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Writer's pictureSierra's Simple Home

The 4 Organizing Styles

If you haven't met Cas from Clutterbug, you must change that today. She's an absolute hoot, as well as one of the best professional organizers I know of! Cas has developed a quiz to help determine your organizing style. Each style is categorized as a bug and is based on two specific characteristics of organizing. Let's dive into each one a little deeper and find out how you can take the quiz to determine your style.


Cas' quiz takes into account whether you are a macro or micro organizer and whether you prefer hidden or visual storage. A macro organizer prefers to use broad categories when organizing, while a micro organizer prefers to use a lot of very specific categories to organize their items. She also considers whether you like visual simplicity or if you prefer to leave items out in plain sight. The four bug styles include a cricket, ladybug, butterfly, and bee.


 

CRICKET


A cricket is a micro-organizer who likes items hidden away. Do you prefer to file papers rather than leave them on the counter? Do you have 30 file folders in which you organize your paperwork? If so, there's a possibility you might be a cricket. Organizing products and tutorials are often aimed at crickets, so if traditional systems don't work for you, you might consider reading about the other styles to see if they are a better fit.




LADYBUG


A ladybug is a macro-organizer who also likes items hidden away. Maybe you like to file papers, but only have 5 or 10 file folders to sort them between. Perhaps you like micro-sorting but just don't have the time or energy to keep it up. You can still hide items away and organize them in larger categories as a ladybug would.




BUTTERFLY


A butterfly is a micro-organizer who also likes items to be visual. You can create beautiful, detailed systems that are out in the open. Your space can still look beautiful and curated, even with items in plain sight.




BEE


A bee is a macro-organizer who likes items to be visual. If you need items where you can see them and want them organized into a few broad categories, you might be a bee.




WHAT IF I DON'T FIT INTO ONE OF THESE STYLES?


Everyone is different, so you may be a combination of bugs or maybe one bug in a certain area of your home and another bug in a different area. If you're not sure which style fits you best, try out one that looks interesting. If it isn't working for you, try another one. Keep going until you find the system that works best for you.




WHAT IS SIERRA'S ORGANIZING STYLE?


I had a bit of a difficult time determining exactly what my organizing style was. But after careful thought, I realized that I was one style in the past and a different style in the present. Before getting married and having kids, I was a cricket. I organized my possessions into very specific categories and wanted things hidden away to create visual simplicity. Since growing my family, I don't have the time or energy to meticulously organize every area of my home. I have had to both ruthlessly declutter and develop a simple organizing system. While I still like most items hidden, they are organized in a simple way that makes it very easy to put things away. Thus, I am a ladybug in the majority of areas. As you enter different seasons of life, you may find you need to change your organizing style to best suit the amount of time and stuff you have. Your style doesn't matter, so long as you can create and maintain a system for your stuff.




WHAT IF MY FAMILY MEMBER DOESN'T HAVE THE SAME ORGANIZING STYLE?


Living with other people can be difficult, and deciding where to put shared items is no exception. When sharing spaces with others, Cas explains how important it is to default to the macro and visual bug. You can't expect someone who thinks in broad categories to put the spices in alphabetical order. Likewise, you can't expect someone to file a bill if they need to leave it out to remind them to pay it. If the clutter is bothering you, try containing papers in a basket or hanging them on the side of the fridge. While defaulting to someone else's organizing style may be difficult, it can help you navigate life more smoothly.




TAKE THE CLUTTERBUG QUIZ


Be sure to visit Clutterbug.me to take the quiz and find out your organizing style(s). Don't forget to leave a comment below and let me know which bug you are! Have a great weekend!


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