Peace of Mind Organizing

Worth repeating: Store things near where you use them

4 March 2013

Just over a year ago, I wrote a blog post about one of the most important (and common sensical) organizing axioms: store items near where you use them. I think it’s such an important message, I’m posting it here again.

One thing I always tell my clients—and I mention it when I give talks—is that it makes life a lot easier if you store items near where you use them. If you select a distant place to store stuff, it gets that much more difficult to put things away when you’re through with them.

Here’s the example I use in talks to illustrate this important principle.

My husband I are dog lovers, accustomed to having a pair of standard poodles (though right now we have just one). Our poodles have a complete wardrobe of leashes and collars, passed down through the years and supplemented by absolutely gorgeous ones from my friends at Paw Paws.

When we first moved back into our house in 2001, I decided we should store our leashes and collars in a hanging shoe organizer in the coat closet. Because our house is old and odd, however, the coat closet is probably 25 feet away from the front door we use. Right next to that front door is a table.

So I bet you can guess what happened: Rather than walk 25 feet to put away the leashes and collars after a walk (our dogs go naked in the house), we had a natural tendency to put the collars and leashes down on the table just inside the door. For a little while, I tried to put them away properly and I tried to get my husband to do the same, but it really made a lot more sense to just put them down right next to wear we use them.

So I stopped getting frustrated and instead got a basket. I put it right under the pile of leashes and now they’re contained. The messy pile is gone and a basket is in its place. And heaven knows how many minutes have been saved over the last ten years!

Tagged with: organizing principles, pets, storage, worth repeating

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