From So-So to Spectacular

Dodgerton Skillhause via Morguefile

Yesterday's post left me with a lingering question:

What other storage habits do I need to reconsider? 

Unless you've recently moved, renovated or redecorated, you probably haven't updated your organizational set-up recently. Like the squeaky wheel, organizational systems typically get attention only when they aren't working.

Still, as my flag storage plan reminded me, we sometimes settle for "good enough" when one small change could make a big difference. And, we sometimes don't even know we're doing it.

Often, the first sign that we need to make a change is that things aren't getting retrieved or put away in a timely manner. While we often point to ourselves (or someone else in the house) as the problem, there's often a deeper issue at work. Three simple questions can be the key to turning so-so systems into storage solutions.

• Is the system easy to use? An overly complicated storage system is sometimes as bad as none at all. When putting things away is difficult, we choose the path of least resistance, putting things down instead of away (drop and run organizers), putting them wherever there is space (I know I put it somewhere organizers) or stuffing them somewhere (cram and jammers). When we do this, we exacerbate the problem, creating a retrieval issue. Drop and run organizers must retrace their steps and dig through piles. I know I put it somewhere organizers race around frantically trying to remember which safe place they put the necessary item in and cram and jammers attempt to retrieve things from overstuffed spaces, hoping the thing they're searching for won't be crumpled, torn or broken when they find it. In the process, we waste time, frustrate ourselves and often create chaos. Often, however, it's this process that reveals the answer to the questions behind this problem: what's stopping me from using this system and how can I fix that?

• Is it in the right place? Similarly, if we have to climb ladders, move piles or take a cupboard apart to find something we use with any degree of frequency, it's in the wrong place. While it makes sense to store things we use only occasionally in out-of-the-way locations (especially when space is an issue), the things we use more often need to be easier to access. Store it where it's used, store frequently used items in easy-to-access places and store similar items together.

• Do I like it? Although this might not affect how well the system works, it can affect how likely we are to use it. If it's fantabulously functional (a worn accordion file with just the right number of labeled sections, for example), we might not care how it looks, especially if we tuck it away in a drawer or closet. But, if you're taking your system from so-so to spectacular, the aesthetics of containers and systems are worth considering.

In the best of all possible circumstances, a simple change in location makes a big difference, as it did for my garden flags. Other times, some shopping, sorting and re-organizing is required, but if these steps create a more efficient system, the time to put it all together is time well spent. Not only will it reduce your clutter, as sorting often does, but it will also save you time.

Best of all, you'll be too busy taking pride in your new system to have time to point the finger of blame at anyone, including yourself.

Alexas Fotos via Pixabay

Location by Style

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Yesterday, I wrote about location on vacation. Today, I am attending a family funeral, so I'm taking a break from my style-by-style posts (3 Key Concepts) posts and sharing a previous post on location and the styles. 3 Key Concepts will return next week.

My mom was a big believer in the old adage, "a place for everything, and everything in its place." I don't know about you, but I've always found that phrase (attributed to Benjamin Franklin, by the way) intimidating. Nothing like a little perfectionism to make us feel bad about an almost clean space. Maybe Benjamin Franklin was a minimalist (he did travel a lot). Or a Type A organizer.

But I digress.

For our purposes, let's eliminate the perfectionism inherent in the second half of the philosophy and focus on the first part: A place for everything. This is the part we can make happen when we tackle the Y in STYLE ("Yes, it has a home!") and apply our styles to our systems. 

What does that look like? As always, it depends on your styles.

I love stuff people are good at putting things together, sometimes in unconventional ways, which is a key concept behind choosing good homes for their things. Often collectors, folks with this style already understand the importance of storing similar items together, and may come up with creative combinations that make storage fun. 

I need to see it people are good at putting things where they can see them, and therefore, find them. Building systems on visual cues (like labels and color coding) can help folks with this style to make the transition from putting things down to putting them away so that they worry less about another adage: out of sight, out of mind. 

I love to be busy people are good at categorizing. Keeping track of the supplies for their many activities gives them lots of practice at deciding which groups of items should go where. Running from one activity to the next has usually convinced them of the importance of this concept, which allows them to grab and go.

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Cram and jam people are good at simplifying; if it's all in one spot, it's easy to find. Learning to separate their belongings into containers by category allows them to expand their storage and protect their belongings.

