Why I Hate Rubber Bands
I guess it all started in my dear Mom’s kitchen. She would collect various shapes and sizes of used rubber bands on the kitchen faucet. I just hated the way it looked. Mom was thrilled that she was she could always lay her hands on a rubber band. Indeed, the most useful organizing system she had was for finding the most useless organizing convention I can think of.
As a child, I couldn’t articulate what it was about that I didn’t like about rubber bands, but as a professional organizer I can. Some kinds of containers help you GET organized and others help you STAY organized. Rubber bands do neither.
Any of my clients will tell you, my favorite containers for GETTING organized are banker boxes and Ziploc bags. The banker boxes are a good size for sorting, they are stackable, reusable, and you can affix a label to them. Ziploc bags are great because you can see what’s inside of them, including a label to clarify the contents further. Both of these solutions are designed to be temporary launch pads to proper systems.
Rubber bands offer no such launch pad. The only things they can launch is themselves (and that’s not a bad idea.) We may associate a flexibility with rubber bands, but the truth is, there’s a certain rigidity to rubber bands. Take business cards, for example. Once you neatly bundle them up in a criss cross of rubber bands, let’s face it, that’s the end of them. The problem was that business cards were all over the place and the “solution” is that they are now under control, with rubber bands. The rubber bands send the message that the business card problem has been settled. It hasn’t. It has been bundled up and, in some ways, the problem is worse. The only card that you can see in the bundle is the top one.
If the intention of this bundle is to represent a FINISHED system, then the rubber band fails even further. I’ve seen hundreds of organizing systems, good and bad, and there is always one consistent element that makes systems successful: they’re easy! Unbundling, shuffling, and bundling business cards, to continue with the same example, requires effort, not a lot of effort, but effort, enough not to happen.
Big fat files that are bound up in rubber bands are especially difficult to use. The resistance of the rubber makes these files difficult to slide in and out of the file cabinet and the bands cut into the files, leaving them in tatters. One is not encouraged to use files like that, so one doesn’t.
Even for rolls of paper, I try to avoid the rubber band. If you have a lot of large paper that matters, a set of flat files is well worth the investment. For small amounts a portfolio is better. Rolling paper up never improves it.
Finally, rubber bands are NOT so flexible because eventually they dry up, get brittle, and snap. Granted, this takes quite a long time, but that’s not a problem for the rubber band. Things tend to sit bound up for YEARS. Why? Because there is never a plan for moving on from the rubber band solution. It’s done, settled, and often a royal pain to unbind.
Oh, and it gets worse. It’s not enough that these monstrosities snap as their bloated contents explode, they actually have the gall to adhere themselves to folders with an epoxy-like strength, rendering said folder non-reusable and non-recyclable.
Rubber bands have their place, on lobsters and broccoli, but unless you are actively seeking a DISorganizing tool, my advice would be to keep these little menaces out of your home office.
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In the past several years, I had emptied 4 separate dwellings, my grandmother’s apartment, my mother's house, my mother-in-law’s house, and my mother’s next apartment.
Intrigued by the notion of death cleaning and the painful memory of the cleanouts, I too began to consider what I might choose to leave behind.
So, what began with a trial run, (a thorough clean out of my eldest son’s childhood bedroom) I was ready to accomplish something far greater.
When my kids learned of my intention to launch an attack on the mother of all clean-outs (the basement), they worried what this might entail both physically and emotionally, So, to my surprise, a plan was hatched for a consultation with organizer, Matt Baier!
Meeting with Matt, with the support of my husband, and in the presence of the madness (furniture from various owners, cardboard in every size and shape, school supplies from a lifetime of working in classrooms, and twenty-three plastic bins containing the details of my children’s lives)... felt like the perfect storm.
