I decide when to clean my refrigerator by noticing how much stuff I have to shuffle around when I’m putting away new leftovers (instead of on a scheduled date). I avoid filing papers that represent something I want to think about or work on because it would take more time to file them and create to-do items for them than it takes me to glance over them when I’m looking for something else.

The thing is, at some point, we all have to decide when we’re striving for too much organization. Organization takes time and effort, and sometimes we overpay in time, effort, and money, for what we get back on our investment in organizing our lives.

There are many other ways you can use disorder to make your life easier. Below, I’ve listed 5 easy ways to let disorder and disorganization into your life.

5 ways you can use disorder and disorganization around the house to make your life a little easier

1. Go simple with the filing systems. If you can find what you need, when you need it, your filing system already works for you—even if you don’t use folders. Why spend money on filing supplies when you don’t need to? Why spend time overhauling a system that already works?
2. Plant a flower garden, the easy way. Mix all your seeds together in a jar, shake them up, and pour them (somewhat) evenly over your flower beds. You’ll end up with a profusion of flowers overflowing your beds, drowning out the weeds, and bursting with color.
3. Let your mail pile up and sort it once a week. You’ll only have to get out the envelope opener once, run the shredder once, and pay the bills once that week.
4. Leave on your kitchen counter an appliance you would love to use more often but don’t because it’s difficult to get out and put away. If it’s useful to you and you want to use it, then why not make it easy for you to do so? See? A little disorder can make your life better.
5. The next time you plan to “clear out the clutter” ask yourself why you’re doing it. Is it because of what you think others might think of you if they saw your mess? Why does it matter? If you’re not clearing out the clutter because you want to make your things easier to find, use, or put away, then you’re probably not clearing out for the right reasons.

As for the book, A Perfect Mess, if you’re looking for someone to remind you why clutter isn’t always bad to have around—and why having clutter doesn’t make you a bad person—you’ll want to read this book. I listened to the abridged audio edition, so I can’t say with certainty that every word in the book is a gem, but what I heard was excellent. This was front porch listening, although you could listen at any time. There was something very relaxing about the voice of the reader, and the subject matter is something most of us could stand to hear.

The point of the book isn’t to encourage you to be disordered, cluttered, or dirty. In fact, some order and organization is essential to a happy, productive life. However, as the author discusses the subject of disorder, it becomes clear that some disorder can actually improve your life, give you more time, save you money, and spark your creativity.

Those are the reasons I suggest you read—or listen to—this book.

Ever since Einstein’s study of Brownian Motion, scientists have understood that a little disorder can actually make systems more effective. Yet, most people still shun disorder or suffer guilt over the mess they can’t avoid. With a spectacular array of true stories and case studies of the hidden benefits of mess, A PERFECT MESS overturns the accepted wisdom that tight schedules, organization, neatness, and consistency are the keys to success. Drawing on examples from business, parenting, cooking, the war on terrorism, retail, and even the career of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Abrahmson and Freedman demonstrate that moderately messy systems use resources more efficiently, yield better solutions, and are harder to break than neat ones. Applying this idea on scales both large (government, society) and small (desktops, garages), A PERFECT MESS uncovers the ways messiness can trump neatness, and will help you assess the right amount of disorder for any system.

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5 Ways to Use Disorder and Disorganization to Keep Your Home Running Smoothly

Is cleaning a huge chore for you? Do you hate having to search around the house for supplies, or even just having to run into another room when you forget the glass cleaning wipes you meant to bring with you to the bathroom?

Have you ever wondered how to make cleaning automatic?

Hide your cleaning supplies

If any of the above has ever been true for you, then you need to make sure you always have cleaning supplies on-hand—in the locations where you use them.

Unfortunately, economies of time and money don’t always align perfectly.

Having duplicate supplies might cost a little more, but the time saved (and the ease that having those duplicates adds to your cleaning routine) more than make up for the extra expense. This is an essential concept of the home management principles outlined on this site. (Not all duplicates are the same–see “Do Away With Duplicates” for how getting rid of duplicates in your home can save you precious time and effort!

Why hide your cleaning supplies?

One of the most common reasons people don’t clean more often is because its inconvenient. Having quick access to the supplies you need can alleviate that inconvenience.

Wouldn’t it be easier to wipe the back rim of the toilet seat when you’re already in the room than to make a special trip to the bathroom to clean up? Even if you only do this once per day, then you’ve cleaned the dirtiest spot in most bathrooms more often than almost everyone else in your neighborhood.

Multiply this small task by ten or twenty other small jobs you can do around your home in only seconds and you’ve cut your cleaning time in half. You’ve also significantly decreased the chances of having to do a rush cleanup the next time you’re expecting visitors to drop in.

