Last week we embarked on a mission to help you get organized by starting small.  With your new year’s resolutions in some state of success or failure already, I want to help you get some small wins. Organizing can happen in small bits over time – just like the best weight programs. 

Here’s this week’s project:  The Junk Drawer.  Everybody has one, and that’s perfectly fine.  Here’s how to make it functional in just a few minutes:

Step One:

Empty that puppy out.  All of it.  Yes, I know it’s a lot.  Empty it all out like this: Get a Trashcan – there’s garbage in there for sure. Now let’s make some piles:

Pile #1

Writing Utensils - pens, pencils, highlighters, markers, crayons. 

Pile #2

Miscellaneous tools like box cutters, pencil sharpeners, scissors, tape measures, screwdrivers, rulers

Pile #3

Small Office Supplies – paper clips, rubber bands, staples, post-it notes

Pile #4

Electronics - chargers, headphones, batteries, thumb drives

Pile #5

Miscellaneous- birthday candles, matches, weird do-dads that defy explanation.

Once piles are made, time to purge:

Test all writing utensils. Toss what doesn’t work.

Review the tools – would some be used more if they were in the garage or toolbox?

Electronics – do you know the chargers go to?   If so, maybe reunite them with their partner device.  Or create a "charger bin" or “headphones bin” where everyone can go looking for their stuff.   If they remain a mystery, create a different space for unknown electronics – if three months go by not looking for it, probably isn’t essential.

Now organize.  All a junk drawer needs is a few dividers. There are lots of containers that can work for a junk drawer.  

You can buy fancy ones, but empty mobile phone boxes, cereal boxes cut to size, any kind of small box we all seem to accumulate can separate your items.  I like to use a few small ones of different shapes rather than a single organizer, which forces you to conform your stuff to the container. Once you’ve put your piles in their containers, fit them into the drawer and enjoy your now tidy, useful drawer o'junk. 

How’d you do?