How well do you think a team would succeed if their strategy was to collect balls on the sidelines? Their chances of winning would be even worse than North Korea’s (5% according to the Daily News).   An essential step to achieving YOUR goals is to be sure you at least keep the ball in play.

That may sound so obvious that it doesn’t bear saying, but here’s the point.  Good organizing is about having the ability to circulate the items you need to the goals you want.  All too often we are satisfied with storage that simply makes room for the stuff we have, but does nothing to keep these items findable and useable.

If there’s no expectation for an item to be AT LEAST findable then there’s no point in keeping it.  Even archive files need to be “in play,” on some level.  Sure they can sit for 7 years or so, but at some point, most of them need an exit strategy.  Think of it as a 7 year plan to get them to their goal.

Just as a soccer ball needs to advance down the field in a series of stages before it arrives at it’s goal, items in your home need to advance in a series of stages before arriving at their final goal.  Otherwise they accumulate in piles of clutter.

It’s particularly important to keep perishable items like food and batteries “in play” or you’re just throwing money away.  Again, it’s not about using everything you have as soon as you purchase it, it’s about keeping the ball in play and advancing it towards your goal.  Are you keeping the extra mustard in the cabinet where you can see it? Can you see how many you have?  Can you see that you’ve got more than you can eat before the newest one expires?

The difference between the soccer field and your household, of course, is that you are not facing an opposing team.  The only obstacles that come up as you advance items down the field to your goal is time, other priorities, and the habit of hiding items away so they’re not in play.  Tackle that last obstacle for good.

Keepsakes

First and foremost, admit that this is a major category.  I see it in EVERY home we work in.  These are sentimental items that bring back special memories, but you have no intention of actually using or displaying. If they’re worth keeping, they’re worth keeping well.  Clear plastic boxes or drawers are the most user-friendly, but if you require 30 of them, they can get quite expensive, so do a focused sort and purge first.

Old files

I get it.  You need to keep these, just in case, but their location in your attic, basement, or closet should be as remote as the likelihood of retrieving them.

Luggage

Luggage can take up a lot of room so it often ends up in the basement or attic.  This makes sense, but reserve a spot near the entrance, especially if you travel several times a year.

Holiday/Seasonal

Holiday and other seasonal items belong somewhere between the old files and the luggage.  Don’t bury them too deeply, as their storage and retrieval may be required up to 6 times a year or so.

Kid’s stuff

Kid’s stuff is an all too general category, which I hear all too often. It requires some subcategorizing to organize in a user-friendly fashion.
1. The first subcategory is kid’s schoolwork and artwork. This can represent a huge amount of stuff.  I discuss how to control it in my children’s artwork post.

2. Next is the someday toys and equipment.  To me the idea of keeping old stuffed animals, Lego sets, bored games (misspelling intentional), baby cribs, and strollers for 20-30 years in the unlikely event that they will be genuinely appreciated, at the expense of some valuable storage space doesn’t make sense, but I’m not a mom, so I can accept that I “just don’t get it.”  I would, however, suggest stowing this stuff very remotely, perhaps under the attic eaves, behind the boxes of old files.

3. Finally, there’s outgrown clothes.  The key to sorting these out is to get clear on WHY you are keeping them, because odds are good there are several different reasons.  If they’re for the next baby be sure to keep them in moisture resistant boxes, clearly labeled by size. If they’re handmade or special in any other way, without the intention of being used, store them with the other keepsakes.  If your kids can’t wear them and you just can’t stand to waste them, then don’t.  Make a donation.

Donations

Speaking of donations, I recommend collecting these in your garage or near your home’s exit.  The closer to the exit your donations are, the better your odds are of actually donating them.

For tips on how to get the most out of your closet space, check out my series on closet storage.  For more on attics, check out Attic Attack.

