72
Are you fighting the battle of the bulge? That is, closets bulging with too many clothes?
This was the case with a local executive. After organizing his office, his wife asked me to help him at home, for as she put it, "He has a lot of stuff."
The "stuff" turned out to be clothes. The first of two large closets contained knit polo shirts — hundreds of them. He agreed that he had his favorites, and didn’t wear them all. (The 80/20 Rule has practically universal application, even to our wardrobes. For 80 percent of the time, most of us wear just 20 percent of what’s in our closet.)
He was ready to get rid of some of the shirts, saying they were packed so tightly that when he took one out to wear, it was wrinkled and needed ironing first. We emptied the closet, and one by one I held up a shirt and asked, "Keep or give?"
He was very decisive and easily identified the ones he no longer wanted. That day we purged 75 shirts. His closet then contained shirts he really liked and wore. And each hung freely, not packed tight. Now he could easily pick out the shirt he wanted to wear, and it wouldn’t need ironing first.
If you want to win the battle of your bulging closet:
» Be frustrated enough to purge. What pain or problem does your bulging closet cause you?
» Realize you don’t wear or need everything in your closet.
» Take everything out or, if time is limited, take out only a section.
» One by one, make a decision on each item.
» Bag the excess, take an inventory for tax purposes and move them out.
» You’ll have more space and an easier time dressing. Purging is mutually beneficial — for you and the recipients of your excess.
Was this client able to maintain a streamlined closet? I’ll give an update in the next column.
Ruth Wong owns Organization Plus. Her column runs twice each month. Contact her by e-mail at orgplushawaii@hawaiiantel.net.