Drop and run. people are good at backtracking to find things. Retracing their steps (which they do often) may lead them to determine locations that make sense, based on where they naturally drop things, allowing them to build a system based on their natural habits. 

I know I put it somewhere people are good at putting things away, making them great at finding homes for things. Learning to make those homes logical, rather than haphazard, is the key to their location success.

Every once in a while, we need to be reminded that even if our homes don't embody the "a place for everything, and everything in its place" philosophy, we're moving in the right direction. Finding consistent, logical homes for our things is possible when we remember to view our styles as strengths, and plan our systems accordingly.

Do Your Styles Take a Vacation When You Do?

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When you go on vacation, where do you put your stuff? Do you unpack or live out of a suitcase? Do all of your organizational plans go out the window, or are you better organized when you're away than you are at home? Do you drop and run? Cram and jam? Put things in a "safe" place?

I've written often about the importance of finding the right location for things. In fact, I'm such a firm believer in this that I try to put this into practice even when I'm on vacation. This is made much easier when we visit the same place each year (the same condo complex at the beach, the same hotel when we visit my daughter), but it works wherever you go.

I'm not suggesting that you have to move in when you're only away for the weekend -- simply finding the drop spot that works for important items (cell phone and keys, for example) and using it every time avoids those last-minute panicked moments when you're in a hurry to get to your next destination.

Packing patterns can help, too, even when it's as basic as using the compartments in a suitcase to store the same items every time. When we're going away for more than a day trip, I use the same bag for the same things each time so I know where to look.

Ironically, as I write this, I have yet to find two things I packed when we left the beach. One was a new purchase, so it had no assigned home. The other (my Fitbit charger) got tossed into an available spot that made sense when we left (an I know I put it somewhere habit I don't usually fall prey to); I have yet to determine what that space was. I'm sure it will turn up, but, had I put it in its assigned spot, I'd have found it (and used it to rescue my poor, uncharged Fitbit) by now.

Location, location, location.

3 Keys Thursday: 3 Keys to Furnishing a Small Space

Dodgerton Skillhause via Morguefile

So you're getting ready to organize that space that's much smaller than you'd like it to be. Or, maybe your son or daughter is ready to tackle dorm life. While we can get away with things that are cute but not functional in a large space, we have no such luxury in a small space. In a small space, every container must earn its keep. By choosing containers carefully and remembering the rules of homes and locations, we can make a small place attractive and functional.

• Choose containers carefully. Match them not only to the space you have available, but to personal and organizational styles as well. If every container is useful and serves a purpose, staying organized -- even in a small space -- is do-able. Choose "Goldlocks" containers -- storage that's just the right size for what it holds -- in order to use every inch effectively. Not sure what to choose? Check out the charts at the top of this page for hints on matching your containers to your styles. 

• Choose locations wisely. Store things close to where they'll be used and make most frequently used items easily accessible. If you store something in the place where it's most often needed, you'll find it effortlessly. In a dorm, this means study supplies are in or near the desk, in-season clothes are in the most accessible clothing storage and out-of-season clothes (if they're in the room at all) are tucked into nooks, crannies and faraway spaces. 

• Give everything a home. There's much less margin for overflow in a small space, so keeping the old adage "a place for everything, and everything in its place" in mind becomes essential. Begin by choosing containers that make it as easy to put things away as it is to put them down. Then, make sure homes are not only logical (as described above), but also style-savvy. Take advantage of strategies like clear containers, labeling and color-coding to remember which logical home is which. Remember to store similar items together, and perhaps find homes for complementary items (things that go together or are used together) near each other as well. 

New beginnings are very exciting, and creating a plan that works with what comes naturally from the start paves the road from the initial plan to easy upkeep. 

Location and the Styles

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Today at CatholicMom.com, my STYLE Savvy post is about location -- finding the right homes for our things so that we can live up to the old adage, "a place for everything, and everything in its place."

I don't know about you, but I've always found that phrase (attributed to Benjamin Franklin, by the way) intimidating. Nothing like a little perfectionism to make us feel bad about an almost clean space. Maybe Benjamin Franklin was a minimalist (he did travel a lot). Or a Type A organizer.

But I digress.

For our purposes, let's eliminate the perfectionism inherent in the second half of the philosophy and focus on the first part: A place for everything. This is the part we can make happen when we tackle the Y in STYLE ("Yes, it has a home!") and apply our styles to our systems. 

