weird tidying problem...

[joko]

i am very untidy and have a lot of stuff, and i am trying to sort all my stuff out.

I have noticed i have a lot of empty or half empy drawers, tubs, shelves, boxes etc, and lots of stuff is out and visible... because despite my untidyness, i seem unable to fill them - unless everything in them is of the same type of thing ... such as all my DVDs, batteries, photos, electrical stuff, makeup etc etc

i look at a drawer and think, what can go in there?... and unless its all the same, theres enough to fill it, and its suitable - it doesnt go in! it sits empty!

i have a couple of 'rummage' drawers but even they are all 'of a type' such as all kitchen stuff etc

why cant i just put everything away SOMEWHERE? why do i care if its not the tight type of thing?

any thoughts? - other than me being a weirdo...haha

[boxtops]

No, it's not weird. If I put things that weren't of the same type of thing in a drawer or box, my home would be even more chaotic than it is at the moment. I have started to label my drawers as an incentive to try to put things in them. I have too much stuff, and it's easier just to leave it in a heap then forage when I need it. I understand entirely!

[Old_Geezer]

You need some kind of adjustable storage. Must be a market for that sort of thing.

[bellazella]

So like you joko, would love to be more minimalistic,but it never happens

[mrs_overall]

Maybe you are over faced when you think about tackling the stuff.
How about aiming to tidy one box/shelf/drawer a day?

[looobylooo]

lol, how about making/buying some drawer divider thingy whatsits?
then you can put bits of the same sort, into each section..?

[looobylooo]

and yes i can certainly see where youre coming from joko, i dont think you're alone!

[ummmm]

I can't have anything out. I can't bare to look at mess. I shove everything in cupboards. If I need to find something I know it's in 1 of about 3 places...hidden!

I even keep my toaster in a cupboard. I'd do the same with the kettle if I could...

[mrs_overall]

I can't do with clutter. I have a very big kitchen but it only has 3 drawers - one for cutlery, one for teatowels and one for pans. I planned this deliberately because I know if I had more drawers they would end up being filled with rubbish

[boxtops]

I've got three whole drawers filled with difference sizes of tupperware-type lids....

[woofgang]

try widening your categories...so from batteries, go to electrical and eg put chargers, usb cables and so on in there.

[jno]

there are two sorts of tidying, aren't there...
(a) clear the floors etc at all costs, everything has to go out of sight *somewhere*
(b) put stuff away properly so that you know where to find it again.

The first sort will make your home look neater but it isn't going to help you when anything gets lost and you can't remember where you put it. Far more sensible to attempt the second sort, which doesn't just allow you to hoover the floor but saves you a lot of time in retrieving things.

Not weird.

[ummmm]

I'm a)

But only have a few places that I hide things so they can be found. I often have clear outs of these places and most of the stuff gets binned :-)

[jno]

if you can put everything in only 2 or 3 places, you're not really untidy at all, ummm! It's when it could be one of 15 places that I know... er, that one knows one's a mess.

[ummmm]

What is the mess that gets left around. What kind of things do people hoard?

[jno]

would you believe 1978 guidebooks... VHS's when I no longer have a player... random copies of the Radio Times from 3 years back (obviously I meant to throw them out at the end of the week but I must have missed them)... Half a dozen pairs of glasses that now can't see anything... clothes that have, er, shrunk by 3 sizes...

Most of these aren't consciously hoarded (I do have lots of genuine souvenirs etc that I am deliberately keeping)... just stuff I've never got around to dumping.

Like the two non-functioning PC keyboards lying on the floor in the next room. And I know there are three old film cameras, good ones, that I just have to look for some antique dealer to take off my hands...

[ummmm]

Lol...

That's the difference...I just chuck everything. One time I opened a drawer I hadn't looked in for over a year and just emptied the contents into the bin. Looked in the same drawer the other day and it's still empty.

[dickythecook]

Being a man I do not see things that are out of place/not in their rightful home. I have a very expensive OCDominator to do all that for me.
As an example, all my socks are black. This is because I am colour blind, and any coloured sock pairing would be an insurmountable task for me. Hence the buying of pairs of black socks from M&S, all knee length. (I am with Rob Brydon on the comfort issue) She, who must dominate, finds one, ONE I say with a hole in it and then throws a good sock away as well so that there won't be an odd sock, the same as all the others in my sock draw. The Sock Dragon doesn't even dare to come near the washing machine anymore. Is there a cure?

[joko]

my job (film props) means i tend to keep a lot more than i actually want.

if it wasnt for that i would get rid of a lot of it very easily.

my first task was putting things in the correct room...such as anything bathroomy went back to the bathroom, then kitchen etc

still doing that to some extrnt, got a couple of boxes to go downstairs to the prop/art room... i get worn out fast though so they just sit there getting filled and over flowing haha

[jno]

this museum seeems to have started on the basis of a film prop man's collection

http://www.thisislond...origin=internalSearch

[HowardKennitby]

You need to reduce the number of categories that you file under.