organizing no-nos??
This is from Maric Gracia and her Get organized NOW! Newsletter.
Can You Spot an Organizing No-No?
How organized are you? Do you believe you know all there is to know about how to get organized? If so, can you spot the following organizing mistakes?
1. It is common, when a person becomes excited about getting organized, that they will go out and buy an assortment of bins, racks and other organizational tools. Though their intentions are good, when they get home they will find they bought the wrong kind, too many or that they do not fit in the space they intended it to fit into. If you prematurely purchase product before determining specifically what you want it to contain and how it will improve functionality, you will probably waste your money. Sort, organize and take measurements before shopping for products.
2. Sometimes organizing will involve the purchase of extra bookcases or other types of furnishings to solve a storage problem. However, that may not always be the case. You may not be aware that you already have storage space in your home that you are not using. Behind doors, between shelves, under beds and on the floor are a few areas that can be used for extra storage. Look specifically for any potential space you have in your home that can be used for storage. As an example, add another shelf or adjust the shelves already there to store more items in closets.
3. Do you wash your dishes on a regular basis or do you let them pile up until it is a big job and has become overwhelming? If you are not maintaining your organizing systems, your space will not stay organized. You need to regularly go through your belongings and purge those items you no longer use or which have become obsolete. Look over the systems you have in place and make sure they are still working. Make any changes if necessary.
4. Stuffed files and cramming all your cooking utensils into one drawer may be considered by some to be a solution to maximizing space. Filling containers too full is actually detrimental to good organizing. When your storage is packed too tightly, it is hard to find anything because you cannot see it and get to it easily. You need room to grow. Give your things breathing room by selecting drawers and containers that allow extra space. If an area becomes too full, it is time to weed it out.
5. Planning space is the most important step when beginning the process of organizing a room. Asking questions and assigning a purpose will help to get the contents of the room organized. If you do not plan out a room, you are not going to know what to do with the contents of the room, so you will most likely end up just rearranging the room back into the same space and not organizing it. Organizing is all about devoting your space to those objects you use most and clearing out the clutter.
6. It is easy to stash things wherever you can fit them and consider yourself organized. However, you will have a hard time finding the item because it is not going to be in its logical place. Assigning a place for everything is important to being organized. Store all like items in one area and store them in the vicinity of where you will be using them. For example, hair products are going to be stored in the vanity in the bathroom. Cooking utensils will be stored near the stove and so on.
7. Sometimes a storage space is so big that it becomes impractical. Simply dumping all your stuff into a huge closet or cabinet does not make it organized. You need to break up large spaces into smaller workable sections by using shelves, containers or dividers. If you do not divide and conquer the large space, you will find that the contents will start spreading and mixing together and you will have a big mess on your hands.
8. Less accessible and out-of-the-way places are normally used to store items that are used infrequently. If you have difficulty retrieving an item you use on a regular basis, it is not in the right spot. High-use items need to be stored in accessible, easy-to-reach storage areas. Keep those items that you use infrequently in the back of a drawer or closet.
9. Paper is a big clutter problem. If you do not have a place set up for all incoming paper, you are not organized. Neat piles of paper stacked up on your desk or countertop is not being organized. A mail center and a filing system need to be created with papers stored vertically in labeled hanging file folders so papers are easy to locate. A small vertical file or desktop caddy can be used as a mail center for keeping bills and receipts.
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