I am fascinated by the concept of "good enough" and how it relates to being organized and our many attempts to be what we perceive as "well-organized". What does being organized mean to you? Most likely not the same as it does to your co-workers, your spouse, your best friend or your children.
What if, instead of constantly striving to be more organized, better organized or even, heaven forbid, perfectly organized, we strove for "good enough". According to Sarah Hampson, author of the article, The Secret to Happiness? Live a Good Enough Life, "... when you don't expect much, when you manage the ideas of what you think your life should be, you can be pleasantly surprised - and grateful - for the good fortune that comes your way."
Somehow this sounds like lowering expectations, reducing the standards of what is acceptable, and seems to me like settling for mediocrity. Not acceptable to someone like me who is a recovering perfectionist and still battling with doing my "best" instead of striving for "perfect". So the concept of "good enough" doesn't sit well with me, but I know for many of you, it might be just what you need...
- If your kitchen drawers are organized so that you can find what you need but you don't have those fancy dividers that you saw in a friends' kitchen, that might just be good enough?
- If your clothes are all hanging up but not on matching hangers is that good enough?
- If your papers are all off the floor and in tidy piles on your desk where you can put your fingers on what you need, that might just be good enough?
- If your email inbox is down to 50 messages, instead of 500, maybe that is good enough?
I like the idea of "good enough" as opposed to perfectly organized as it does allow us to lower our expectations of what organized means and move towards a level of organization that is achievable. I think this concept is especially important for those who don't like to spend their time organizing or, even worse, find it difficult to know when to stop organizing.
What we see in magazines and on television is often not realistic and perhaps that is where some of our expectations of what organized means come from? Have you ever noticed the desk in the corner of the living room on a makeover show with a computer on it but not a single cord in sight nor a stitch of paper - no matter how organized you are your space will never look like that so perhaps lowering your expectations is exactly what the doctor ordered!
Everything in life seems to come back to deciding what matters most. As long as your home and office are organized "enough" so that you can function effectively and enjoy your space, forget about what others may think and go with what works for you. I think the summer is the perfect time to try some "good enough" thinking - at least for you my dear readers even if not for me!
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