One example I have talked about in my blog Envel-nope! is, not surprisingly, the envelope.  Yes, the sealed envelope is the most appropriate vehicle for delivering you mail, but it is terrible for filing and even worse for action items.  If you are in the habit of filing sealed envelopes, you can quadruple your file space by unfolding the tri-folded statement and by simply discarding the outer envelope, the useless inserts, and return envelope (if you pay online).  An action item hidden in an envelope compels no one to action.

Here’s another example.  Those dry cleaning bags that bundle your clothes are not your friends.  They are designed to keep your clothes clean until you get them safely into your closet, but if you leave them on over time they trap moisture and can cause mold.

If you’re short on space in your new home, those unpacked boxes are robbing you blind, especially the boxes with fragile contents.  Over half the space could be air and packaging material.

Envelopes, laundry bags, and moving boxes are designed for the challenges of transport not the challenges of storage.  An easy way to stay more organized is to banish the bundles.

This is the fourth entry in the series  Top 10 Closet Storage Do’s and Don’ts.

4. DON’T store ANYTHING in a rounded basket with a handle. I know how it goes.  A friend gives you a beautiful gift basket and when it’s emptied, you just can’t bear to part with it.  ”Surely I can find SOMETHING to put in it.”  Any time you find yourself trying to match a need to a container, STOP.  That’s a sure fire recipe for clutter and disorganization.  My advice is to fill that basket with flowers, candy, or cheese and give it back to your friend.  A gift basket is just about the worst organizing container imaginable.   Useful items, particularly squared ones like compact disks, tend to fit terribly in these baskets.  Furthermore, they’re usually tapered at the bottom, designed to make the contents look more plentiful and overflowing.  This is not an optimal storage feature.  They tend to fit poorly ON the shelves and wastefully BETWEEN the shelves, because of those stupid handles (not that you could stack anything on top of that exploding mess that’s coming out of the top anyway).   I’m actually not a huge fan of square baskets either.  The collect dust, they don’t hold identifying labels, and because they are opaque they tend to become clutter traps.  Sure baskets look nicer than plastic boxes, but inside a closet, who cares?

DO store in squared, sturdy, stackable containers. It’s a good opportunity to emphasize that what’s most important is to thoroughly edit your contents before containing them.  Once you’ve got a handle on the quantity you are keeping from each category, get an appropriately sized container for the contents and the shelf or spot it is going.  You will get the best variety of sizes from plastic boxes and I recommend clear plastic. Clear plastic not only provides visibility, but offers a smooth surface for a clear label.  This provides MAXIMUM visibility.  For seasonal, archival, and other lesser-used items, lidded, stackable boxes are the way to go.   The less rounded the boxes and lids are , the better.   Also avoid boxes that taper too much, in favor of boxes with more of a 90 degree angle.  Keeping the box lines clean ensures optimal use of space AND accessibility.  That’s a winning combination.

Today’s key to unlocking clutter. Well shaped containers can make all the difference. The more neatly your boxes fit into a closet, the more space you create for loose items in need of a home.

TWO SIDES OF A COIN

If you think of storage as a one-way street, disorganization is inevitable.  Instead, I find it helpful to think of storage as a coin, where STORAGE is heads and RETRIEVAL is tails.

Storage without retrieval is not a solution.  It is solving one problem by creating another.  In fact, the new problem is worse because when things are hidden away without any sort of exit strategy, the odds of ever dealing with them plummet.    Most likely it won’t occur to us to deal with stashed items until we can stash no more.  That’s usually when I get a call.

Here are six typical areas where retrieval is lacking and ways to improve them.

1. Storage Closets.  Having lived in many small city apartments, I know that sometimes you have nowhere else to store unused items than a closet.   This, however, is not the time to throw up your hands and say you have no storage.  It is the time to truly prioritize and use your limited space most carefully.   For example, with well-filled, lidded banker boxes, you can stack six boxes in just one square foot of floor space.  So how does this help retrieval?  By storing lesser-used items in the back of your closet, you free up more space in the front of your closet for tools, supplies and other items you need to retrieve regularly.  Not all spots in a closet are created equal.   Top shelves are best for seasonal and other items you don’t use every day.  Finally, if you must fill up that last square foot of space, place a single large item with wheels there, so you can easily access the back of the closet or so you can place a step stool there to access the top shelf.

