Categorically Speaking

 

Welcome to Monday peeps. And ALMOST welcome to March. One more day of February.

And can I just say?

THANK GOODNESS!

Valentine's day is delightful, and all, but I vote to forfeit February next year.  Because I have a completely unproven theory that if we skip it....we will end up skipping the colds, pukes, laundry, hacking, bitterly cold mornings, and nights that come at 4pm.  February is my nemesis!

March and I are going to make a deal together.  We are going to keep up with the things we've committed to.  We aren't gonna cry hysterically.  We aren't going to re-wash the laundry more than twice. We aren't going to eat our feelings.  We aren't going to say yes....when we meant to say HELL NO!

I don't ever get on the clean-up wagon right after Christmas.  It takes me at least a month or more to dig out of Christmas.  That's the truth.  It's around March where I yearn to clean.  I tend toward a spring cleaning mode.  I usually want to De-clutter my house, re-organize my closets.  Beg for more shelves. Visit IKEA often. And try to explain why gutting our kitchen wouldn't be that big of a deal.

March is an aptly named commander in chief.  I have every intention of "marching" toward a commitment.

And truly, although I count organizing things as one of my "hobbies" (I know. weird.)  There's some spaces that just get so messy, so quickly.

DVD's are my holy nemesis.  I really need to be able to have them contained, not in piles, and in some semblance of order that makes sense to me.  And then labeled...so that it makes sense to others. 

We're gonna take a look at how I store my music and piano books.  I have quite a few of them.  But not a whole lot of area or furniture to hold them.  But when I get a hankerin' for a show tune, I need to be able to locate it's music.....NOW!  Or else the dramatic moment may pass.  :)

The key is 2 fold: contained categories

Once I tried to organize my mom's VCR tapes alphabetically.  I was furious when the family only kept that going for 1.23 seconds.

So then I came up with the "shelf system" where I went through and labeled each video with a shelf number.  And that's where that video was to reside.  I made an alphabetical book of each video name, and what shelf it lived on.  Still WAAAYYY too complicated for my little brothers.

But I'm older now.  And have maybe learned the lessons of elaborate organization systems.

Contained Categories is a method where you get a group of like things and contain them. You don't have to organize them further within that container. But it gives you a small area where you can begin your search. It works with tools, DVD's, Video Games, Craft Supplies. Everything. Contain Like things.

But the 2nd step is ESSENTIAL.... L-A-B-E-L!
I can't say it strongly enough.
Even the most brilliant plan will not succeed if the next person doesn't understand it. Or if you forget what it was.

Make sure a simple label is placed on the outside of your container. Even if it's one you can see into. Just get in the habit of labeling your storage systems.

Kids love to put things into boxes, and sort things. This method works WONDERS with kids. And it ensures that you aren't missing pieces for toys. Put them in a like bin, and you'll know what's missing!

I love "contained categories".  I hate toy chests.  Boxes. Bags.  They are just big holes that will eat your belongings.  Don't be eaten!


*OH....and PS....I'm kinda really excited about some things comin' up this week.  And all month, for that matter.  Stay tuned 'peeps!     LCMF  just    got    INTERESTING!