get equipped for organizing : : tools

So I've been completely psyched about finally getting organized and I thought I'd share some of my tools with you.

1. FUEL

There's much to do, so we need to first fuel the body with something good. :) A good start is always...good.

Today, it was spaghetti with homemade sauce. :)

It was yummilicious.

Preempting the attack of the evil dust bunnies, I've called in for reinforcements in the form of my two friends - Mr bucket of water and cloth.... and in the background, Mr dustbin.

If you have one of those cool handheld water vacuum cleaner things, you can use those as well.

Call me old-school, but I think the best tools for the cleanest results would still be by using a bucket of water and a cloth. Getting on your hands and knees is a pretty good workout too. :)

Pick up them big bunnies and throw them in the bin. No point wiping them down cause they'll just create more stains on the walls.

Dusty grey stains + white walls = not a good idea.

Now for the ambience...
2. Tools for encouragement:

Yes, I'm an Apple person, but my mum bought a Creative so that's fine as well. :)
I've been listening to 98.7FM a lot nowadays. LOVE this song.

Choose whatever music that'd help keep you going. :)

3. Tools to keep getting annoyed away:

A tape measure will keep the situation of mis-estimations away. Trust me, it's going to be really annoying if you cleared a whole table to move it, only to discover it doesn't fit in the space you wanted it to go into. Best used with a sketchpad so that you can plan everything before you start moving things around.

And in hot-hot Singapore, a clip for the hair is a must. Or a hair tie/band, whatever that will keep your hair from teaming up with sweat to annoy you.

4. A container to place things to give away/move to another room.

The minute you come across something that you ask yourself "What in the world do I have this for!?" put it in your "give it away" box. And DON'T take it out (resist! RESIST!). If you haven't been using it forever, you probably won't be using it anytime soon. Unless you can find a good purpose for it THIS WEEK, put it in and leave it in to be given away. It's probably better off blessing someone else rather than taking up space in your house.

You're bound to find items that belong to other rooms in the house (like drinking cups in the bedroom). Put them all in one container. Make sure you clear this container as the last task of the time you scheduled for organizing - just take the whole box with you and put the things back where they belong.

5. Paper recycling bins:

Recycling paper has been something that has been a culture with my family (or at least with my siblings). Here are two boxes - one for white paper that has been printed on both sides, and the other for coloured paper. I don't know why, but apparently the ideal "recycling-citizen" sorts the paper into whites and colours... I think it has something to do with how creating new recycled white paper cannot be mixed with the colours. Kinda like laundry. Don't bother taking out the staples though. I'm sure they have metal detectors to be able to handle that hassle on their end. It's WAY too tedious and time consuming a task.

We also have another container for "Re-usable paper" which is usually A4 paper that has been printed on one side. We use those for draft printing at home. Help save our planet! :)

6. Other tools:

• A place to put things that need fixing.
  Be it clothes that need sewing, a missing button, purses with broken linings, or something missing a wheel, or needing a paint-over, place all these things in here.
  Decide whether the item is worth your fixing effort. If not, throw it out, or offer it to someone who might be willing to fix it and bring it new life. Try freecycling - there are a lot of people there who would be willing to invest time to fix things there.
• A place to put things that need to be returned.
  Let's admit it, we all probably have books or clothes or other random items that belong to others and have been hanging out in our room (and on our "oh, I need to remember to return that one day" list) for far too long. Put these things together and schedule time to meet up to return them. It'd be a good excuse for a catch-up too. :)
• A handy-dandy box/tray
  This tray basically contains general things that you might need to use on your cleaning up. Mine usually contains a pen, a highlighter, post-its (to leave notes for others, or reminders for myself on items), a stapler, a pair of scissors, measuring tape, a ruler, a hole-punch, and masking/cellophane tape.

Alright, now that we're all equipped, back to organizing!