Latest / More Organised Less Clutter / 241. Simple, Predictable Framework to organise a drawer
Transcript
- Narelle King: Welcome to More Organised, Less Clutter, a podcast to empower individuals and neurodivergent families with practical, realistic tools to create a more organised, sensory-friendly, clutter-free and intentional home that works with your lifestyle and brain, not against it. I'm Narelle King, a professional organiser and neurodivergent mom who understands the unique challenges of family life. I help people just like you simplify your space. build sustainable organisational systems and create more breathing room physically and mentally. Every fortnight, you'll hear solo episodes and guest conversations filled with practical strategies on decluttering, home organisation, routines for neurodivergent families, mindful living and how to build a home that feels safe, calm and functional. You'll walk away with actionable takeaways you can implement even if you only have 10 minutes to spare. So if you're ever open to draw and thought, where does everything go? Or why is this so hard when it's just a draw? If everyday organizing feels like it takes more brain power than it should, it's not a you problem, it's a system problem. In today's episode, I'm sharing a simple, predictable framework to organize any draw in your home. By the end of this episode, You'll know exactly how to tackle one draw without getting overwhelmed and set it up so a tired distracted you can put things away in three seconds. Let's jump into this more organised less clutter episode. Thanks for joining me for today's solo episode, all about a simple predictable framework to organize a draw. So think of one draw that annoys you every single time you open it. Okay, you've got it, hold that in your mind and just keep listening, because I'm going to help you turn that crazy draw into something your future self will thank you by using this simple predictable framework. So the first step in the framework is who and what. So you need to think about who uses this drawer. Is it the kids? Is it yourself? Abouts it is in the house. And then what's the main job of this drawer? What is it holding? So a couple of ideas on the house, thinking of my own drawers that I have is in my kitchen. It might be cutlery, utensils. It could be foil, baking paper and Ziploc bags. It might be then food storage containers like we've got glass jars that we use in the freezer. It might be your snack drawer. It could even be your lunch boxes and drink bottle drawer. Maybe in the bathroom it could be your essential drawer, so like your toothpaste and your hairbrush and skincare. It may even then be a makeup drawer or a drawer for hair tools and accessories. Or maybe it's a drawer for medicines and first aid. And then if we move into your bedroom and wardrobe, The drawers might be for underwear or pajamas, loungewear or active wear. And then another area in your home, which you may use drawers is the office or a desk space. And you might have stationary in the drawers. It might even be a tech drawer. So it's got chargers and cables and small devices, or maybe it is like a homework drawer for your kids or even art supplies drawer where they store all of the things that they use for creating paint, such as paint and paper and textures and all those amazing things, glitter. So once you've decided what the actual drawer is and who it is for, then you will move on to step two, which is making it easy. So you're trying to reduce any friction by adding less things in the drawer. It makes it so much easier if you just have containers in your drawer or dividers. so that you can have the simple categories, but no lids, you want minimal steps, which means that you're going to actually put it back in the drawer and you're also going to be able to take it out very easily. If you have to move something, it really is not going to work. This is when you may find clutter actually builds up on top of the drawer and the cupboard. A great question to ask yourself is can a tired, distracted person put this away in three seconds. If you've got those lids or other things to move and it's gonna take more than three seconds, it is not going to work. Number three is making it obvious. So this includes visual clues. So that might be clear containers and using labels. So it might be bold print or it could even be just a color coding that you're using and thinking about where you use those items all the time. So like a great example is if it's like washing powder and things to do with the washing and maybe stain removers, you're going to store them in your actual laundry. If you have cords and you use them mainly in your lounge area and that's a central location and you have drawers, maybe that's where you actually place them. So thinking about where it's going to be used. And if you were to say, open it up and you're half asleep, Can you still find the things that you need? And that is going to help you decide where you're going to actually place those items or what you're actually going to place in that particular drawer. And the last step is to make it sustainable. So is it too much in the drawer and is there going to be enough room? And sometimes like we create a space for, for example, batteries. and we might only have a couple there, but you know that you're going to go out and purchase more. You need to make sure that the space is going to be big enough to accommodate that when there's actually going to be more purchase to place in there. Another one's like those command hooks that you can put on your wall. I find that people might have a really small spot because they've only got one or two, but then they go and purchase like a range of them and there's not gonna be enough room. So really thinking about how much and then if you do have too much, do you even need all of that and do you need to find a different space to actually put it? Another thing to help make it sustainable is tiny reset routines. So a one minute draw reset at a particular time of the week. Maybe when you're in the kitchen waiting for the kettle to boil or for me when I'm filling up the water filter, it gives me bit of time. can quickly open a drawer that is right there and just sort through and take out what doesn't belong. Also, it's a great time to maybe remove crumbs that may have fallen in there, especially if it's in the kitchen area. I'm now going to step you through and make this really practical so that you can see how to use it in your own home. So that drawer that you were thinking of before, you've got that in your mind. So you've got that one drawer. and you're going to try and only fix that one draw. You are not doing the whole room. You're going to do one draw at a time because this means you're not going to lose interest or abandon the project because it feels too much. So just sticking with the one draw and pulling everything out. Yeah, I mean absolutely everything. You need to be able to see what you're dealing with and you'll probably find duplicates. and things that don't belong in that actual drawer. And that's another way of working out is there too many items for that drawer or too many of one particular category and maybe some of the other items need to move to another drawer. Then making it easy, we're going to put back only what's going to live in that drawer. So as you return items, group them together into a category. So you're going to keep each group sort of loose and visible, but you may add some sort of drawer divider that gives it actually a home. A great thing is just to repurpose boxes or containers that maybe don't have lids or are lost or broken. Using them inside your drawer is going to give it then a set home. Three, making it obvious, adding a label. It doesn't need to be perfect. It doesn't need to be a label maker. It just needs to be clear. big enough to read at a glance, and it may not stay there forever. It might be just until you all in the home remember what's in that drawer, and then you might be able to remove it. It's just about reducing that mental load to start with. So it's about where is this going to go? And your brain stops having to remember where things have to go because there's a label there for it. You may even just use some pictures or words, but whatever it is, try and make it obvious for everyone in the family so that they know what's going to go in that drawer. So I'll go through those four predictable steps. So number one, who and what the drawer is being used for and whereabouts it's going to be in the home. Number two is make it easy. So make sure there's less friction, no lids, simple categories. Number three was make it obvious and thinking about clear containers. and maybe labels. Number four was make it sustainable. So check that there's not too much stuff and how are you going to reset this? When is that going to work in to your week, month, a regular occurrence so that the drawers will stay relatively tidy? I hope by sharing this simple, predictable framework to organize a drawer, you can now start to organize drawers in your home. So here's your challenge. Pick your drawer, clear it out, group the items together, and then make it visible, make it easy, and don't forget to make it sustainable and revisit it. I hope this is going to make a real difference in your home and help you just to get started. A home that works with your brain and not against it. And don't forget to tag me if you're on Instagram at Simply Happy Organisation so I can see your before and after of your draw. Thanks for listening to more Organised. less clutter. Sick of wasting time looking for your keys, wallet, or that one charger that always disappears? Your space needs visual anchors. Grab the ADHD-friendly organisation checklist, a 10-minute setup, a weekly reset, and troubleshooting map to adapt your space. Create an environment that works with your brain so that you can stop losing or forgetting things and start living on time with your sanity. Head to simplyhappy.com.au and click on the Resource tab to get instant access today. I'd like to acknowledge the Wathauron people of the Kulin nation on which this podcast is recorded as the traditional custodians of the land. pay my respects to their elders, past, present and emerging.