In this, our first blog post of 2010, we offer up a Top Ten list of things to keep in mind when organizing your home or office.

1. Know your goal – Write out the idea situation for your home. This is a no-holds-barred exercise. Don’t filter your thoughts, just write it down.
2. Work with the people around you – Your new system won’t work unless you and the people around you all commit to living within it. If part of it doesn’t work for one person, it won’t work for anyone. Collaborate until you find something that works.
3. Be creative in storage solutions – Don’t discount anything unless it is outside of your parameters. There is always time to change it once it has been implemented, but if you never implement it you will never really know its benefits and drawbacks.
4. Know your options – Just because all you have is one closet doesn’t mean that’s the only option. Using creative containers, multi-functional furniture, or services like StorPod can drastically increase your storage potential.
5. Don’t keep everything – While everything you own has value, it doesn’t mean that you have to keep it forever. If you haven’t looked at that book you bought three years ago, chances are you won’t look at it ever. Sell it on eBay or give it away and go to the library if you change your mind later.
6. Know how much space you need – Just because you have a lot of space doesn’t mean you need it. If you find that you can live in a smaller space, you can make money by becoming a StorPod landlord. If you think you need more space, you can move or become a StorPod tenant.
7. Know your values – Just because that clock is old and broken doesn’t mean it is worthless. If it is valuable to you because it reminds you of a life lesson, then keep it. But if you didn’t take the time realize that life lesson means something to you, you might regret throwing that clock away later.
8. Use what you have – Focusing more time and effort on organization doesn’t have to mean expensive storage solutions or built-ins. Use the resources you have available to you to make things work. If you have empty pots in the backyard from the flowers that died a few weeks ago, clean them out and use them as pencil holders.
9. Ask for help – Just because you’re out of ideas doesn’t mean that your project failed. Ask friends, families, or companies for help in organizing your home.
10. Don’t change it too often – One key principle for any system is that it has to be predictable to work. If you change your organizational strategy every week, you will find that you are never actually organized. Once you choose a strategy, try it out for a few months. Take notes on what you like and what you don’t like, and at the end of the three months make any necessary changes at one time.

Every so often, I go and visit my things in storage in a neighbour’s attic and just have a rummage around for an old document I suddenly need, or to transfer non-seasonal clothing to a protected environment.

Usually it’s a fight – inevitably I wind up taking out of the locker half of my stuff and methodically opening every suitcase or filing box to find exactly what I need.  Half the time it’s not there, or I don’t plan enough time for the visit and I bump up against the time that my neighbour needs to close up his home and leave.

I thought I had gotten smart – one day I arrived with a stack of pre-printed A4 (approx letter-sized) papers with large 48-point bold Arial writing on them as makeshift labels.  I used heavy duct tape to plaster signs like “Christmas deco’s” or “Air Mattress” or “Tax Records – 2005/06″ on the suitcase, box, or garbage bag I was using to store the item in question.

After a time, I had to bring additional papers to update my records (tax year 05/06 invetitably turned into 06/07, then to 07/08 and so on).  Also old papers get dog-eared, or I use the suitcases and need to replace the labels anyhow.

I finally decided to invest in some better storage boxes, after having woken up in the middle of one night exclaiming “Modular!”  In this way I could solve a number of problems:

• organise my things in decreet groups and categories
• with handles, the plastic boxes are easier to manage than bulky garbage bags or cardboard boxes that can rip
• the boxes are stackable evenly – no more dangerous leaning towers of papers
• the boxes I chose are air-tight and keep ambient smells or damp out
• as the boxes can be stacked, they allow air flow under, over and between them – again minimising any risk of damp

Best of all, they’re transparent – I can see at a glance whether the contents are my winter parka (which may weigh the same as my air mattress), or my tax files ready for the accountant instead of a thousand of my old holiday snaps!

Ordering was easy.  I live in the UK so I went through my British Airways Executive Club membership through to their online shopping service, clicked through to Ebay (doing it this way gets you double BA airmiles!) and selected 7 * 64 Litre boxes and 3 * 80 Litre boxes.   The next business day they arrived. Over the weekend, I did the repacking / distribution.

I can now sleep more soundly at night, knowing that future visits to my beloved storage home will be easier, faster and far more hassle free than ever!