How to organize your belongings

Organize

Materials & tools needed

Extra large plastic containers with lids. Maybe you need 12, dont skimp out.

Smaller plastic containers for storing similar items owned.

Consider XXL clear zip lock baggies to store like-items.

A pack of labels and use a label on the top, front, and side of each container. This gives flexability to store containers and see which container has what types of contents.

Quick Steps

1. Sort your belongings into broad categories (make a pile for each category).
2. Bring similar categories together.
3. Move each pile into the room that you are most likely to store them in.
4. Divide each pile into sub-categories.
5. Choose appropriate storage units for each category.
6. Observe your mess and identify your "messy" habits.
7. Place storage systems according to your existing habits.

Full Steps

• Sorting into broad categories

1. Concentrate on one room at a time.
2. Pick up each object in the room (excluding furniture) and place them in piles according to the broad category they fit into (make up the categories as you go).

Examples of categories include:

1. • books
   • borrowed items
   • clothing
   • electrical appliances
   • gardening equipment
   • kitchen items
   • paperwork/mail
   • stationery (pens, paper, etc.)
   • tools
   • trash

1. At first, allow the categories to be very broad so that you don't have too many piles, you can make sub-categories later. For example, a broad category might be "clothes", which would later be sorted into sub categories "clean clothes", "dirty clothes", which would later be further sorted into "clean every-day clothes", "clean special occasion clothes" and "dirty white clothes" and "dirty woolen clothes" and "dirty colored clothes".
2. Repeat this for every room in the house.

• Bringing similar piles together

1. If you find that you have (for example) a "clothes" category in the lounge room and in your bedroom, bring these two piles together. Leave them in the room that you are most likely to store them in.

• Moving the piles to the rooms that you are most likely to store them in

• Sorting the broad categories into sub-categories

• Deciding how you will store each category of belongings

1. If you have appropriate existing storage units (cupboards, drawers, etc.), neatly put your sub-categorized piles of belongings into the appropriate storage unit.
2. If you don't have appropriate existing storage units for some of your categories of belongings, consider what would be appropriate for you, then you can either:
   • make the appropriate storage units
   • buy the appropriate storage units from a second hand store/furniture store

• Tidying up when the house gets messy

1. If/when the house gets messy again, pick up each item that is "out of place" and place it in a pile according to its category.
2. When all "out of place" items have been categorized into piles, put them away in their appropriate place.

• Placing your storage units according to your habits

1. After you have tidied your house a few times, you will become aware of your habits. For example, you may find that you keep finding piles of dirty clothes on the bathroom floor instead of in the dirty washing basket in your bedroom (where you "planned" to put your dirty clothes).
2. Where appropriate, move storage units to the places where you are finding things "out of place". For example, move the dirty clothes basket from the bedroom to the bathroom if you naturally tend to "dump" your dirty clothes in the bathroom.
3. The idea is that you make your system support your already-existing habits, rather than trying to make yourself learn new habits.

See Also

= External Links =

From HowTo Wiki, a Wikia wiki.