Garage Organizing Day 1999
Do you ever feel like in order to clean the garage
you'll need a wrecking crew?
It was New Years Day 1999 and I'd just finished organizing
an area in the garage for my shipping escapades. WOW, did it feel
good! I'd gotten so much more done in one day than I'd expected!
It had turned into a WHOLE garage organizing day.
I suggest that whoever needs to start a cleaning/organizing
endeavor get some teens and pay them a couple of dollars. The money
is worth their moral support. When certain personality types have
moral support and a bit of help organizing, it makes it easier
to accomplish the task that seems overwhelming when done alone.
Not only that, but it genuinely helps teenagers feel like they
are needed and important as well as gives them a role to follow
when we ask for their help.
Before I started I looked around the garage and tried
to picture how I wanted to store everything, whether that would
be in plastic bins or boxes. K-Mart was having a sale on their
Sterilite. So I went over and bought more than what I thought I'd
need. Don't you just hate when you get going on a good cleaning
project and run out of storage bins?
When I got home we started by pulling 2 large trash
cans into the garage and placing them strategically. I then told
each of the girls where to stand so that I could hand or toss them
things to put up or throw away. The stack of bins was near me with
shipping labels and a sharpie marker.
It starts... I opened up a box, went through it,
kept what I wanted and threw away what I didn't. I sorted in the
bins as I went along. When a bin filled up, I'd write what was
in it on the label, stick it on and hand it to one of the girls
to put up. If there was anything I didn't want, I'd toss it over
to be thrown away. This went on for about three hours before I
could finally see the floor in the garage.
If or rather WHEN I have this to do over again, I
am planning on going at it from a different angle. Next time I'm
pulling everything out of the garage first. Then I'll go through,
sort and throw out. This will leave me with labeled bins and empty
shelves. It will be much easier to then put bins on shelves according
to who the bin belongs to or what type of items are inside, etc.
Oh, one more thing. Set aside a whole day for this.
Get someone to come over and talk things through while you work.
If this is not something YOUR personality needs or can handle,
ask someone to watch your children for the day and offer to do
the same for her in return. In a nutshell, plan, plan, plan ahead
and make a list of what you would like to accomplish! Then, prioritize
what needs to be done. If you don't finish the whole project in
one day, you will have at least gotten to a good start and finishing
will be much easier.
Copyright © 1999 Susie Glennan
Susie Glennan has been happily married since 1982, is mom to 3 teenagers,
and is a Home Maker, Nurturer, Teacher, Author, Professional Speaker,
Toastmaster, President of The Busy Woman, Inc., DBA - The Busy Woman's Daily
Planner®. She teaches time management seminars, offers FREE consultations
with your order, and will help you set up a schedule that's right for you.
800-848-7715 www.thebusywoman.com
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