Hung Up on Hangers: question your beliefs about chores to find organizing success

Last year, my client (let’s call her Jodie) asked me to help her organize her clothes.  She had a huge mound of clothing on the floor, and a few items hanging in the closet.  She couldn’t find clothes she knew she had, and she absolutely hated putting clothes on hangers.  She spent a lot of money buying new clothes rather than dealing with the giant pile of ‘failure’ in her bedroom.

Sort clothes into categories so you can see how many duplicates you have.

Our first step was to sort the clothes so she could see how many of each item she had.  That made it easier to purge the excess. 

The bigger problem was that her system was failing her, and she felt like it was her fault.  She had a lot of guilt and shame around her inabillity to keep her clothes organized.   

Jodie's bin system for clothes - no hangers!

Jodie is a very visual person and loved the idea of seeing all her clothes at one glance.  We created a system of bins and hooks to store most of her clothes.  The only items left hanging in the closet were a few fancy dresses and shirts. 

She can now see all her clothing at once and most important for her – no hangers!  She has kept up with the system for about a year now. This victory gave her the motivation to tackle other organizing projects without help.  Letting go of the hangers was the key to her success. 

Maybe hangers are not your problem.  What chores do you dread? Why do you believe that this horrible way is the only way?  Could you do it differently? 

My hang-up is making the bed.  I despise making my bed every day.  I used to feel guilty when I didn’t do it.  I finally asked myself why it is necessary.  If the sheets are still tucked in and I can get back into bed at night and be comfortable, isn’t that good enough?  YES!  I let go of my unfounded belief that daily bed-making makes me a good person.  Now I leave my bed unmade most days.  Of course, if the sheets get really tangled, I’ll make the bed.  That is needed for the bed to function well.  But more days than not, I get out of bed and walk away.  I then can carry more energy and positivity into another area of life that matters more to me.