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As readers know, I am on a lifelong quest to be more organized. I joke that I am unorganized because I grew up in the unorganized tax district of Grand Marais. I don’t know if that is the reason I tend to be scattered, but I am forever trying to get my life in order. I keep hoping that while I am gathering information for our special Home Improvement issue that I will find the perfect answer to organizing my home—and my life.
I am an avid reader of magazines that offer tips on how to systemize, categorize, and simplify my life. I have spent a great deal of money on fancy boxes and special baskets to accommodate clutter. I have file folders, accordion folders, and filing cabinets. It is pretty much for naught.
I have yet to develop an orderly system for using all these things. When I need a particular file or item, it never seems to be where it should. My lack of orderliness leads to a great deal of self-imposed stress.
However, I recently made one very simple change in my kitchen that has me thinking it is time to put other areas of my life in order. A tiny little change made all the difference in dealing with leftovers.
We have lived in our house for nearly 14 years now. I still remember filling the kitchen cupboards and drawers, trying to figure out the best placement of dishes and silverware, canned goods and coffee cups. When it came time to decide where to put the boxes of sandwich and freezer bags, it seemed logical to put them in the top drawer of the section of drawers next to the stove. Those plastic bags are used a lot, so it made sense to have them handy.
Until we started using them. Then I realized it was not such a good idea. Thetop drawer is a little bit shorter than the other drawers and the boxes that held the baggies were just a teeny bit too tall. Every time we opened the drawer to get a sandwich bag, the cardboard box holding them caught—just a little bit— on the edge of the drawer. Over time, the boxes of Baggies or Glad bags became tattered and frayed. And day after day, it was a source of irritation, to have that little catch. Every time I opened the drawer, I thought to myself, "I really need to move these bags."
A few weeks ago, after more than a decade of frustration, I finally did it. The baggie box stuck one time too many and I said to myself, "That’s it! I’m moving these now!"
I emptied the drawer with the sandwich bags and freezer bags and the drawer below with pot holders and dish towels and switched them. The boxes of bags fit perfectly in the second drawer down. The potholders and linen fit fine in the top.
After the switch, I stood there—opening and closing the second drawer—making sure that it worked. I’m sure I looked like an idiot, but I couldn’t believe it. It worked wonderfully! It is amazing the amount of stress relieved by this incredibly simple rearrangement.
Of course it took a little time to remember that the items had been switched. For weeks I went to the wrong drawer first. But I’m getting used to the change. And the inconvenience is more than made up for by the ease of access. I should have made the switch years ago.
Next up—the junk drawer…
Much of the stress that people feel doesn’t come from having too much to do. It comes from not finishing what they’ve started.
David Allen
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