You have heard the saying, "A place for everything and everything in its place." This is okay as far as it goes but it leaves out another very important old saying: "Birds of a feather flock together."

 

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Here’s what this second saying means in relation to setting up a system that works when organizing. Put everything that is alike together in one place. Many of us who are disorganized have trouble sorting things into workable groups. Here’s the answer to that problem. It seems simple but it is important and powerful because it works.

Have different centers for your items.

You can have the photo center, the sewing center, the craft center, the music center, the art center, the baking center, the mailing center, the repair center, etc. Group together all things that relate to that center. Even CDs, videotapes and cassettes can be organized this way.

I used to have a place for everything, but the items were not grouped according to categories. If I wanted to wrap a present, for instance, I had to work hard to assemble the necessary equipment. The hard part was not just getting it rounded up but trying to remember where all the stuff was kept. Often, because there was not any real reason for where the things were kept, they weren’t replaced in their designated place after their use.

If things went right in this haphazard system, the scissors were in the living room drawer, the tape was in a desk drawer, the wrapping paper was under the bed, the ribbon was in the hall closet. Even if the system worked at its most efficient, it was difficult to get everything assembled. I gave up this ineffective system. Now I have a wrapping center. It is a low flat box designed to hold everything for wrapping, and it fits under the bed.

Scissors and tape are used for many purposes, so it may be necessary to buy several of each so you can have them in each center where they are used.

 

Excerpted and condensed from Sandra Felton’s: The New Messies Manual: The Procrastinator’s Guide to Good Housekeeping. For more information, visit Messies.com.

 

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