I’m hypervigilant about maintaining clear surfaces. Surfaces are not the place for storing nouns, e.g. food processors. Surfaces are for doing verbs, e.g. chopping vegetables. If we’re feeling hemmed in by our homes, nouns on surfaces are likely to be the cause.

Clear surfaces tend to stay clear. One object on otherwise clear surface stands out in stark contrast. By the time curfew comes around, it’s easy to identify that one item and return it to its proper home.

Cluttered surfaces tend to attract what I call “stalagmites.”

In nature, stalagmites form slowly but steadily, with each drip of mineral-rich water adding just a little bit more until the cave has a new permanent feature.

In our homes, stalagmites form slowly but steadily as we toss one more item onto the counter, over and over again until we start to feel overwhelmed at the thought of whittling down the pile. We’ll end up with the mail stalagmite, the shoes stalagmite, the loose change stalagmite.

We shouldn’t place any single thing on a surface unless we’re okay with that one item attracting a pile.

We shouldn’t start a pile unless we’re okay with that pile morphing into a tower.

We shouldn’t start a tower unless we’re okay with it becoming a permanent fixture in our home.

Keeping up with clearing surfaces is often much easier than catching up.