Perfectionism Doesn’t Help You Declutter
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Photo by Mike O’Dowd
I am a perfectionist. You might not believe it, after seeing the photos I posted of my most cluttered spaces, but it’s true.
It is also part of the reason I have so much clutter, so many things “on the go” and so many half-finished attempts to clean things up.
You’d think being a perfectionist would help me declutter, but in fact it’s the opposite.
Why?
It’s simple: I don’t like to do something unless I can do it well enough that it turns out properly. Not necessarily “perfect” most of the time, but at least “nice” and “worthwhile”. I find myself avoiding starting a large, daunting project, like my clutter, because I’m afraid my results won’t be “good enough” to me.
I’m a bit like this in all aspects of my life, but especially so when it comes to clutter. When things don’t go well, I do tend to get frustrated. Sometimes, I’ll spend hours, most of a day even, on cleaning up a single area. I sort garbage from good things, I sort things to put elsewhere from things that should stay in the area. I try. I really, really try. And what do I have to show for it? Not a clean, organized area (I’m too far gone to be able to fix everything in a single day!), but a mess. A different-looking mess than when I started, but a mess all the same.
I always hit that “in between” stage, where I may have removed 3 garbage bags full of useless items, but there’s still lots of stuff there. You need to both purge and organize in order to have a neat, tidy space. Even if I make it all the way through the “purge” stage, there’s still everything that needs to be organized. Sorted into storage containers (that I don’t have, since I didn’t know what I’d have left to store) or filed into folders (that I haven’t labelled yet, since I didn’t know what I’d find to file). While I do feel a small sense of satisfaction at having accomplished as much as I have, there’s still the feeling that I’ve worked for hours, and all I have to show for it is a mess. It’s very disheartening.
To avoid this self-disappointment, I tend to avoid cleaning up in the first place. If I don’t do it, I can’t feel bad for not finishing it. That’s the idea, at least. Instead, what ends up happening is that I feel bad for having not done anything. Damned if I do, and damned if I don’t, it seems.
I’ve got to get over this perception that everything must be perfect. I obviously don’t hold my possessions to such a high standard, or else I wouldn’t have nearly so many of them (but that’s a post for another time!).
Perhaps once I manage to get past the stage I’m at right now, and get my house cleared of clutter, my perfectionism will help me. People with spotless, Martha-Stewart-esque homes are often called perfectionists, so maybe when my house starts out being clean, my perfectionist nature will allow me to keep it that way.
Here’s hoping!
Incidentally, do a Flickr search for “perfection”. It’s utterly fascinating to see what people label as perfection.
While you’re there, join my Flickr Group and add your decluttering before/after photos, or just browse to get some inspiration!
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I feel your pain! I watch the organizing shows and I have bought many organizing books (which I can’t find, due to the clutter!) and my house is a constant mess of “stuff.” I have until the beginning of March to sort through (and shred) boxes of old bank statements and other assorted paper stacks and clean out our guest room for our son, who will be recovering from surgery. He has a loft in his room and he won’t be able to climb the ladder for a while.
My family believes that the family room couch is laundry central. Apparently, I’m the only one who knows what dressers are for, but all of my clothes are stacked next to mine.. I still have to sort through the clothes I don’t wear anymore, so there’s no room in the drawers!
By the way, I like your pink wig! I have one too!
@ ageekymom - I love watching the organizing shows, and reading the organizing books, but I’m not yet at the point where the tips can help me. Good luck! I find having a deadline really helps to keep my motivated!
I dye my hair; I like Special Effects colours. Maybe I should update my profile picture, as my hair’s currently a black cherry/purpleish colour. 
I know exactly what you mean about having half-started projects or the same task on your mind forever and never getting around to it. I don’t like to do things unless I can do them well, I mean really well, and it’s definitely a roadblock for me.
As a writer, I have files and disks full of beginnings. Luckily this defect hasn’t spilled over into my apartment yet; I tend to go pretty minimalist when it comes to decor, since visual clutter is too much for me.
As a fomer “clean” perfectionist, I can say that once the clutter is gone and the space is organized, it is easier to keep it that way. However, when the clutter has taken over (as it now has in my life), like you, the perfectionism makes it difficult to GET IT DONE. . . Dr Ragan’s posts on Psychology of Clutter have been a huge help.
I think perfectionism stands in the way of getting just about anything done. Right now I’m not really trying to declutter (other than by trying hard not to acquire any new stuff), but perfectionism threatens to rear its ugly head on everything I do. I try to remind myself that the world usually doesn’t reward or appreciate perfectionism (see my linked post for more on this). Like the Nike slogan says, just do it.
I died a little death when I saw your clutter pics. 
I think I have this problem too. I want to organize my office my papers my files. My books and my clothes but because there is so much to be sorted I feel like I need the whole week off to finish it. Since I don’t have this luxury. I keep putting off starting the project. It would probably get done just as well or better if I worked on it for an hour a day. Which I could do if I gave up television or reading blogs.
I have also been told I was a perfectionist. I was shocked, because so many things in my house were not perfect. But it was explained to me by that person just exactly what you said. If I do something it must be right. I will work something to death to make it right. All I have to say is I think the clean freaks are not perfectionists at all, I think they are obsessive. Some are terrible cooks because the main goal is clean clean clean not cook cook cook. My kitchen may be a wreck when dinner is served, but it’s usually well worth eating!
Love J Trout’s comment!
Caitlin with the pink hair, thanks for commenting on my post. BTW, I voted “lived in” on your poll
I’m a professional organizer who is far from perfect, not obsessed with order and only semi-neat. My philosophy is to keep things simple and do the minimum to stay organized.
You’re right that perfectionism has nothing to do with being neat or organized. I’m not a perfectionist and I think one distinction is that I focus on the function rather than the form. I have a goal and I want to get there quickly. I’m happy with “pretty good” as long as it works and lets me get on to the next thing.
I find that creative people, in particular, don’t want to settle for “pretty good,” so I encourage them to save their perfectionism for areas where it matters more (artwork, cooking, hair coloring, etc.) and start settling when it comes to the dull stuff, like organizing paper.
I also like David Allen’s idea of having a “not to do” list. This is where you write down all those things you think you should do and may even want to do, but know that you won’t. When you put them on the list, you agree to stop hassling yourself about them. Have you tried that?
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Thank you for this post! It’s almost as if you were writing about me. I’ve realized lately that my need for perfection has become a HUGE roadblock in my clutter tackling — and in a lot of the ways you talked about. All or nothing hasn’t really helped to accomplish anything in my clutter world.