Messy But Organized

June 6, 2025

I was laughing to myself as I was looking at a mess of cords by my front door. Every night when we take the dogs for a walk, since there aren’t many streetlights or sidewalks where we walk, we always use a lot of rechargeable flashlights, light up dog collars, and other reflective gear, along with some training devices that also need to be charged. Each night, I know exactly where my lights are, and they are all charged. It made me think about how some things can look messy, but have all the necessary contents, and other things can look very organized, but be missing some crucial elements. In this post, I’ll talk about what being organized really means.

You Have What You Need

Since I was a kid, I always liked to be prepared. I was the kid that always had chapstick, Kleenex, a pack of gum, my school supplies, my homework, and the lunch I packed for myself. I was a responsible kid. The oldest of 4, it was important to me to feel like I could take care of myself. Sure, my backpack and room could get messy, but I always had the essentials close at hand. Being organized means that you keep stock of the essential items in your life. You pay attention to what you have and what you will need, and you make decisions so that you’ll have your bases covered. You’ve got systems in place to replenish your stock when important items get low. You know you can’t always anticipate all your needs, but you can rest peacefully knowing that the universe will help fill in the gaps, because you’ve done your best to be conscientious and responsible. You don’t obsess about being perfect and having everything, but you do a good job of doing your duty to maintain your inventory.

You Can Find What You Need

Not only do you have what you need, but you can find it too! Your stuff is where you need it, when you need it. You know how to keep track of your inventory, so that it’s easy to access items when you need to. You use your own personal logic to group like-items together, and are versatile with how things get stored. You rearrange items as your life shifts and changes. You are skillful with choosing the proper drawers, shelves, and containers to suit your organizational needs. You are efficient with your labeling system, if you even choose to have labels. You make your own organizing rules, however unconventional they may be!

You Don’t Get Weighed Down By Too Much

For people who like to be prepared, and who value keeping useful items, it can be a delicate balance to maintain the right amount of stuff. This involves a combination of logic, intuition, and faith. Mistakes will happen. You might give away items that you wished you hadn’t, but this is a rare occurrence, and you give yourself grace. You find comfort in knowing that your stuff went to a good home, and you’re happy that you didn’t have to waste precious space storing things you weren’t using. Your money mindset is tuned for abundance, rather than keeping too much stuff based on fears from a lack mindset. You are generous, and know everything you give away will come back in some form or another, when you need it.

You’re also willing to spend the time, physical energy, and emotional energy to conscientiously process your stuff rather than avoiding it and letting old stuff get stale. You know the benefits of clearing clutter, and you can follow through on your decisions on what to keep and what to let go of.

Here are some examples of being messy but organized:

You know the functionality of your storage is far more important than making your pantry look like a photo out of the Home Edit book. You’ve got all the items you need, and you can find them and easily access them. Or if you’re out of something, you have an efficient way to remember to buy it again.
Papers on your desk may be in a pile, but the pile contains the papers you need, and isn’t littered with a bunch of junk mail or unprocessed garbage.
Clothes are unfolded and in baskets on the floor, but your clean clothes never get mixed up with your dirty clothes, and you always can find what you want to wear.
Your work surface might look cluttered, but you feel inspired, and you have all the space you need. You’ve also got the supplies you need, and they’re readily accessible.

Change The Narrative

Some people can feel inferior or like they aren’t “really organized” because their version of organized doesn’t have the conventional “Real Simple”, “Type-A” aesthetic. You’re going against the grain, and re-defining what it looks like to be organized. You may feel like an imposter, but being organized does not need to look organized. Being messy but organized probably means that you prioritize function over aesthetics. You might work best when things are visible and accessible, even if it looks messy.

Getting Help

As professional organizers, Sara and I do not subscribe to a certain organizational “look” because we know it’s far more important to customize a system that will benefit our clients’ needs the best. We work with both neurotypical and neurodivergent clients, so we need to be versatile with how we help our clients. We don’t believe in utilizing a set of ridged rules to make decisions. We’d rather help you tune in to what’s most important for you! If you’d like help to clear clutter and customize a system that fits your needs, please contact us. We’d love to help!