March in New York is a mess. Winter and Spring play tug-o-war throughout the month. The temperatures climb into the high thirties but it’s snowing or it snows during the colder nights and melts by noon. The upside is my walkway and driveway, clear themselves. The downside is the unpaved ground is either mud or frozen mud and you can never be completely sure which until you’ve stepped on it … or in it.
During Winter the trees are bare, the grass looks dead, and the sky is mostly overcast. Everything is a dull brownish gray. Now, with the lengthening days, color is slowly creeping back in and it’s always such a joy to see the first buds poke their heads up.
I find myself feeling the urge to purge. It happens every year about this time. The promise of warmer days, of sunshine and open windows, makes me want to clear out my house and start fresh.
Several of my friends have felt the same itch to clean and organize and they have gone deep with the Konmari Method. That is so not me. I have no quarrel with Ms. Kondo. I’m a different kind of person. The very thought of piling up all my clothes in one spot makes me so anxious I can’t imagine actually doing it. Faced with a pile of stuff from all over the house, I would probably never start.
What works for me is a compartmentalized approach. I’ve been clearing and organizing my way around my kitchen. I started by the entry door and on the first day did the first shelf on my right. Then I stopped. That’s the important part of not getting overwhelmed: stop at a predetermined place. Tell yourself what you are going to do, then do it, and then stop.
It’s easy to get caught up in the momentum and plow through shelf after shelf. I’ve done that. If you have too you know what happens. You run out of steam before you’ve finished and frequently have left yourself a mess. This is what keeps you from starting again. You think the job is going to eat your life and leave you with a mess. Don’t do that to yourself.
Pick a job that has boundaries or set boundaries. One cabinet, one shelf, or one hour’s work, and stick to that. Once that cabinet or shelf, are done or that hour is up, stop working. The next day do the next one thing. You will be surprised how much you can get done in an hour and you will feel so much better about doing it again when you don’t let the job eat up all your energy and time.
We’re getting some stupid March snow again and then it will be warm, then cold, then rain and who knows what else. I will be spending part of each day in March, prepping for spring, one shelf at a time. If the Konmari craze doesn’t spark joy*, maybe the way I do things will work for you.
*I do like her spark joy angle. It can be quite useful when letting things go.