3 Keys Thursday: 3 Keys to Putting Things Away

Dodgerton Skillhause via Morguefile

When I sat down to write this post, I took a quick look at last week's post, hoping I could provide an update that consisted of three neat checkmarks beside the three tasks I laid out a week ago.

No such luck.

While I can report progress on the counter in my office and celebrate the fact that my desk has been clear for almost a month (that could very well be a record), the counter in the office and the table in the dining room, while improved, still need work. And the clipping file?
Not yet.

When things start to pile up around my house, it's usually for one of two reasons; either I don't have time to keep up with the influx or the things that have made their way into my house haven't yet been assigned a home. This month, a bout with the flu has also contributed to piles forming and lingering.

The more I practice organizing by STYLE, though, the less I struggle with finding homes for my things that are worth keeping. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean my drop and run organizational style disappears, leaving clear space in its wake. Before I know it, the odds and ends I've dropped here and there (usually on the dining room table or the office counter) have created clutter that needs to be sorted and put away.

Over time, I've discovered three keys that work for me when it comes to finding a home for all the "somethings" that gather on flat surfaces. Best of all, these keys often work together, making the process even smoother.

• Put it where there's room. While that may sound obvious, cram and jam organizers need to be reminded of this. If it has to be folded more than once, smushed, crushed or otherwise mashed into submission to fit it into the container of choice, it's the wrong container. Not only will choosing another option save you from ruining an otherwise perfectly good item, it'll save you from endless sorting sessions as you attempt to get to the bottom of what feels like a bottomless container full of crammed and jammed, crushed and smushed, mashed-into-submission stuff. And, if it's hard to open and close an overstuffed drawer, it's much less likely we'll actually use it -- at least until we sort through it.

• Put it where you use it. Depending on the item and the space constraints in your home, this could mean in the same room where it's used, or in the drawer or cupboard closest to the exact spot where you'll use it. But, my I know I put it somewhere friends, it does not mean to drop it into any drawer that happens to have the right amount of space in it. That strategy may work in the moment, but it's guaranteed to lead to a frustrating search for the item you put in a "safe place" when you were in a hurry to clear off the counter. Plan now, save time later. 

Still not sure where it should go?

• Put it where there are other things like it. That way, even if you don't remember where you put it, you're likely to find it when you need it because it's in a logical place.

As I polish off my piles and put things where they belong, I find myself wondering if there are people who don't have piles in their homes....and then I remember my parents' house and my mom's favorite adage: "A place for everything and everything in its place."

Someday.