Are you surrounded by piles?  Tired of using your chair as a coat rack? Sick of running out the door 10 minutes late every morning?

If you can relate to these feelings, you’re not alone (there’s a reason Marie Kondo draws such a large audience). I come across these issues and sometimes the person living with clutter experience self recrimination or even shame for the mess and disorganization. We can address these common “bad” habits effectively through design. One of the main questions to ask yourself is, “How is my relationship to my current environment?”

Be kind to yourself

If it never feels like everything is in its right place, or you find that your home disorganized — messy even — you might internalize the problem as a personal flaw. But having a messy home doesn’t mean that you don’t care, and adding negative self-talk to the problem isn’t going to fix it any sooner. In fact, a lot of issues with disorganization really do come down to design. Creating a space that responds to your needs and habits will make it so much easier to not be overwhelmed by things like clutter.

A more productive angle is to ask yourself: What does disorganization cost you in real terms? Well, to start, you can’t find things when you need them. That cuts valuable time out of your day that could be spent better. On top of that, there is a subtle but costly intrusion on your sense of inner peace and balance. We often see our homes as a projection of our own success, and when there are parts of it that feel unresolved, it chips away at us slowly. We see that same unresolved area every day and we’re reminded of one more thing that we need to address. Those types of thoughts swirl around the subconscious and rob us of the ability to relax fully in our downtime.

Create a space that flows — it will lighten your burden

Commit to setting up your home in a way that naturally alleviates these issues, and it will save you so much in terms of time and stress down the line. You will recapture a sense of balance and serenity in your environment. Design and renovation require effort up front, but they will ultimately save you time and grief in the long run. That’s what great design can do.