This is a continuation of Top Tips to Start Getting Organized Week! More of my favorite tips and tricks are still to come.
Tip Number Three:
Leave Things Where You Used Them
Your space should be working for you; you should not be a slave to it. My room works for me. Everything I need is in a useful spot, and I only have what I actually use. Also, when things are in logical places, it is much easier to maintain. My favorite, tried-and-true method is to keep my items where I use them. If you do this, you will avoid being tempted to leave something in the wrong place after you use it when you are too busy or feeling lazy.
For example, my hair care products (my gels and sprays, blow dryer and straightener, brushes and combs) are all right in front of my mirror in a small narrow bookcase where I do my hair. Even when I am in a hurry, everything ends up where it should be because I automatically leave it there. Some days I might toss the items there instead of neatly placing them in a line with all of the labels facing forward (yes, I usually do this), however, since they all end up in the right designated space, they are very easy to tidy up at a later, less busy time.
Stay tuned for more of this week's tips and tricks!
This worked fine for me. But then other people insisted I defrag, and stuff should be hidden behind cabinet and closet doors, and now I can't find it.
ReplyDeleteI keep whining "I don't know what to discard" and "I don't know where it goes". (That last one since I was a kid -- I'd say I'd be glad to clean up my room if I knew what I had to do.) "Where I used it" seems fine to me, but that might be the floor, or the counter... I've hired cleaners (not you -- the foundation systems you put in place in about an hour three-plus years ago are still in place -- who acted as though "tidy" and "everything stuffed randomly out of sight" were the same thing.
If so many people tell me I'm wrong I'll admit I might be, but those who would help declutter a cluttered person should keep in mind that parts of the cluttered persons existing system may be working better for him than a tidier-looking system. They should make sure the new organization is at least as useful, and try to understood the method in the existing madness. Otherwise they will be asked to leave. Yes, you hit a nerve. :-)
But how does one organize stuff which must, by nature of it's use, travel? Things which must be used in several places? Flowing use if you will.
ReplyDeleteAbigail
@Mr. Chesler: Yes, I agree that having a professional come in and "tidy" does not always work the way you might hope. I believe the best way to clean someone else's space is to do it with them. That way you can negotiate a system that works for the end user: You!
ReplyDelete@Abigail: You are right, the method of leaving things where you use them is a method best used for the items that are not normally used in multiple places. For the items that "travel", I like to group those objects with other like-kind objects. For example, you use a vaccuum all over your house along with other cleaning products. For those items I would designate one place for them instead of leaving them in multiple places. So our vaccuum, swiffer, duster, and broom all live together in a closet. I will try to make a later post about how I handle other common items that travel.
Thank you both for your comments!