As we continued to mine through vessels of pottery, glass, random art supplies, remnants of carpeting, wood, and fabric, costumes, tubs, screens, windows, and a life-size stuffed man we called Ned, Matt was busy outlining a tactical plan of action. Meanwhile, as we stepped amid multiples of objects including, but not limited to, kitchen appliance, toys, exercise equipment, electronics, glassware, three TV’s, VHS tapes, cartons of emergency meals packed since 2001, and mountain of debris that hadn’t seen the light of day in years, Matt’s resolve only grew stronger.
Unequivocally, meeting Matt was the lifeline we needed to pull us up from the weight of what we no longer needed in order to pass it all on to those who could benefit from donations.
So with a plan in place, come that Wednesday, a team of three remarkable women arrived at 9:30 a.m. to bring order from the chaos, in two short days.
The process from day one would have been impossible to imagine. But these three incredible workers managed to remove everything from the basement in systematic stages, but not before passing each and every object, large and small, through my hands for my simple proclamation: keep, donate, trash or sell. Although daunting in scope, with each passing minute, the sorting really was simple, fast and surprisingly painless! Granted, I was a motivated purger, so nothing gave me more happiness than shouting: donate with as much gusto as I could muster!
These women were absolute angels. They were physically and mentally strong, determined to complete the work on time, and committed to organizing and reorganizing with thoughtful intention and microscopic precision to the work of sorting and discarding. In no time, as the basement grew unbelievably spacious, these three, then assembled new industrial shelving to accommodate clear, labeled bins (all provided by Matt) to create a visually consistent and clean appearance to this new system of organization
Through it all, Matt and his crew demonstrated common sense, sensitivity, practicality, wisdom, efficiency, an uncanny ability to problem solve and think on their feet, professionalism, most of all, kindness.
Included in the package was the capable Junkluggers crew. They arrived to haul it all away from my backyard: first to their charity center, then, to a consignment shop and finally to the dump to deposit my trash.
What a relief to watch them pull away with most of my basement firmly ensconced in the bed of their truck.
One week post clean out, I process the experience a little more each day. The sense of well being and gratitude I feel is immeasurable.
Thank you Matt!
We decided to use Matt Bowers organizers based on recommendations and meeting with Matt Bowers himself.
All of our expectations were met and more. His team of experts were great. They were true professionals in every aspect of the word. Always on time, very knowledgeable and experienced and very accommodating. All through the project they were very attentive to our needs and opinions. And not less important were always punctual and industrious.
Our house is so much more functional now and better organized while we managed to get rid and donate a huge amount of stuff that was just occupying space.
We highly recommend Matt Bowers Organization
Noni and Giora Davidai, New canaan CT
Matt and his team were very professional, responsive to my needs and were able to accommodate my aesthetic into their work. But most importantly they were fun to work with and I felt completely at ease discussing my challenges with them. They truly listened. I would recommend them for any project without reservation.
After several other moves, one of which we were only given a 24-hour notice to move all household items into storage, items were just boxed without labels. Since we had no idea where certain items were, duplicate items bought and used. Along came another move, and we continued to box and move those items again. Finally, we needed to combine similar items to reduce the clutter! The team worked so well, always exceeding my expectations by getting this massive project done! It is wonderful to be organized again and able to find items with ease.
The process with the Team is simple, and you work at your own pace. No one will pressure you to get rid of items. Also, there is a great option to donate items. We were fortunate to have boxes and boxes of kitchen items, household, and bathroom items neatly organized or donated to a charity. We can not thank the team members enough for all the work that they did.
We find so much more clarity with an organized home. The flow of our home is peaceful, and we no longer staring at clutter or rearranging boxes to get them out of view!
Matt's company came highly recommended by several local Realtors. At first, I was a bit concerned about the pricing seeming very expensive; I quickly realized that it was worth every penny and soon became a seasonal client.
The team arrives so prepared and professional; they know just what to do and I can be as involved as much as I choose; or not all. They just get the job done.
Just as an example, I had over 15 file boxes of papers and Matt's team organized and reduced it down to only 4 well organized drawers.
Our personal items were sorted, organized, donated or stored neatly throughout the house.
Matt's team was a life saver for my family. I would highly recommend their service; The results are well worth the investment.
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