Nothing makes you more unproductive than seeing all the clutter on your office desk or kitchen table. Having an organizational system that you adhere to religiously will help keep this clutter at bay. Experiment. Try to declutter one drawer in your kitchen. See how many wads of unnecessary things you are going to throw away. You’ll be surprised at the rubbish your kitchen drawers have. The same goes for your bedroom cabinets and drawers. They may be full of junk, and you don’t even know it yet.
You can have floor-to-ceiling fitted wall storage, or you can rent a storage unit near you. That gives you more space to store your things in. As for the wall storage, try not to put it in your living room or your dining area. It’s unnecessary to see all your life’s clutter in a room where you’re supposed to unwind and dine. See if there’s space in the garage or the basement where this wall storage can fit.
Declutter First
Before throwing the items into boxes, make sure to declutter first. That means actually throwing away unused and unneeded items into the trash can. Or, at the very least, donate them to someone who needs them. A winter coat you don’t want to wear anymore? Why save it “just in case” when you know now whether you’ll ever wear it again? Save your space and give the coat away. You don’t need to store everything. You just have to store things that you will need in the future. And, yes, those with sentimental value can stay, too.
Buy Clear Plastic Bins
Forget about cardboard boxes. Aside from the fact that it can get wet and disintegrate over time, they’re also not as flexible as plastic bins. Yes, they are cheaper, but they won’t help you. If you need to find items in the future, you’ll be relegated to opening and closing cardboard boxes. Even if they are properly labelled, you will still have a hard time knowing where some of the items are because you cannot see through them. That’s the beauty of plastic bins. They are sturdier than cardboard boxes, and you can see through them. That makes it easier to locate something when you need it.
Categorize the Items
Put similar items in one box. This will make it easier for you to locate things later on. Also, why would you put kitchen tools and seasonal clothes together? This also allows you to identify things that you may need to access more frequently. Your winter clothes, for example, should be accessible to you.
Label the Boxes and Store Away
Don’t forget to label the plastic bins. If possible, slap a list of items on the side of the bin so that you know where everything is. It’s advisable to have a master list of the items you have stored in these bins. This way, you won’t go scrummaging around the house looking for something that’s in your storage bins.
Finally, the organization of one’s place takes practice. Placing things back to their proper order after you’ve finished with them is being disciplined. Allowing yourself to pile things on top of each other on your kitchen table is making matters worse. You need to discipline yourself to put things back where they belong.
