A Few Of Our Favorite Things: Organizing Tip

07 May 2010 2 Comments

by Whitney in A Few of Our Favorite Things

The goal: Get our stuff together

The results: Neatly organized stuff

Amanda’s Pick:

The Stats: Flyt magazine file, $2.99 for a 5-pack at Ikea (in stores only)

Why: Because sometimes vertical storage just doesn’t make sense.
The Story: I have collected a lot of stuff that’s around the size of a magazine: packs of address labels, file folders, clippings of recipes/craft ideas from magazines, spiral notebooks, legal pads. I also teach some writing classes, and I have a binder, textbook, and assorted other items for each class. To corral all these goodies, I use to stack them up together. But, a huge stack of office supplies, such as labels and folders isn’t easy to sift through when I just gotta have that 2″ x 3/4″ silver foil address label. Then, I discovered the magazine files at Ikea. I can now sort my “magazine-sized” office supplies easily with these file folders. I can also horizontally store my textbook, binder. I also bought a pack for my kids’ art room. I use them to store homeschool books/worksheets, craft books, coloring books, etc. It’s so much easier to find that Star Wars Clone Wars sticker book when we just gotta have it. And, the shark stencil book is no longer at the bottom of a vertical stack when the urge to stencil sharks strikes my 5-year old. Like it did yesterday.

The Pros: Cheap. A hole in both sides so you can easily see through to know what’s inside if you don’t want to make labels (but seriously who doesn’t want to make labels?!?).Made of corrugated cardboard so when they meet their end, I can recycle them. And when my daughter needs her princess party activity book, I feel like SuperMom when it only takes me 4.2 seconds to dash to the art closet, grab it, and give it to my little princess.
The Cons: They aren’t made of the highest quality material, so I wouldn’t call them super durable. If you want to splurge on wooden ones, they’ll probably last longer. Extra large binders, like my favorite Ed Hardy ones, won’t fit.
One last thing: You can alter these magazine files easily if the drab white gets you down. I stumbled upon a blog post once about these after I already had a few packs. So, I got inspired (see photo). Here, here, and here are some unique options, but you could also get the kids involved, letting them stamp, collage, handprint, or paint them.

Whitney’s Pick:

The Stats: A basic kitchen timer; one style for about $10.00 at Target

Why: I put 30 minutes on the timer and tackle one organization goal at a time. For example, if I need to clean the living room, I set a goal to do it in thirty minutes. Same goes for catching up on filing or other organization goals.

The Story: As a single woman with a full-time job, if there’s something in my life that needs to be organized, I’m responsible. Most of the time, this doesn’t bother me–it’s a source of pride for me to support myself and manage my home. But sometimes I get overwhelmed. After a full day of work, sometimes I just don’t think I can take care of my chores.

The Pros: Setting a timer gives me a light at the end of the tunnel. I stay focused on the job at hand because I know I only have 30 minutes to get as much done as possible. But, I’m not overwhelmed because I’ve just got one chore to finish, instead of a task list a mile long with no end in sight.
The Cons: Some tasks really do take longer than 30 minutes. In this case, I try to split up my time and work on them in thirty-minute increments, but it’s not always possible.
One last thing: How do you tackle your task list? Do you work on home chores throughout the week or bite the bullet on the weekend? I’d love to hear about your successes or processes to avoid in the comments!

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