Key Takeaway: There are many benefits to being organized – more than just an organized space, having an organized life as well. Here, we list six such overarching benefits to living tidy and neat.

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A blessed Feast of the Immaculate Conception to all my fellow Catholics out there!

So today, we continue with our week on organizing, and while yesterday I spoke about hoarding and its different forms, today I’m going to talk about how preventing it and staying organized can work wonders. And these benefits aren’t just from home organizing: they arise from being organized in anything, or being an organized person in general.

1. More time to do more things

Be it in your workspace, in your purse, or even in the way you do things (which goes by the name time management), being organized has universal positive results. You get to do more because you save up on time, and so your overall productivity increases.

(Read more: Creating a good schedule)

For example, if you properly sort and store your gadgets’ cables in your case, getting the right one out would be the work of mere moments as opposed to needing to find it amidst a tangled mass of cables (which could actually damage the things) and untangle it. Or having a neat workspace would enable you to find a needed file or document very quickly by just opening the right folder or container – and this applies to your digital file too!

2. Less stress, more power

Corollary to the aforementioned is that you actually get less stressed out. The effort in needing to find that one certain thing goes through the roof if you’re disorganized, and it may lead to frustration if you can’t find it, thereby making you even more stressed.

And, when you’re organized, you know where things are and you are above the situation, which makes you feel more confident and empowered. You feel good as you simply serenely glide to whatever you need when you need it, and it adds to the feeling of goodness that is always helpful in boosting your mood, your spirits, and your everyday outlook in general.

3.  More money saved

Consider that you need a certain thing that you know you have, but you don’t know where it is. You might have lost it unknowingly. You’d have to shell out money again to procure another unit of that thing. It’s a terrible feeling – it always happened to me, and still does occasionally now.

(I may be writing about being organized, but that is not to say I am a domestic god of organization – far from it, actually. These things I write about are guides for myself as much as they are for readers.)

Or if you’re disorganized in the sense that you carry yourself sloppily, to the point that your clothes are disheveled and/or have stains on them. Because you didn’t take care of them in the first place by being more organized and tidy, you need to spend more to care for them again (i.e. have them washed).

When you’re organized, you actually show awareness and responsibility towards your things not because you treat them like humans with dignity (which would be going too far), but because you are responsibly consuming them by using your things regularly and, for things that run out such as personal care products, finishing them up, thereby reducing your waste. And in completely using up your things, you save up on money by buying less often.

Money is also saved in terms of productivity because of a domino effect that has come to be synonymous with the endless traffic jams Metro Manila is suffering today. By being more productive, you get to do more things, use up less resources, and pay lower opportunity costs. It may sound economic, but I believe economics should be properly integrated into purposeful living – and this is one way how.

4. Better image

Some of the most successful people in history were successful because they didn’t give a damn about what others thought of them – Jesus Christ being one of them! Living a truly good life may be an unpopular option in some parts of society, but are we going to please others or please the Higher Being?

Nevertheless, it is practical to have a good first impression especially in a world where dialogue, networks, and mutual support are critical for collective success. Being organized creates a better image of you for others, giving them the confidence to trust in you and perhaps work with you more. And it applies across all levels: to your superiors, your equals, and your juniors.

5. Good relationships

Now once you have prepared that good image, sustaining them through relationships is also key, and being organized and tidy can affect your relationships with others for the better. Similarly, being disorganized and untidy can affect them for the worse as well.

If you’re always stressed and frustrated due to being cluttered, you may inadvertently take it out on others, who would thus shy away from your negativity. I myself believe that everything is interconnected and that one seemingly minor consequence actually has bigger ramifications you might not know about.

But in being organized, not only do you prevent stress from driving a wedge between you and others, but you also get to focus more time and energy on growing said relationships, providing for very healthy results indeed.

6. Peace of mind (and body)

Lastly, being organized gives you a sense of peace with yourself in and out. I’ve already mentioned the serene effects that an organized life can bring, and at the end of the day you will feel joyful and grateful that you even took the steps to be organized in the first place.

It also works wonders for your body, due to the less stress that it has to deal with, and the health results that having a relaxed, tranquil mood brings.