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“Your home is a garbage processing center.” Jerry Seinfeld

I was recently reminded of the many costs of disorganization and how, typically, we are creating our own nightmare of disorganization.

Sometimes we are disorganized because we lack the skills to be organized or maybe a life transition has thrown us off track.  Another common cause of disorganization is being too willing to commit to things for which we really don’t have time.  (I was reminded of this one recently.  I asked for a volunteer, a woman said “yes” and then had someone else call me later to tell me that she couldn’t take on the role.  For help setting boundaries, try this post.)

But tell me if this makes sense to you. We shop, shop and then shop again. We consider it a sport, a hobby or therapy.  We spend more time shopping for clothes and shoes than we do for food and food is actually a necessary!

How does disorganization costs us?  Let me count the ways…

  • Over purchasing
  • Duplicate purchases
  • Storage products to house our purchasing mistakes
  • Off-site storage facilities
  • Junk haul away services
  • Wear and tear on our cars that don’t fit in our garages because they’re full of stuff we don’t need or use
  • Time spent organizing your things repeatedly
  • Time spent hiring services to help you with your things
  • Time spent maintaining your things (cleaning, repairs)
  • Mental stress of a cluttered home or office
  • Relationship stress
  • Lost sleep due to stress
  • Lost time due to misplaced items
  • Lost time shopping for or recreating misplaced items
  • Time lost with family and friends because of all of the above
  • Missed opportunities
  • Lost sales
  • Lower profit margins

If even a few of these bullets sound like your life, it’s time to take the next step and return your house to being a peaceful home instead of a garbage processing center.  Simplicity will free you to do greater things in life!

For more thoughts on the real costs of your shopping habits, check out the link.

Which bullets above speak to you?