Junk Drawers

Do you have a junk drawer lurking in some corner of your house? If you do, you are like one hundred percent of the clients with whom we consult. I tackled my own junk drawer this week.

Yes, professional organizers have their personal pitfalls and have to work to keep themselves organized. My nemesis is a tiny drawer with a deceptive capacity to hold a lot of stuff. I have to check it out periodically to see what wayward possessions have landed in that drawer instead of where they belong. This time I found a flashlight, my eyeglass repair kit, some rubber bands and paper clips, a lottery ticket, a broken chain, two business cards and a takeout menu. I actually have a designated place for all of these items, so it was only a matter of relocating the objects to their proper home. It would have saved time in the long run if I had just put them in their designated spaces to begin with. So, why didn’t I? It was just easier to stuff them in the drawer because:

- I wanted it out of my purse and I was on my way out
- The lights went out and I wanted a flashlight accessible in that area
- I wanted to keep the menu and did not want it littering the dining room
- The chain broke on my way out of the house and I just wanted to stick it someplace until I got home.
- I used the eyeglass kit for a delicate repair and never got it back upstairs
- I have no recollection of putting the other stuff in the drawer; it must have been the junk fairies.

Suffice it to say, I had reasons-not always good reasons, but reasons nonetheless. So I have come to the conclusion that junk drawers should not be called junk drawers. Their contents are not junk but useful items that are homeless or misplaced. They are merely temporary shelter or a warehouse for limited quantities.

If they are the only home for a variety of useful items they should be called useful miscellany drawers. If, like mine, they are used to house things until the owner sorts and relocates them to their designated space, they should be called temporary repositories. The key to staying organized with a temporary repository is periodic review and relocation of contents.

Here are a few hints for bringing order to useful miscellany drawers:

- Group the items into categories such as office supplies, nuts and bolts, tools, sewing.
- Find appropriately sized receptacles for each group and label them in a visible spot.
- Alternatively, use drawer dividers to separate items and make them easier to find.
- Sort through the drawer periodically to discard and reorganize the contents.
- Do not mix solids, liquids and paper items in the same drawer unless they are in leak-proof containers.

Organization is a tool to give us more time and a better life. If your junk drawer helps you stay on top of things, it is an organizational device. If most of your drawers are junk drawers then they are sapping your time and impairing your efficiency. Consider setting goals to organize one drawer at a time, identifying designated space for your possessions. If the task is overwhelming consider getting help from a professional organizer.

Beverly and Kristen
http://www.keytransitions.net/