Organized vs. Tidy: What's the Difference?

Organized and tidy go hand in hand but there are some very big differences. Without organizing first, your efforts of tidying will have a shorter impact. We see tidying as a quick activity that refreshes a space to it’s original state. The definition of tidy is bring order to something; to arrange neatly. Organizing is to plan out a space and create order so that you can tidy or maintain it in the future. The definition of organize is to arrange into a structured whole; order. In order to tidy properly you need to organize first.

This is why we really focus our efforts in the editing and adjusting of habits when we work with our clients. If you edit appropriately and design your space to support your needs and how you function in the space, you will be able to easily maintain your home. We say it all the time: 80% (if not more) of organizing is editing out the excess. When you have less, you have less to manage. 

Think about it like this: if you go into a closet or play room and quickly put all the toys into their bins or hang the clothes that are on the ground, the space will look tidy. But within a few days it will go right back to where it was. When you organize, you change the whole structure of how the space is set up. You edit out the excess and implement the right bins (when needed). When you put in this extra effort up front, your space looks and feels organized/tidy for weeks. Yes: you will need to reset your space from time to time but it will be a quick tidy; it will not be a full weekend activity. 

When I tidy my home daily, it takes 10 minutes and it always looks exactly the way I want it to look. That small effort I give daily makes it so that I never have to spend days or weeks tidying my entire home.  Doing small activities frequently creates a lasting impact on your home. You can apply this to many areas of your life and see that it isn’t a crash diet, it's consistency.