While it may sound convenient to have a pen within a reach, often our stationery is all over the place but nowhere near when you need it. Imagine having all necessary stationery in one or two places and in good order. You might have to walk several extra steps to grab a pen, but there will always be one there and your fitness watch will compliment you!
Here are some steps for you to declutter stationery and have it in a comfortable order:
1. Collect all stationery and gather it into one place. Sort it into piles: pens, pencils, markers, rulers, erasers, notebooks, etc. While doing so – see if there is obvious clutter, like broken pens, very short pencils or finished notebooks, and get rid of it. Include kids – they can check if those pens and markers still write on a piece of paper.
2. Go through each pile and look for duplicates. While you might need two erasers, surely you do not need twelve. Check coloured pencils and markers, there is usually no need for more than one set, unless you have four plus kids. One set of colouring pencils and markers will teach kids to take care of their belongings and to share.
Look at the pile of cute notebooks that your daughters get for their birthdays. Unicorns and rainbows and motivational quotes on the cover, and only couple used pages inside. But really, isn’t just one enough?
3. Decide what to do with all the extras – I see two ways of dealing with them. One – put everything you don’t need here and now (but will surely need in near future) into a box. When your marker no longer writes, throw it away (even better – recycle) and take a new one from the box. The other way – donate everything you do not need to those in need.
4. After decluttering, find a place for each category. Keep everything together. It is also helpful to keep a little container for a pen, pencil and scissors in the kitchen. Containers are extremely helpful! Some prefer clear plastic food containers with lids for each category while others prefer open containers in drawers. My favourite is a utensil caddy. I love it not only because it’s open and easy to grab items, but also because it limits you to a certain amount of pencils, pens and markers.
5. Label! When each item has a home address, it is easier to put it back rather than throwing it into a random drawer.
6. This one is probably most important. Next time you see a cute pen or a nice notebook with unicorn, take time to think about if you really need it or you just want it because it’s cute!
One of my favourite quotes is: “Your home is living space, not storage space.” ― Francine Jay
Thanks for reading and enjoy sorting out your stationary,
Nika Kerdei,
MK Method, Port Elizabeth
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