Like With Like: Principles of Organizing Part 4
Just joining us for the Principles of Organizing blog series? Catch up here!
Ok. So we’ve defined our vision, edited our belongings, and agreed that everything should have a specific home so that it’s always easy to return to our organizing baseline. But how exactly should you designate that home for each object?
Just start really simply: store like with like.
All the silverware in one drawer.
All the art paper in trays on one shelf.
All the scarves folded in one drawer.
Why is this “like with like” concept so important, since it seems so obvious? It’s all back to what we are trying to accomplish here: help our brain do what we really want it to do in the first place, which is to achieve that vision we talked about at the very beginning. It is SO much easier for your brain to only have to keep track of one possible place where each item can be. If you’re stashing a few pieces of each type of item in multiple locations, that’s even more places that your brain has to keep track of, and more things that your brain can forget in the moment when you really need to find that thing.
To build on this idea, when you store everything of the same type in one place, that means that anything that you use with that item can also go in that same general location.
Like with like in action in this cupboard in our guest bathroom - the perfect spot for paper products and guest toiletries!
It makes sense to have your silverware near your plates and glasses, since you’ll probably be using them all together to serve a meal.
It makes sense to have your art paper near your markers, colored pencils, and crayons, since you’ll probably be using them all for drawing and coloring.
It makes sense to have your scarves near your jewelry, belts, and hats since you’ll be choosing from all those items to accessorize an outfit.
This is what I mean when I say I’m setting up an “organizing system” for you. I’m deciding how to store things based on how you use them, when and how frequently you use them, and what other things you use them with. The layout of your beauty products in your bathroom (What part of your bathroom routine do you do daily? What time of day are you in there and how much time are you spending? How much back stock do you keep on hand?) Is as much an “organizing system” as the drop zone in your entryway (What do you regularly carry with you? How often are you coming in and out, and with who? Are you a shoes on or shoes off household?).
This concept of “like with like” is so simple that you might even be wondering why I’m belaboring this point so much. But I find time and again that when people are struggling with disorganized spaces, they are not in fact storing like with like. They are storing things where they can find a little space.
Yeah.
When we store things where they fit, rather than with like items and like types of items, we might at some point be able achieve a home that LOOKS organized (i.e. everything behind closed doors with surfaces clear), but we won’t be able to maintain a home that REALLY IS organized (i.e. we can find and use everything we need quickly and easily).
Want to know where we go from here? Work your way through the rest of the series on basic principles of organizing.
I’d love to know - how has the “like with like” concept work for you? Or are there any categories you’re still struggling with? I can share ways of thinking about objects that have worked for me and my clients!
LMW
When it comes to makeup, it’s easier to create waste than you might think.