Organizing Your Life

Organization Assessment If you answered “false” to three or more of the questions above, you need to pay close attention to the following Scholars lesson on organizing your life.

Myths About Organization Myth: Organizing is the same as being neat. Fact: Organizing is not about how a space looks, but how it functions

Myths About Organization Myth: Organizing is a talent you’re either born with or not. Fact: Organizing is a learnable skill.

Myths About Organization Myth: Organizing is about throwing things away. Fact: You can keep everything you want and still get organized.

Symptoms of a Disorganized Person You never put things back in the same place twice You have new things that you do not have a place for You have too many things to do and not enough time

The Cost of Disorganization If you plan on storing items, for a basic 10 foot by 20 foot storage unit you'll pay approximately $60 a month. This doesn't seem like much, but it works out to $720 a year, and if you rent a space at this rate for 3 years, you'll spend a grand total of $2,160. Most people don't think about the total cost of long-term storage, and when they really stop to consider what they've spent after renting a storage unit, they realize they could have purchased new items with the money wasted on storing the old ones.

Part I: The Closet

The #1 Rule of Organization “A place for everything and everything in its place.”

The #2 Rule of Organization “Out of sight, out of mind.” I don’t have to worry anymore about all of that junk in my closet. It is now at the Salvation Army I can’t remember where I put that sweater. I guess I’ll just have to buy a new one. Organized Disorganized

The #3 Rule of Organization “Travel light”

The #4 Rule of Organization “If you don’t use it, lose it!”

The #5 Something In – Something Out “If you bring something new into a full space, something must go.” Something In Something Out

Quick Sort Pull everything out of your closet. Sort everything from your closet into 4 piles. If you haven’t worn or used it in a year, it goes in the TRASH or DONATE pile. KEEP MOVE TRASH DONATE

Remove 2 Piles From Your Room Remove the trash Bag up the items you wish to donate. Get them out of your room. TRASH DONATE

Keep Pile Focus only on the KEEP pile. Set the MOVE pile outside your room for now. KEEP

Sort Sort the only pile left into themes Theme Ideas: Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer Dress clothes, casual clothes, slacks, dresses, etc. Colors

Hang Hangers Backwards Hang hangers backwards after sorting, then hang clothes up normally to see which clothes you actually wear. Then after 6 months or a year, you can see which clothes you have not worn. Get rid of those clothes.

Dealing with Dirty Clothes Place 2-3 laundry baskets in your closet. Sort as you remove your clothing. Do laundry one basket at a time as they fill up. Whites Colored Delicates

Set Out Clothes the Night Before

Find a Place For Other Items Sort the MOVE pile. Find a specific and logical place for each item. For example, a toaster does not belong in your closet.

Purchase Clear Storage Boxes

Still Not Enough Space?

What if I might need it later? If you really can't throw things out, put the items in a box with a destroy date written onto it—generally about six months from now. If you find yourself needing to go into it to find something, put it with the items to keep. Anything left in the box at the end of the time should be thrown out or donated.

Part II: Organizing Your Desk

Quick Sort Pull everything out of your desk. Sort everything from your desk into 4 piles. If you haven’t needed it or used it in a year, it goes in the TRASH or DONATE pile. KEEP MOVE TRASH DONATE

Remove 2 Piles From Your Room Remove the trash Bag up the items you wish to donate. Get them out of your room. TRASH DONATE

FOCUS-FOCUS-FOCUS Focus only on the KEEP pile. Set the MOVE pile outside your room for now. KEEP

Sort Sort the KEEP pile left into 2 more piles Office Supplies Paper

Organize Purchase an organizer to handle the small items Choose a specific location for all other items that will be put back into your desk.

Sort Sort papers by topics. Throw away any non-essential papers that you have not used in 1 or more years. Misc. 9th Grade Essays Receipts Biology Paper MLA Format Phone Numbers

File Purchase hanging files. Label folders to match your piles. Bonus Tip: Transfer your notes from your binder into file folders after each test. Go through your files 2 times per year. MLA Phone #s Biology Receipts Essays

Filing System Options MLA Phone #s Biology Receipts Essays

Find a Place For Other Items Sort the MOVE pile. Find a specific and logical place for each item. The logical place for these items may not be in your desk. For example, an apple does not belong in your desk.

Deal with Paperwork Once Avoid the temptation to “set it and forget it”. It may work for chicken, but it doesn’t work for paperwork!

Mail Separate junk mail from important mail. Throw away junk mail immediately. Open mail. Make a choice. Is it worth keeping or is it trash? If you keep it, file it. If it is a bill, pay it. or or

Strive for a Clean Desktop Each Day “It’s a miracle the way he keeps his desk so clean!”

Strive for a Clean Desktop Each Day

Paperwork Fact “Less than ½ of the paper that finds its way to your desk is worth your attention”

3 Tiered Files on Desktop Top file – High priority (on to do list) Middle file – Low priority (on to do list) Bottom file – Needs to be filed or may be needed in the near future

A Great Book of the Subject of Organization