2. Inbox.  An inbox provides a clearly dedicated space for delivering your incoming mail and documents, and for distinguishing them from other ongoing projects that may be piling up on your desk.  This much is good.  The problem comes when this system for processing is treated as a permanent system for storage without an effective system for retrieval.  The less you have to deal with, the more likely you are to deal with it.  Effective retrieval, therefore, demands that you divide and conquer.   By simply putting your reading material in one area, your bills in a bill paying area, and obvious junk mail in the trash, you can cut your mail by 75-100%.  That remaining 0-25% then becomes dramatically more manageable.

3. Office Overload.  Every piece of paper you keep ultimately demands just two imperatives:

a. Act on it

b. Find it.

Keeping paper in piles is counterproductive to both.  Large amounts of paper that demand action will be the subject of next month’s newsletter, but paper that demands retrieval I will address here.   If it’s important to find, it’s important to file.  Let me be clear on this.  I’m not talking about the pages that demand reading or some other action.  I’m talking about the pages that you are done with for now, but may need to lay your hands on again.   If your work has required that you keep large amounts of paper accessible in the past, it will require the same in the future.  Since it’s not going away, make the appropriate allowances. Yup, you gotta get another file cabinet.  Make it a low two drawer one that will give you the additional surface area, vital for processing those huge quantities.   Finally, use box bottom hanging files and take a minute to label them clearly.  They hold more files visibly and they can increase your file space by up to 40%.  Visibility creates findability and findability means you can trust your file cabinets for retrieval.

4. Car.  In my line of work, I come across many make-it-go-away bags, but none more familiar than those that come from a car.   It’s an assortment of stuff that no one wants to deal with.   Again, my recommendation is to take just two minutes to divide it up into the most basic of categories:  all clothes into the laundry room, kid’s stuff into the kids’ room(s), loose papers into the home office.  Miscellaneous stuff will at least end up in a MUCH smaller bag.  I understand how busy you are because I am too.   And as a busy person, I know that that rainy day for emptying make-it-go-away bags isn’t coming.  So divide now, conquer later.  This significantly increases your odds for retrieval.

5. Pockets/ Pocketbooks.  Ideas need a plan for retrieval too.   It’s comforting to get an idea out of your head by writing it down on a scrap of paper, but odds are good that that idea will go nowhere without a plan for retrieval.  This is especially true if you have combined personal information, work information, contact information, on two different sides of the same piece of paper.    The information from this paper can’t be easily broken up and moved forward.  Keep this information separate as you are writing it and it will enable you to divide and conquer when you take it out of your pocket or pocketbook, increasing the odds of converting an idea into action.

6. To Do List.  So how exactly do you take the next step with your separated ideas and act upon them? You may find it a bit like organizing wild horses.  My answer to those wild horses is what I call Project Corrals.   I recommend collecting each set of large project ideas in a clear plastic envelope (yes dear clients THOSE ones).   How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.  Write each action (each bite) on a small Post-It note and collect it on one page (you can fit  28 Post-Its).  Keep each page of ideas in a separate project envelope.  This system asks only that you block out just 15 minutes a week (the day before Monday makes sense to me) to review your big projects and prioritize which of those actions (those bites) you can fit into next week.   In David Allen’s book Getting Things Done:  The Art of Stress Free Productivity, his central answer is to get all the thoughts that are floating around your head out AND into a system you TRUST.   Project Corrals are just such a system, because they contain an easy plan for retrieval. 

Remember, if you only have a plan for storage, then you are only looking at the head side of the coin.  A plan for retrieval is the tail side of the coin and if you get tails you win!