing on me. I just didn’t like looking at the mess, always felt that I should clean it, but never did. Yuck.
Do people who are ‘Fucking Awesome‘ have trouble finding their wallet as they throw random items around their room all while trying to avoid the food items that are rotting in various places? Nope. Not even close.
Now that is fucking awesome.
Clean. Minimal. Everything serving a purpose. Everything in it’s right place. Bliss.
I’ve made major progress becoming neat and tidy. Here’s how.
Own less stuff
There is a whole movement around minimalism. I love this tag-line:
‘Becoming Minimalist: Living with less becomes sexy again.’
Damn right.
I had way too stuff. Still do – but it’s getting better. I have been routinely purging items – clothes I rarely wear, sentimental stuff that isn’t important enough to keep, books I’ve read and won’t re-read. A great example of minimalism is the Kindle. Unlimited books -> one sleek device.
How much stuff do I have? I took a pickup-truck full of stuff out to Wyoming and left about the same amount at my place in Boston. Much of this stuff is gear – which for me is hard to be minimal on. I have camping gear that I only use a few times a year – but I need that stuff to enjoy camping when I want to.
I still have work to do here:
- Save only unread books that I plan to read and highly important/sentimental pieces.
- Keep replacing clothing with fewer pieces of more versatile and better-made/longer-lasting stuff. For instance I’ve been considering replacing a ton of t-shirts with two hardy wool t-shirts.
- I’ve still got a couple caches of stuff at my parents house and in my apartment that I don’t use. I’ll need to go through an either trash or donate 99% of this stuff.
- Buy less stuff myself. Tell people not to buy me stuff unless I’ve specifically asked for it or it’s consumable (food, books, experiences, etc.)
Just thinking about continuing to get rid of stuff makes me grin. But I won’t take it too far. I DO need 3 pairs of skis, 5-6 technical jackets, etc. – gear is sacred 
One tactic I’m thinking about is having less physical space to put stuff. A small apartment with a small closet would force me to be judicious about my stuff. I also like the idea of a large space but not much stuff in it – minimalist style.
Make a Habit of Putting Things in Their Place Immediately
Obvious – right? But instead of walking in the house and dumping stuff on the floor – I take the minute or two to put things back where they belong. Easier to find next time, less cluttered, etc.
To do this everything needs to have a place. If something doesn’t have a place – I make one for it or use the trash bin.
This also coves food prep. I clean things or put them in the dishwasher immediately after I use them now. This has replaced a pile of 15+ dishes that used to accumulate in my room. But I’m not crazy about this – bacon grease from breakfast can be saved in the pan for frying up veggies at lunch…
Use the Space In-between Things
I’ve been using the Pomodoro technique to great effect to get things done. This technique dictates 25 minutes of work followed by a mandatory 3-5 minute break. I have begun to ingrain in my behavior a quick clean during this break. Could be to tidy up my work area and put things away, or walk to the kitchen and make a quick check and clean. This works miracles. Once your space is clean it really only takes a few minutes a day to keep it that way. This routine helps me keep on top of things.
Schedule Cleaning
My room in Boston was covered in dog hair. Lyra sheds like crazy and it’s a pain to fix that.
By scheduling a few tasks this has massively improved. I use this for cleaning tasks that don’t fit in 3-5 minute chunks and get automatically fixed by ‘putting things in their place.’
I use a digital tickler file (Google Tasks checked weekly during my weekly review) for the following cleaning-related events:
- Brush Lyra every two week
- Clip her nails once a month
- etc.
- I should add more things here – like a bi-monthly car clean and wash, etc.
Use Professional Help
We hired a maid service to come in once every two week and vacuum, clean the kitchen and bathrooms, etc. This doesn’t replace the need to keep things in their place and do your own dishes – but it saves me a few hours a week of work that I otherwise either I wouldn’t do or would do at the expense of things that only I can accomplish (like personal development, work, or fun).
This Kicks Ass
I feel great about this. Clean room. Clean kitchen. Clean car. I know where my stuff is. Wonderful.
I still lapse at times – it’s usually either exhaustion or an unwillingness to clear a mess someone else left. If I remain physically vital most of the time and surround myself with clean, respectful folk most of the time – I’ll be ok.
Cleaning up your mess is highly recommended
