When does our spring cleaning look the worst? Certainly not when we’re done cleaning; we love that look. Not really before we start, either. No, the worst is when we’re in the middle of it, and everything is out on the floor, piled in the middle of the room, all over the damn place. A sign of progress in a reorganization is it all looks chaotic.

So if you ever feel disorganized, perhaps the solution is to recognize you may just be in the middle of organizing. Take a step back and view your mess. Are you in the process of organizing your home, or your processes, or your thoughts? Well then of course it’ll be messy! Write down what you’ve been working toward. You may not have far to go.

Aside from this, one person’s organization can appear to be another’s big mess. A scattered-looking pile of papers on a desk isn’t necessarily disorganized; the most recently used document is probably at the top. The one looked at years ago is at the bottom.

To find a relevant document in this pile, an outsider would have to dig through the whole thing. The person who created the pile only has to think back to when they last saw the document, and search in that part of the pile. This pile is well-organized, it’s just that not everybody is privy to the organization.

Does your space, or your life, have its own internal organization that’s meaningful to you? If so, then there’s no need to jump through hoops to make them look organized to others. Asking questions like this may help you in reorganizing. It could also lead you to conclude there’s not much of a mess at all.