I’ve been intrigued by the strategies some people use to manage their closets. I’ve heard of a few. One that stands out is from an episode of Mad About You. I love that show. Paul Riser plays a character that I truly identify with. I digress. In the show he runs into a long lost friend who has been traveling the world on very little. He wears the same clothes over and over. Riser in his whit asks curiously about what he wears when his friend is doing wash. The friend simply says he has two of everything.

A friend of mine plays a game with his closet. He doesn’t let himself wear a shirt twice until he’s worn all the shirts. If he comes to a shirt that he just can’t move himself to wear then he removes it from the queue.

I’m seeing that I don’t need five sweatshirts, twelve hats, etc. To help purge but not feel the post-purge remorse I’ve adopted a little strategy. I like making little time capsuls for my kids. Basically I get stuff that I think they would like when they are in high school or thereabouts and I box it up and put it in the attic. My thinking here is kids at that age are always trying to do something that is unique and this will give them that opportunity.

We’ll see.

Kyle Dreier

There are so many things that love to have but don’t have the space for nor do I have the patience to dust, haul, etc.

Take for instance my Hair Bear Bunch lunch box – circa 1st and 2nd grade at Brandenburg Elementary in Irving, Texas.

The old MixMaster kitchen mixers I used to collect.

I just sell or give away the stuff that I don’t care to store and when I’m ready to adorn my house again with these relics I’ll just take a stroll into my other favorite pasttime … shopping on ebay.

-Kyle Dreier

I realize I’m unusually anal about some things but I have to say, clutter drive me crazy. My poor wife, I drive her crazy. I’m not saying I’m immune from creating clutter myself but I think I’m just a step or two ahead of most in that I recognize my clutter and actually am working to declutterfy my life.

I think there is something absolutely universal … it’s a drawer in each kitchen in the US. What do you call it? Ours is called the “junk drawer.” Are a society that is incapable of finding a real home for pan caps previously MIA? What about the coupons that are 2 years past their expiration? What’s the obscure, unidentifiable piece of a toy going to do to add value to my life today? Maybe the solution is a Hefty Bag that acts as a drawer liner. That would solve the problem, or at least make one think about why something is being saved for a better day.

My motto lately has been if I can’t find a home for it I send it to the round-file. Now, admittedly this is easier with stuff that isn’t mine. What to do with my own prized possessions without a suitable home? I’ve found a nice sized plastic bowl/container works well. I simply accumulate as much as I can and bring it to my in-home office. There I find some time between work activity to sort through random items like cough drops, sticky notes, loose change, etc.

This makes me think of how Andy Worhol would use banker boxes the same way. He created these time capsules of sorts. I’ve adopted this way of freezing space and time with some of my clothes. I’ve used banker boxes to hold articles of clothing I think my boys will find fun in 10-15 years. That’s when kids in high school often are looking for something to wear that makes them stand out. I’m not talking bell bottoms here, just a fun t-shirt or sweatshirt. Maybe a worn golf cap. How about that ragged pair of shoes. What teenage boy wouldn’t love wearing those?

So, for now, life is less cluttered for me, thanks to the time off with the holidays. We’ll have to see what happens in the next 12 months.

Part of my being critical is seeing room for improvement in many situations. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve looked at a friend’s situation and thought, and even said, how much better it could be.

My just knowing this is a step in the right direction for recovery, but what is the next step? One thing I know is that if I can focus less on someone else’s issues and work to see my own then I can move on to actually getting my own house in order.

I find that as I’m trying to instill some admirable qualities in my kids I often am left searching for those same qualities in my own life. What a great mirror children are.

Today I sit in my office where I am surrounded by piles of papers. Let me count … 23. That’s on the floor, on my desks, … oh wait … there are a few more on the other chair. I am a stack person.

Sadly, I pride myself at being, or trying to be, organized. I’ve got a label maker that I use. Doesn’t that put me ahead of the rest of messaholics?

At the end of the day I simply need to focus on my of issues and then I can gloat while I move on to others’ issues. Isn’t that how it’s suppose to be?

- Kyle Dreier

I can’t get over how much time I spend thinking about how much stuff we have in our house. Maybe I’m just obsessed with thought and that’s my clutter.

For me, it seems to be a recurring theme. The hard part is looking at my stuff. It’s easy to get bent out of shape about how many toys, Legos, Hot Wheels, etc are strewn about the house. But when I step back and look at my own “SEE AY ARE PEA” I get paralyzed.

I’m reading a small business book put out by Price Pritchett about effectiveness. His books are great and really speak to my way of thinking. This particular one is by Richard Koch. The principle is how we spend 80% of our time for 20% of results. Turn that around and we’re spending 20% of our time for 80% of results. Take it a step further and we can increase productivity by focusing on the things that produce those greater results.

Where was I going with all this? Oh yes, all my stuff. Koch makes a good point about needing “white space”. In the past I’ve referred to this as “margin”. I find that when I have no margin in my life and I get a curve-ball thrown at me, it ends up feeling like a sucker punch. I’ve got to have margin to be healthy.

Margin. White space. Stuff. How about more margin and less stuff? How would that feel? I’d likely feel a big sense of relief. I think that’s part of why I enjoy getting away either alone or with my family. Even with a car full of kids and our stuff, it’s still less than in our house. We survive. We don’t “need” all the stuff we have in the house. In fact, I think we’re doing our kids a disservice.

The other day I read a little story on the Family Life website. It was about a family that took a year off from television. Amy and I did this for a month a long time ago. I think it was before kids. I’m really liking the idea. I’m serious about trying it. When I was first out of college and working in corporate America I didn’t have a TV. I missed the whole OJ Simpson chase. I’m sure I missed a number of other very important events. NOT.

I read more. I ran more. I rollerbladed more. I still desired a TV, but I wasn’t wasting away in front of one. I got to watch TV, but it was more intentional. I kept up with Seinfeld episodes thanks to Eva Wojnar, a co-worker who would bring in episodes for us to enjoy during lunch.

I’ll keep you posted on the TV front. On the stuff front, I’m thinking we could do better with half of what we have. I’ll keep you posted on that as well.

-Kyle Dreier

The notion of “arriving” or “making it” seems to be prevalent in the minds of most people. Sure, that’s my generalization but if you look at how we operate as a society you’ll see that we set goals, we work to reach some level of economic status, and we long for the next thing.

We can jump to the criticism of blaming the media and the push of marketing and advertising. I’ll simply take the position that “they” – being the all inclusive mass media – are enablers.

Any rational person will see that we are wired in some strange way to push for more comfort and less pain and this leads to a selfish and ungrateful attitude.

Before I go off on some rant let me just jump to the point I’m trying to make … the destination is pointless if we don’t enjoy the ride. What are you doing today that brings you pleasure, comfort, enjoyment?

I had lunch with David Whited. He and I are hitting it off as we seem to be like minded. I like how he thinks on this topic. He says he answers to himself as an 80 year old in a rocking chair. What did you do today that you like? What is really going to matter as I look back on my life?

Enjoy today.

- Kyle Dreier