Day 43: How To Organize Your Office Drawer
What: Office drawer (a.k.a. the junk drawer)
Why: Most of us have THAT drawer. THAT drawer has all of our address books, scrap paper, notepads, scissors, paperclips, tools, odds and ends, you name it. If you can’t find it anywhere else, it is typically in THAT drawer, right? That drawer can be such a frustrating drawer when you are looking for something specific, but can’t find it because you have way too much junk in that drawer. But you may wonder, then where and what I am to do with all of that “stuff?” Here are a few answers
How:
1. Take everything out of your junk/office drawer, no matter where it is. If it is in your kitchen, dining room, office, wherever, take everything out.
2. Go through each item and ask:
- Do I need this item?
- Why do I have it? What purpose does it serve?
- Is this the best place for this item?
- Do I have more of this item somewhere else? If so, should I store it with the others?
3. After you have gone through each item, decide whether to: donate, recycle, relocate, or put back in the drawer.
4. Whatever is NOT going back in the drawer – items you are relocating, put them in their new place now. This may take a few minutes, but it will be worth it in the end.
5. The items going back in the drawer, organize in a way that they are easily accessible. Avoid shoving items that you use frequently, into the back of the drawer. What is the most logical place to put this item?
6. Enjoy a newly organized OFFICE drawer – it can no longer be called a junk drawer because there should be no “junk” in there.
Confession of the Day: Above is the picture of our “drawer.” I USED to have it filled with the most random tools, nuts and bolts (literally), papers from who knows where, and just “stuff” that did not belong in there. I put the tools where they belonged, the nuts and bolts in the appropriate tool box, etc. It took a little while to put everything in their correct place, but the key to living an organized life with less is FINDING A PLACE FOR EVERYTHING.
