Peace of Mind Organizing

Is it time to declutter your car?

3 September 2024

My new car!

The lease on my Nissan Leaf is up and I’ve replaced it with a Nissan Ariya, another electric vehicle. (This one’s a slightly larger crossover, rather than a hatchback, and it’s a beautiful copper color.)

Before I turned in the Leaf I had to clean it out. I was surprised to see how much stuff I was storing in that car! It wasn’t cluttered—everything was put away. But it was like a clown car of little items!

The thing that struck me was that while my center console was admirably organized, I rarely if ever, accessed those items, with a few exceptions. And my glove box was crowded enough that sometimes I couldn’t find stuff when I was looking for it, even though it was in there.

I appreciated the opportunity to take a look at what I was storing in my car and decide what I really needed. Just like inside our homes, the more items we cram into a storage space, the harder it is to find anything. My new car’s center console has less storage (but it does have wireless phone charging!), so I was mindful in my choices. These are the things I elected to put back in the car:

• small first aid kit
• small manicure kit
• emergency automotive escape tool (something I hope I never use!)
• my husband’s disabled parking placard
• reusable grocery bag
• insurance card
• my NAPO-St. Louis name tag for chapter meetings
• small umbrella
• ice scraper
• hand-knit wastebasket (the one I had in my CR-V)

It took very little time to empty the car, sort the stuff and put back in what was needed. Since I returned so little to the car, I was able to put it away in no time. I once had the opportunity to help a client organize his car—he had more space and more stuff. I blogged about the process at the time, if you’re interested.

Tagged with: car

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