Chaff?

There are several “life lessons” in the Bible regarding chaff.  I’m not going to interpret the Bible — but I thought of an organizing tip using chaff as an illustration.  I decided I should make sure I was accurate so I looked up a definition of the word.  I found that chaff is the husks of wheat or other seed separated by winnowing or threshing – “separating the chaff from the grain.”  A second definition includes words like “worthless things, trash, garbage, junk.”

So what does this have to do with getting organized?  Wouldn’t it be awesome if we could “winnow” our junk drawers by tossing the contents in the air and having the “chaff” blow away in the wind?  The fact is, it may be almost that easy in some areas of our homes.  We just need to be mindful of the chaff in our lives and let it “blow away” as we come upon it.

If we put on “chaff radar” as we go about our daily lives, we can notice things we do not use and simply toss them in a “give away bag”. For example, when you reach for your favorite spatula and you have to dig around several gadgets you never use — just take 10 seconds to toss them in the donate bag.  It doesn’t require a Saturday afternoon of “cleaning out the kitchen” to remove a layer of items you no longer need or use.  As you reach for your favorite pair of jeans and notice three shirts you never wear — take a second to toss them in the donate sack.  When the sack fills, make sure it goes to your favorite place to make donations. (Make sure the donation sack is not too large!)

A few seconds here, a few seconds there, and you will begin to thin out your clutter and be able to function in your spaces.  When and if the time comes to do some “serious sorting and rearranging” you will be ahead of the game by having quickly eliminated the layer of items you could part with easily.