-out of sight = out of mind, as in, if you canât see it, you will forget it exists. Set up your space such that, when everything is put away, you can still see it all (remove closet doors, shallow shelves so nothing is behind anything else, etc.)
-one-step access. None of this âto get to this thing, I have to get a stool, remove the box in front of it, grab the thing i want, put the box back, put the stool back-â nah. One step access. Not even âthis thing belongs behind this thingâ. Open drawer. Is thing right there? good. Have to move other thing to get to it? bad. Multi-steps means youâll rarely use it, and when you do, it will NEVER GET PUT AWAY AGAIN. Multi-step access is for deep storage and the items that get the least frequent use.
-an itemâs home is within armâs reach of where you are most likely to use it/want to put it down.
-items can have multiple homes and thatâs ok. I have three pencil/pen cans around my room, and like two or three places where Iâm âallowedâ to place things like my wallet and keys (and I am NOT allowed to place them anywhere else, because then Iâll lose them forever).
-examine the mess on your floor and determine the categories, then ask why those things are on the floor.Â
âWhy pile of clean clothes? because I didnât want to fold them up. Solution: fuck folding clothes, clothes only get sorted into categories and then dumped into drawers or crates. Thatâs fine and ok.Â
âWhy pile of kinda-dirty-but-can-still-wear clothes? because I donât want to put them away (i wore them once) but i donât want to put them in the laundry basket (theyâre not really dirty yet). Solution: have a home for âkinda dirtyâ clothes. I drape mine over the edge of my hamper.Â
â- a bunch of trash on your floor? Because the trash can is all the way over there. Solution: put a bunch of trash cans all around your room.
â- pile of papers on desk? because i need to put them in my files where theyâll eventually go. Solution: one of those cute magazine boxes on desk, specifically for âto fileâ papers.Â
-permanent piles on surfaces go in cute little boxes exactly where they already were. e.g. pile on nightstand consisting of wallet, keys, meds, phone, etc??? cute little box right on the nightstand for all that stuff youâll grab every day. Pile on desk of shit that you need to take back out to the kitchen but havenât yet? grab a little tray specifically to accumulate things youâll take back out to the kitchen at some point. box on nightstand for âstuff that could/usually does go in purse, but isnât there today for whatever reasonâ. Lil box for ârandom tiny shit that I should put away at some pointâ like hair ties, safety pins, push pins, etc.
-itâs ok for things to âliveâ in the place where youâll need them next, even if itâs not âawayâ, so long as those things arenât in your way. My pjs live on my bed, because Iâm going to wear them again tonight. If Iâm feeling fancy Iâll fold them and put them at the foot of the bed. Most days Iâll just yeet them on there and thatâs where they Belong. My meds belong in a lil box on my nightstand, because thatâs where Iâll set out my pills for the next day.
- âdump stationâ = right inside the door, where youâll divest yourself of everything automatically anyways. Hook for your purse, hook for workbag, a few hooks for coats etc (even though coats âliveâ in the closet, itâs ok for them to live here too), box/tray for wallet etc, place for shoes. Because Iâm gonna dump them the moment I walk in the door anyway, and if their âplaceâ isnât right there, theyâre just gonna end up part of the mess
-beware the corner piles. Observe them, question them, solve them. Shit accumulates in âdead spotsâ on the floor where you donât walk often. Watch those piles. What are those piles? Where are their homes? And why arenât they there? Are their homes too inaccessible? Did I accidentally start a new hobby and none of the supplies for that have a home yet? Is it something âin progressâ that I still intend to work on/do something with?Â
youâll still go through the cycles of accumulating mess and destroying it all in one go, but the mess accumulated will be so much less and so much easier to deal with.
stormborns
germansingergirl
