Peace of Mind Organizing

Snowed in?

8 February 2010

Here in St. Louis, we have just a little snow on the ground, with a little more expected this afternoon. Those of you on the east coast, however, are pretty much snowed in. I just communicated via email with a friend in Maryland who said they got two feet of snow and were out of power for more than 48 hours. Yikes.

I don’t much like snow and I’m a white-knuckle driver in snowy or icy conditions. So I never wish for that amount of snow. But if we were to become snowed in, I’d like to think I’d take the chance to do some little tasks, interspersed with soothing activities like naps and watching TV and drinking cocoa.

Here are a few organization-related tasks you might consider if you’re starting to get cabin fever:

Clean out a junk drawer. In my opinion, there’s nothing wrong with a junk drawer. But if yours has become hard to open and close, now’s your chance to clean it out. Empty it, weed out the inevitable trash, sort the contents and put them back in the drawer, with like things together. Depending on the contents of your junk drawer, you might consider using interlocking drawer organizers.

Put away the holidays. I realize that Groundhog Day is behind us, but I’d be willing to bet that some of you haven’t finished putting away your holiday decorations or other holiday paraphernalia. I confess that my holiday cards are still in the basket in the living room where I put them as they came in. Today’s a good day to put them (or throw them) away.

Take a look around your bathtub Are there abandoned shampoo bottles, slivers of soap, old disposable razors or any other items that you don’t use regularly littering the edge of the tub or the shower caddy? Take a couple of minutes and spruce up that spot.

Clean out a bookshelf. If you have a difficult time putting away books because your shelves are crammed (or if you have to store some books on the floor, or sideways atop the other books), take 15 or 30 minutes and weed out a bookshelf or two. You can sell your unwanted books to a used book store, on Craigslist or to
Powell’s Books (like I do). The result? A tidier bookshelf and perhaps some money in your pocket.

Pick up your pet area. If you have pets, you probably have an area where you feed them that perhaps is a little messy with dropped bits of kibble or what have you. You may have a tangle of leashes stashed somewhere. And, if you’re like me, your pets might have scattered their toys around. Take a few minutes to pick up after your pets. It won’t last forever, but it’ll be nice while it lasts!

Just taking a little time to do something productive might help make it easier for you to relax during your snow-related confinement. You’ll get to enjoy the fruits of your labor while feeling justified in wrapping yourself in a cozy blanket and waiting out the storm.

Thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway for The Other Side of Organized. The winner was Debbie Pendell. Keep watching the blog, because I have a couple of more giveaways in the works.

Tagged with: cats, clutter clearing, disorder, dogs, snow, weather

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