I love this organization system brought to us by our very own Dollar Store Diva!
I am a woman of many interests; I am also a visual learner with a touch of ADD. The combination of these facts has created large amounts of stress for me during my 44 years of keeping a home and raising six children.
No doubt you already know the oozing-with-organizational-wisdom-adage: A place for everything, and everything in its place.
Unfortunately, my husband and I could summer in Europe on all the money I have spent over the years on my latest and greatest, “A place for everything, and for everything a place.”
And I still couldn’t find my hot glue gun when I needed it.
From my years of sincere—albeit fumbling–organizational attempts, I have learned the following four things about what is required in a system that would work for me:
1) When I put something away in its “place”, it can’t involve having to make a decision. If I have to decide where to put it, I’ll just put it in a pile somewhere. Piles don’t work for visual learners. And somewhere is usually re-discovered only after a desperate hunt.
2) The storage location has to be easily accessible. If it involves lifting lids or sifting through drawers, it won’t happen. I get too easily overwhelmed and ever so sidetracked by the other lovely things I find in the drawer.
3) I can’t use a bin or a crate because I plop things on top of the bin to be “decided on” later. [See #1] The pile on top of the bin adds another step, which means, of course, that I will get overwhelmed or sidetracked. [See #2]
4) It requires labels. Because I am visual, I have to be able to “see” where things are.
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Then, one day in my classroom, I had a
~~Light-bulb Moment!~~
I teach adult ESL. My students speak almost no English, so I use a large assortment of visualized vocabulary cards and bulky hands-on learning supplies. My classroom file cabinet is filled with thick files, bulging awkwardly with educational “stuff”. And it works perfectly for me. A labeled easily-accessible place for everything, and for everything a labeled easily-accessible place.
Oh, my goodness!
Why couldn’t I do this with my “stuff’ at home?!?!
The possibility was dizzying.
Am I the only person who has always thought of file folders as a storage space for flat sheets of paper? Before this light-bulb moment, it had never occurred to me that I could use file folders for the crayons I could never find when my grandkids came to visit, or the double-sided tape that was continually “misplaced”, or vacuum cleaner bags, or hole punches, or my beloved Envelope Punch Board?
I did a happy dance and went to work immediately.
#1–I ordered Pendaflex extra-capacity hanging file folders on Amazon. (Free shipping with Amazon Prime!) I could find some cheaper files, but after reading the reviews, I decided to spend the extra few dollars. I’m glad I did.
The purchase of these folders has given me a new lease on life.
Honest.
#2–I realized that some of the supplies I was putting into the files could easily slip out (things like craft clothespins, bells, adhesives…), so I decided to invest in some file pockets.
5-1/4″ File Pockets –OR–
#3–Because I had years of papers and craft supplies, it was less than fun at first. I had a recycle bin and give-away bag right next to me to eliminate every single item I could. I started a temporary folder whenever something I uncovered called for one, and I labeled the folders with post-it notes.
#4–After I had eliminated more than you could possibly imagine, I started to bring order to the temporary files I had started. At this point, I took advantage of the Pendaflex templates for file folder inserts and printed out the labels.
I used a combination of regular hanging files, the large-capacity hanging files, and the pocket folders.
So there you have it. For me, this has been revolutionary. Now when I have something to put away, easily accessible cabinets are in the basement, there are no decisions to make because they are carefully labeled, and there is nothing piled on top to sidetrack me from slipping the stuff into the file.
Post Script — The irony of this post is that while I was writing it, I was also packing for a trip to Florida. I most certainly wanted to take my camera to capture the wonder of our escape from -7 degree New York weather.
And, guess what (you may chuckle if you want to)–I couldn’t find my fancy-dancy camera’s battery charger ANYWHERE! And the battery was 100% dead.
I looked everywhere. My husband looked everywhere. We finally headed south with no camera.
Oh, if only I had had a fat file folder marked: Battery Charger.
