Are You a “Cricket”? The Organized Chicagoan’s Guide to Beating Perfectionism

Between the L train commute, deep-dish pizza nights, and trying to enjoy our beautiful city, keeping an organized home in Chicago can feel like a full-time job. If you’ve ever stared at a cluttered closet, paralyzed by the idea of creating a “perfect” system, this one’s for you. Let’s talk about finding an organizing style that works for your real life, not just your Pinterest dreams.

When you think of organization, you might picture pristine pantries with matching containers and every sock folded just so. In the world of organizing personalities, this is the “Cricket.” Crickets are the hidden organizers—meticulous, detailed, and thriving on systems. Think Marie Kondo-level precision behind closed cabinet doors.

If this sounds like you, you probably have a vision for a perfectly ordered home. But here in the real world, that perfectionist mindset can often lead to procrastination. Why start if you can’t do it “right”? The good news is, understanding your Cricket tendencies is the first step to a home that works for you, not against you.

What Makes a Cricket Tick?

Crickets are the masters of traditional organization. Their ideal system is detailed, compartmentalized, and logical. They’re the people who genuinely enjoy a good filing cabinet and alphabetized spice racks. For a Cricket, the system itself is satisfying.

Common Cricket traits include:

• Love for Compartments: Little bins for underwear, dividers for drawers, and stacked containers are a Cricket’s paradise.
• Mental Cataloging: They often don’t even need labels because they have an excellent memory for where everything is stored.
• Patience for Process: A Cricket doesn’t mind taking the time to open a lid or follow a multi-step process to put something away correctly.

The Cricket’s Biggest Challenge (And How to Overcome It)

The downside of this detailed mindset? Paralysis. A Cricket might look at a messy room and think, “I can’t tackle this until I have the perfect bins, a full weekend, and a detailed floor plan.” This is where the procrastination cycle begins.

The key is to adapt. Start small. Organize one drawer perfectly. Celebrate that win. Remember, even professional home cleaning services start with a single task. You don’t have to transform your entire apartment cleaning in one day.

Practical Tips for the Perfectionist Organizer

1. Embrace “Good Enough”: A system that works 80% of the time is better than a “perfect” system you never implement.
2. Use What You Have: Before buying new bins, see what containers you can repurpose. A shoebox can be a perfect temporary divider.
3. Schedule Mini-Sessions: Block 20 minutes on your calendar to tackle a single shelf. Small, consistent efforts beat one massive, overwhelming project.

If the very thought of starting makes you tired, that’s a sign you might need help cleaning my place. There’s no shame in calling in the pros to handle the deep cleaning help so you can focus on the organizing you love.

When to Call in the Cavalry

Being adaptable is a Cricket’s superpower. But sometimes, life gets in the way. Between work, family, and enjoying Chicago, your detailed organizing project can get perpetually pushed to “next weekend.”

This is when it’s smarter to book an appointment with a trusted Chicago cleaning company. Imagine coming home to a fresh, clean slate—all the dusting, mopping, and scrubbing done—so you can finally set up those beautiful systems in a spotless space. The best cleaning services in Chicago provide that foundation for you.

Ready to get your space cleaned and organized? The first step is the easiest.

Uh, next we have the cricket, but I’m going to guess if you’re watching this, you’re probably not a cricket. We have a few crickets who do watch, but everybody wants to be a cricket because it’s a hidden organizer who is very detailed and meticulous, a type, think Marie Condo. And it is what we think of when we think of traditional organization. Most crickets are very, very organized. And if you are an organized person and you thought my channel was going to be like gorgeous organizing porn where you’re looking at beautiful things, you were probably very disappointed. If you’re still here, you’re probably a cricket who’s struggling with that perfectionist mindset and so you’re procrastinating until you can do it right. Here’s what works for a cricket. Honestly, they’re the most adaptable of any organizing style. Well, they can adapt to butterflies and bees and ladybugs, but if they’re just like their perfect idealized version is a very detailed system behind closed doors. They are the people who want little compartments for all of their underwear. They love filing cabinets and everything’s in alphabetical order and everything behind closed doors. A cricket doesn’t mind taking the time to open a lid. And they can have stacked containers. And crickets don’t really need labels either because they will remember what’s inside. They have a great memory.