Choosing Quality over Quantity

Tip of the Week, July 10, 2005

Often, one of the most challenging things about getting (and staying) organized is weeding out unwanted and unused items so that the things we're left with are those we know to be useful, believe to be beautiful, or truly love.

Getting rid of things isn't easy, especially as we live in a culture that tends to value abundance and the supposed comfort it brings. For many, memories of times spent living close to the bone--such as the Great Depression, wartime, or a poor childhood--make the desire to hold on to large quantities of things even stronger.

In both my work with clients and my own experience, though, I see time and again that making the effort to focus on what's truly meaningful and useful results in less stress, a greater feeling of control, and, paradoxically, a sense of a fuller life.

At its most basic level, choosing quality over quantity generally means that our lives will be richer if we opt for things, relationships, and experiences that are fulfilling and special, rather than opting for simply more of everything. Here are some ideas on how to make this practice work in the realm of organizing:

• If your mailbox fills with countless magazines and newsletters each month--many of which end up in piles you never get around to reading--do an audit: choose the periodicals you really enjoy reading (rather than the ones you think you should read) and cancel the rest.
• Rather than keeping every greeting card you receive or every photo you take, spend the time to go through them, setting aside only those that really have meaning to you and getting rid of the rest. If you can no longer describe what a photo depicts or remember who a card is from, chances are good you don't need to keep it around.
• Take a look at your bookshelves. If they're storing books you have no interest in ever reading again, couldn't get through the first time, or are keeping only out of a sense of obligation, consider doing some weeding. A library, literacy program, or hospital will be glad to take your unwanted volumes off your hands, and the books you truly love will have a chance to shine.
• Are you afraid to open your closet because of the rows of clothes and piles of shoes that lurk within? If you're like most of us, you wear 20% of your clothing 80% of the time, which means that the majority of it is doing little more than taking up space. Set aside the things you love, wear often, and feel truly comfortable in, and then take a hard look at what's left. What among those pieces can go?
  
  Put these ideas to work wherever you feel like you're drowning in stuff--your kitchen, coat closet, basement, attic, garage, linen closet, office, or family room. Remember, the idea isn't to deprive yourself, but rather to clear out the things you simply tolerate to make more space for the things you really love.
  
  Choosing quality over quantity doesn't mean that your home needs to be full of expensive stuff, or that an abundance of anything is necessarily bad. Rather, it means that opting for "better"--however you define it--is often preferable to opting for "more," just as one slice of lovingly homemade chocolate cake tends to beat out a whole box of cellophane-wrapped, mass-produced snack cakes.
  
  Surround yourself with the stuff you find most beautiful, most useful, and most meaningful and see if decreasing the quantity of stuff in your world doesn't just bump up the quality of your life.