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For those of you who haven’t met her, the Dollar Store Diva happens to be my Mom who has a special power. She can transform Dollar Store and other inexpensive finds into super fun gifts that would brighten anyone’s day!
I can’t tell you how much I associate with what you’ve written!! I’ve never mapped out in my mind exactly what does and doesn’t work for me though, so this was my lightbulb moment!!! My biggest problem, (along with all you listed) is labelling. I can not put anything into a file cabinet unless there is 1) a labeled hanging file folder AND 2) a labeled folder to go inside. It’s hereditary.
I have a label maker but as you point out, when sorting through stuff, in the nano-second it takes to go from my hand to the item’s “proper” place, the thought of making the labels adds to my anxiety, followed by thoughts of all I have to sort. What remains are feelings of being overwhelmed and a neverending stack of paper. I won’t give up though. Thank you for so many great ideas.
Let me introduce myself….I’m your long lost twin!….wait, I mean triplet!!! (I thought I was amusing, but saw that someone else said ” long lost twin”). Anyway, I came across your site and had to look, after i saw your title….I’m a freelance artist with a bit of…Oh look…shiny object!…. A.D.D. I try to be organized, but I’m forever looking for my stuff! And I have WAY too many piles of, ‘I’ll put that away later when I figure out where I put similar stuff’. Thanks for the tips…and for making me chuckle out loud!
THANK YOU SO MUCH!! This is really awesome and I truly laughed when I read your 1-4 at the top haha…#1 IS TOTALLY ME!! Even when I was young, my mom would label what was in my clothes drawers and yet my room was still always a mess because I couldn’t SEE the items, yet I knew exactly what was under my bed lol…I’m so glad I’m not the only one who really needs to see everything! Right now I can’t even see my desk and I am so sick of working like this…You rock 🙂
Congratulations on finding the best system in the world for you!! You and I have many similarities, but we have taken different paths to accomplish our goals. I totally understand everything you have said and am proud of you for taking control and making it yours. I too have managed to finally find a system that works for me, it’s taken many years to figure it out. I am a mother of one (who is now grown up with a child of her own) & 3 1/2 years ago I moved in with the man of my dreams and his 6 children. This was a huge adjustment and undertaking and in moving in I realized how much disorganization there was not only with my own issues from past years but now also my new home from a recently broken home. But thankfully, with a lot of communication with my man, we have come up with (here’s where we are different) many containers for subjects (including red containers just for Christmas & plastic coffee cans for his tools and car parts in the garage) beautiful file cabinets for personal and business files (yes, I’m still ordinary in that way), alphabetized lists for my spice cabinet and a label for absolutely every-freakin-thing we own from my beloved label maker. Here’s the kicker; when I started this adventure in my new home, apparently my Wonderful Man absolutely HATED my labeling tactics. “Why do we need a stupid list for SPICES?!?!” Thankfully he never said anything to me about it until very recently. When he did finally comment to me about it, he actually thanked me for taking the time to do it, (he does most of the cooking for the household) He said he now relies on that list now (In almost 4 years, I’ve only had to put spices back into their correct shelves once) and he can find the right spice EVERY TIME! So, thank you for having the courage to inform people about how great life can be with a bit of organization. I am living the life with the greener grass!
Great minds think alike…I thought of this myself several years ago (no one had ever mentioned it before). My hubby laughed at me and thought I was crazy, but I love it!
Instead of wondering where I should house things, or dump them all in a drawer, I have them in my tall file drawer in my office. I love filing away the odds and ends like my camera & its charger, extra extension cords, locks and their keys, pens, pencils, markers, tape…I can grab things quickly and put them back easily. It’s perfect!
