Organization Tip
Manageable Chaos & Maintainable Entropy
There was a point when no matter how many times I organize and and declutter and deep clean my room, it would just go back to being messy. It was a cycle of perfectly organized and unbearably chaotic with no in-between. That's when I found this idea, borrowing some Physics concepts (for I am a Physicist, through and through)
The key is finding the balance between:
Maintainable entropy: No matter how neat and perfectly organized you set your desk/room up, it always gets a little messy in 2-3 days. When you use your space, when you work with your things, it is bound to get disordered. And that's your maintainable entropy (a.k.a measure of disorder). You don't have to keep your space perfectly organized, just maintain it at this level of entropy. It's unrealistic to live in a room and maintain it like nobody touches anything. So embrace the entropy!
Manageable chaos: This is the maximum level of 'mess' that you can work with. How messy can your room get before it affects your mood or productivity. This is often less than the level where you can't even sit/sleep in your room without nudging away things - that's beyond your workable level. That is your manageable chaos. So find that level and when you seem to cross it, organize your room immediately. If it's within your level, and you have time, organize; if you don't have time, just maintain at that level and organize as soon as you get time.
When you try to keep everything pristine and perfect, you get too tired. And that's when the mess builds up and chaos reigns!
Perfection is the enemy of done.
So if you maintain your room in the maintainable entropy level, and keep it under your manageable level of chaos - your room will be consistently organized and neat! 🌻