What does that look like? As always, it depends on your styles.

I love stuff people are good at putting things together, sometimes in unconventional ways, which is a key concept behind choosing good homes for their things. Often collectors, folks with this style already understand the importance of storing similar items together, and may come up with creative combinations that make storage fun. 

I need to see it people are good at putting things where they can see them, and therefore, find them. Building systems on visual cues (like labels and color coding) can help folks with this style to make the transition from putting things down to putting them away so that they worry less about another adage: out of sight, out of mind. 

I love to be busy people are good at categorizing. Keeping track of the supplies for their many activities gives them lots of practice at deciding which groups of items should go where. Running from one activity to the next has usually convinced them of the importance of this concept, which allows them to grab and go.

Designed by freepik

Cram and jam people are good at simplifying; if it's all in one spot, it's easy to find. Learning to separate their belongings into containers by category allows them to expand their storage and protect their belongings.

Drop and run. people are good at backtracking to find things. Retracing their steps (which they do often) may lead them to determine locations that make sense, based on where they naturally drop things, allowing them to build a system based on their natural habits. 

I know I put it somewhere people are good at putting things away, making them great at finding homes for things. Learning to make those homes logical, rather than haphazard, is the key to their location success.

Every once in a while, we need to be reminded that even if our homes don't embody the "a place for everything, and everything in its place" philosophy, we're moving in the right direction. Finding consistent, logical homes for our things is possible when we remember to view our styles as strengths, and plan our systems accordingly.

3 Keys Thursday: 3 Key Ideas for I Know I Put it Somewhere Organizers

Photo: Dodgerton Skillhause via Morguefile

Ah, the I know I put it somewhere organizer. So Type A organizer on the outside, yet so lost at times when it comes to finding those things he or she put in a "safe place."

One theory psychologists use to explain the memory process is a three step model: encoding, storage, retrieval. In order for us to successfully retrieve something from memory (remember it), it has to have been properly encoded (entered) and stored (put somewhere it can be accessed).

That same theory can be applied to the organizational process, particularly for the I know I put it somewhere organizer. Since all available storage space is created equal in the mind of the I know I put it somewhere organizer, these folks need to limit their options so they aren't tearing the house apart looking for one thing. For them, the key to successful retrieval lies in successful storage or finding homes that make sense.

freepik.com

• Location rule #1: Store items where they are used. Storing an item close to where it's used (e.g., oven mitts near the oven) not only makes sense, but it also makes it easier to remember where we put things and, therefore, to find them when we need them. If we know our "somewhere" is limited to the storage spaces in the area where the item is typically used, we reduce our search parameters from "it could be anywhere" to "it's somewhere in this drawer." Quite a substantial reduction -- and one that requires much less time and energy when we need to find something, even if that something is (still) just stuffed in a drawer.

• Location rule #2: Store like items together. This key combines storage and retrieval. If we use Location rule #1 and store an item in a place that makes sense, we're more likely to remember where we put it, which makes it easier to retrieve it. Storing like items together piggybacks on Location rule #1, making it easier to find things because of the associations we make  (e.g. I'm putting the oven mitts in the drawer with the cookbooks). These associations provide visual cues which act as retrieval cues. In other words, making a connection between, say, the cookbooks and the oven mitts, helps the I know I put it somewhere organizer remember which somewhere is the one he or she chose for both items.

• Use retrieval cues. Some things can be used in a variety of spaces, making Location rule #1 challenging. And while opening the drawer and seeing the cookbooks can provide the "aha" moment that reminds us where we stored the oven mitts, it's even better if we can figure out which drawer to open in the first place. To do this, the I know I put it somewhere organizer can benefit from taking a page out of the I need to see it organizer's book, and using strategies like labeling, color-coding and see-through storage. Unlike the I need to see it organizer, the I know I put it somewhere organizer can put these see-through, labeled or color-coded containers behind closed doors (because out of sight isn't out of mind for I know I put it somewhere folks), or they can simply use these strategies and containers in the first place. Clear plastic bins come in many sizes and colors and can be incredibly helpful in revealing those "safe" storage places to I know I put it somewhere organizers. 

Really Useful Boxes
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If you're an I know I put it somewhere organizer, what are the key ideas you swear by? Share in the comments below!

For printable information sheets 
about containers and the styles, 

click on the CHARTS tab at the top of this page.