OMG I have been searching for a blog just like this. I feel exactly the same way. Organizing is so hard for me but I feel that I waste 2 hours a day searching for something that I know I put in that perfect place. Thank you so much for being open with your adult add. If you have any more tips or tricks I would love to hear about them. My child is also add so that adds a whole other level of chaos lol. I thought I would share my SOCK TRICK IT IS LIFE CHANGING too http://www.nataliegriffin.com/blog/2016/2/13/how-to-manage-the-choas-of-socks-in-the-laundry
just found this….I have discovered labels AND colors help me immensely. Do you have an overall picture of your file cabinet/files by chance? to me honest…it never occurred to me to file my glue gun, camera batteries, etc!
Thanks for the post. I recently discovered ADD was why I was having so much difficulty. This post was a great help.
ha! I recently spent twenty bucks on a second battery so that when the first one is dead while I’m on a trip (which happens a LOT) and my stupid travel charger doesn’t fit the outlets, I can just use the second battery. It lives in my camera bag. That being said, I bought it like two months ago and its still in its package, uncharged..
I love your filing cabinet idea!
What color blue did you use to paint your file cabinet.
It looks so nice
I love where this idea is going, but am a little confused. Do you put your actual fabric scissors in the file folder?
Do you have a photo of your finished system?
Reading through the comments helped some, but I am not quite clear. Thanks for sharing your ideas.
It’s great that you found a great way that works for you. It wouldn’t work for me though. I’m extremely visual. I need to SEE my things. You’re right though, piles don’t work. I’m really into organizing my craft room. Craft room storage ideas on Pinterest is like porn for me. 😉 I have a lot of vintage boxes on my craft table to hold scissors, washi tape, etc.
I am really into drawers, boxes, and jars though too, which is sort of like your filing. I have a lot of Ikea furniture and boxes in my art room. Ribbon and string are in jars, etc. Paint jars are in an Ikea rolling cart.
Always great to find systems that work for us as individuals!
I just moved and am in the process of setting up new craft room. I have two file cabinets that I had just decided I wasn’t going use. Well I am now! What a great idea! Thank you so much!
I am a visual learner with OCD….I would LOVE to see a picture of the inside of your file cabinet drawers.
And I was wondering the same things as Heather William’s 2 posts on Nov. 10. Can you clarify…hence the reason I would love to see pictures of your drawers!!
The only real problem in this scenario is the essential item needed to make this work…a FILE CABINET… This article describes me exactly, and is so on point with the ideas that have swirled in my head for so long..my problem is lack of funds, because I cant seem to find a good old fashioned filing cabinet without paying an arm and a leg, and finding and buying second hand is hard work especially if you don’t have a car. whoa is me
How do u label your file pockets and intersperse them with the regular files?? They don’t “hang” like the others and I would think it would be hard to see them in between the other folders.
Where do u put these big capacity folders? They don’t “hang” like the others and so, I am wondering how you place them in the file drawer. Do you label them somehow so that u can see at a glance what is in each one???
My husband has a number of tool cabinets, and drawers. I got tired of searching and labeled the metal drawers with homemade tool-word magnets and hung cheapie name vinyl tags on the bank of wood drawers so the labels can change or move with the tool if it happens to be relocated. Funny how many box cutters the house ate before that. Also many of the drawers could get consolidated. So much space was made, by just realising like items and putting them together, or placing project specific tools in a kit.
Thanks, Sara, for sharing this. It sounds like you came up with a great system. Loved your comment: Funny how many box cutters the house ate before that. Chuckle…
The teacher arrives when the student is ready. I an SO ready have loads of items that I can never find when I need them. what a fabulous idea. Just thinking of the things I can file and labelling is making me feel more organised thank you Nancy.
My pleasure, Cheryl!
Hi! TYSM for this GREAT idea! We found a file cabinet on craigslist for $10 and will be painting it tomorrow…I’m ordering my Pendaflex folders now and thinking I’ll use large ziplocs for smaller items (I don’t have ADD but I’m very visual). I am so excited…really hopeful that this will end the endless flow of “stuff” that doesn’t have a home!
Oh, Cathy, I’m so excited for you! Large zip locks are an excellent idea. Best wishes as you give a home to your endless flow of “stuff” 🙂