The Big Sort

Yikes!! Like most everyone else, I have too much stuff. Sewing stuff, book stuff, paper stuff, household stuff . . .you name it. I feel like I'm smothering, even though I've managed to stuff most of my stuff out of the way. Every time I think about dealing with the stuff, I make another quilt instead. I've been prolific in my sewing, but stuff keeps piling up! Here's my basement pantry/storage room, for instance.

Yesterday, I attended a class at my friend, Debbie's, on how to get organized. The teacher was Mary Fisher of Sort N' Release. She's a sweetheart and a huge inspiration on how to get organized. I went home with a head full of ideas. Although I wanted to dig right in, I started last night by planning my strategy (90 minutes).

 Mary's "TACKLE" approach is great for those of us who love to make lists, so for each room and storage area in my house, I listed: current use, goal use, challenges, and opportunities. Then I made a commitment to spend 4 - 8 hours each week getting organized. I can spread it out over the week or get it all done in one day. The rest of my time can be guilt-free sewing. Yippee!

I'm going to keep myself on track by blogging about my progress. This morning I started the "Big Sort" in my basement pantry/storage room. I discovered boxes of books, tapes, CDs, and sewing/craft things that I had been wondering about. After 2 hours of work, here's what my new space looks like now. That's my decorated Christmas tree in the garbage bag, the fans that will head to my bedroom when the weather heats up, and the garden hose that goes outside soon.

The stuff I hauled out of there is sitting in the middle of my basement floor in categories. I'm feeling energized to do more tomorrow. My goal is to finish the pantry end of the storage room I worked on today.

 Mary will be presenting her approach at the South Minneapolis Quilters Guild in October, so my plan is to be totally reorganized by then. More later!