By Toni Thayer
July 14, 2008, 2:45 am

Overflowing and disheveled desktops, filing trays, drawers, cabinets and closets are good indicators that it’s time to jump into the middle of that disarray and get control. Organizing can seem like an overwhelming task to many, leaving them feeling hopeless and not knowing where to begin. But that’s easy, you just begin with the basic concept of “like goes with like”.

The first steps are psychological:

• acknowledge that a problem exists and that it’s out of control and no longer functioning,
• choose to tackle the problem head-on with a plan to break it down into workable pieces,
• commit to completing the organization process, realizing that it takes time to put all of the pieces together.

Next, you confront and sort. This can be like a treasure hunt, because you never really know what you’re going to find, probably things that have been lost for years.

Set a goal that’s achievable without becoming overwhelmed – tackle one pile, one countertop, one set of drawers.

You’ll need a clear and open area large enough to sort the material into categories. This is more physical than mental work, turn on some music and enjoy the project.

Then, walk right up to that pile, open that drawer, or grab a stack of papers, and sort each item into categories, placing likes-with-likes, or things that are similar together.

The organizing process is always the same regardless of what you’re organizing. It could be office supply drawers, desk drawers, underwear drawers, laundry cabinets, supply closets, clothes closets, or a kitchen setup.

It involves looking at the items’ uses, the physical area where they will be used, the storage space available and its proximity to the work area.

Let’s say that you have four jammed office supply drawers that barely open anymore. You have no idea where things are, because every drawer contains a lot of the same things, and it’s all intertwined and mixed together.

Open the first drawer. Grab a handful and sort every different thing into individual piles, placing similar type items in one area — one for tools, paperclips, contacts of business cards and phone numbers, plastic bags, paper pads, envelopes, blank forms, old keys, pens, pencils, letter openers, loose change, rubberbands. Sort each of the remaining drawers into the individual piles you just made.

Next, stand back and look at the physical area where all of the category piles will be returned and visualize how the items’ uses relate to the position of the drawer.  Remember to always keep like-with-like.

Which drawer is most accessible? Which items do you use the most? These two go together, just like the least accessible drawer and least used items, or the smallest drawer and smallest items, the largest drawer and largest items.

Put everything that is used for one process together nearest the place where they will be used – assemble a shipping area with envelopes, stamps, postage scale/meter, shipping labels, tape, felt tip markers, shipping rate charts.  The shipping area itself is best positioned next to the door where the packages or mail will exit the building.

For drawers, tray organizers are a must. To make really cheap ones, cut the tops off small boxes. If you invest organizational energy into a project and use cardboard boxes as organizers, take the time to reinforce them with tape.

Plastic organizers are available for a minimal investment.  Yard sales and thrift stores are good sources for these.

The organizing tray and its slots must be big enough for the items to fit.  Put small paper clips in one slot, large ones in another, small binder clips in one and large binder clips in another.  All fastening type items could be put together in one drawer.

Another drawer might contain blank paper products, sorted by type, like window envelopes, mailing envelopes, return address envelopes, writing pads, message pads, Post-It notes.

The same principles apply when organizing stacks of paperwork and records, always sorting by like-with-like. Financial records are maintained by year, so the first sort could be into year piles.

Then, sort the year piles by individual categories like paid receipts, sales invoices, bank and credit card statements, employee records, payroll, payroll taxes, insurance policies, leases, and product catalogs.

Now, your records are ready for either archiving if they’re from a prior year or for filing in a systematic system for current year use.  Ah, but filing systems are another story, and they will be covered in the next article!!! Printer Friendly Version