Where to conceal

Store disinfecting wipes and glass cleaning wipes under all your bathroom sinks and in your kitchen too. Store a set of dusting wipes in your entertainment center in a small box, covered basket or tin high on a shelf or behind a cabinet door.

Dusting wipes can be concealed in any room where dusting is often overlooked, such as bedrooms and home offices. In the laundry room, Clorox wipes are great for getting the dust off your washer and dryer.

Adopt these tips and you’ll soon find that cleaning isn’t nearly such a chore as you once thought. Just a few minutes of cleaning here and there can save hours later.

Storage Resources

My favorite type of storage, these small boxes are attractive, stack neatly, and store all kinds of useful items.

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Where do YOU hide cleaning supplies?

Sometimes the easiest way to clean your house is to clean as you go. By devoting a few minutes here and there to cleaning, you can drastically reduce the amount of time you spend cleaning later.

1. Clean the kitchen as you cook. Run hot, soapy water in the sink to wash the things that you can’t put in the dishwasher, and if you don’t have a dish drainer, place a towel on the sink where the dishes can sit and dry while you work. Make sure the dishwasher is ready to be loaded with dirty dishes and then load it as you go.

One of the most useful habits you can develop is that of emptying the dishwasher as soon as it has finished running. To help with this, do not run the dishwasher during the night—yes, this might save energy, but it won’t help you in the long run. You’ll end up washing more dishes by hand and wasting water that would have been used to wash a single load of dishes in the dishwasher.

Run the dishwasher as soon as the evening meal is over and then put them away immediately. You’ll never again have to put your dirty dishes in the sink because your dishwasher is full of clean dishes.

2. Rinse your shower before you get out so the soap residue doesn’t turn into soap scum. Or use something like method’s Shower Daily Cleaner. These kinds of products really can help prevent soap scum build up and save you some serious scrubbing. [Buy some method Shower Daily Cleaner now]

3. Wipe down your bathroom sink after you brush your teeth or apply your makeup, and use rubbing alcohol or glass wipes to shine your faucet and mirror. Put away your hair dryer and other small appliances in a drawer or caddy before you leave. Neat and tidy makes a big difference in how clean a room appears. [Buy some Wipex glass wipes now]

4. Use Clorox disinfecting wipes to wipe down your toilet after you use it. Don’t forget the handle, the bottom front of the toilet, and underneath the seat. These are the places where many people forget to clean, leaving grime and germs to accumulate. This is not only hygienic, but can help with urine odors (a common problem for parents of young boys!). [Buy some Clorox disinfecting wipes now]

5. Don’t wait to empty your trash containers until the containers are full. Set aside two days a week to go through the house and collect all the trash. You’ll stop odors before they have time to stink up your rooms, and empty trash cans just look cleaner. Take the trash outside to wait for pickup or to the nearest waste collection center. Keep plenty of trash bags on hand. Get earth friendly bags so you don’t feel guilty about making a habit of keeping your trash cans empty. [Buy some extra trash bags now]

6. Make up your bed and your children’s beds if they’re still too young to do it themselves. This can really improve the look of a room (even a cluttered room).

Neat and tidy really is half the battle to having a house that always looks clean.

None of these chores take more than a few minutes each day to perform, and these six quick clean up tips will have your house looking great every day of the week.

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6 Quick Clean Up Tips

You might have noticed that sometimes it takes ten minutes to get into and out of the grocery store for a gallon of milk and dozen eggs, and other times it takes twice as long. These ten minute gaps of time can add up to a wasted hour or more of time in an average morning of errands.

For me, Monday mornings around 8:30 a.m. have the biggest payoff of time saved. The stores are emptier, the check out lines are shorter, the traffic is lighter, and I’m able to get my errands out of the way and off my mind for the rest of the week. Friday afternoons and evenings are the worst, and I always do my best to avoid running any errands at that time.

Sometimes the region of the country you live in can determine when is the best time to run your errands, but there are a few things you can do no matter where you live to get in and out quickly.

Make a list and carry it with you. At the top of the list write down all your errands, so you don’t forget any of them and have to backtrack. Also, list them in the order they’ll occur on your route unless they’re dependent on another stop first.

Next on your list, write down what you need to pick up or deliver to each location. That might only be your grocery items and pharmacy items, or it might include documents you need to drop off somewhere, grocery, pharmacy, and beauty items, appointments, and gifts you need to buy.

By having all this on one piece of paper, you eliminate forgetfulness and save yourself plenty of time–enough to more than compensate you for the time spent organizing your list.

Get out of the house early. If you want to get done with your errands quickly, you’ll want to beat everyone else to the stores, the bank, and everywhere else!

If you try these quick tips, I’m sure you’ll recapture some of your lost time on errand day.

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Timing is key to reducing wasted efforts