Prioritize Organizing-Junk Drawer
Prioritize Organizing-Junk Drawer
You can achieve a more organized life in 5-minute increments.
Do you have a junk drawer? Do you have more than one junk drawer?
By calling or “labeling” a space you will automatically use it for that purpose. So by labeling your drawer “junk” that is what you put in it. Today, start calling it something else!
At my house, we only have one drawer that is a kind of catch-all, but we call it the key and pencil drawer. It holds a little more than that, but not much. The space is somewhat organized with compartments for categories of items. This morning I timed myself while I reorganized it. It took only 5 minutes.
The little trays we use to separate the drawer space come from Amazon You can find similar containers at other big box stores. Make sure to measure your drawer before you go to the store and fit what you can (like a puzzle) to fit the space. The large trays, in the back hold pencils and pens and the more unusual office supplies items that we might need on a less frequent basis.
There are even trays for particular items like this Expand-A-Drawer or The Everything Drawer that we love. These are both from Amazon.
Continue sorting and purging each section, until you have gone through everything. It shouldn’t take long, since everything has an assigned place. When done you’ll have a jammin’ junk drawer!
What I have left over is usually a bunch of stuff from the tray my husband uses to empty his pockets when he comes home. I always find bits and pieces that are foreign to me.
We also squeezed in tiny trays for our car keys. They work perfectly, so no one wastes time looking for keys. This works very well for my family. Organizing your junk drawer will not make a big difference, but it only took 5 minutes (I did it while I was waiting for my coffee to brew) and we will be able to find our keys and a pencil in a snap!
Try it – Prioritize Organizing-Junk Drawer in 5 minutes.
You can achieve a more organized life in 5-minute increments. Click To Tweet
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Janet Schiesl
Janet has been organizing since 2005. She is a Certified Professional Organizer and the owner of Basic Organization.
She loves using her background as a space planner to challenge her clients to look at their space differently. She leads the team in large projects and works one-on-one with clients to help the process move quickly and comfortably. Call her crazy, but she loves to work with paper, to purge what is not needed and to create filing systems that work for each individual client.
Janet is a Past Board Member of the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals and a Past President of the Washington DC Chapter of NAPO were she has been named Organizer of the Year and Volunteer of the Year.
Janet Schiesl
Janet has been organizing since 2005. She is a Certified Professional Organizer and the owner of Basic Organization.
She loves using her background as a space planner to challenge her clients to look at their space differently. She leads the team in large projects and works one-on-one with clients to help the process move quickly and comfortably. Call her crazy, but she loves to work with paper, to purge what is not needed and to create filing systems that work for each individual client.
Janet is a Past Board Member of the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals and a Past President of the Washington DC Chapter of NAPO were she has been named Organizer of the Year and Volunteer of the Year.
You make a great point that words matter! If we call it a junk drawer, that’s what it becomes.
Oh yes. I agree 100%!
I have an “everything thing” drawer. I don’t want to call it junk because it isn’t that. It’s all those little useful things like: dog can food covers, bottle opener, chip clips, tea diffuser, and so on. These things are organized with dividers by size. I love having this drawer in my kitchen.
That’s wonderful Diane, yes it doesn’t need to be a mess, it should be an absolute pleasure to open it and find some treasure.
I love the joy that comes through as you described organizing your ‘catch-all’ drawer. I can only imagine the satisfaction you felt after rearranging and organizing it.
I remember when my dad asked my youngest daughter (then nine years old) to help him organize his junk drawer in his office. Cassie took all the items out, grouped them by categories, asked my dad questions like, “Do you need this?” and edited what she could with his input. Afterward, she organized the items back into the drawer, grouping them like with like. It looked great and was more functional. However, there were a few items that didn’t fit. Cassie said to my dad, “You don’t need these!” And then tossed them in the trash. He laughed so hard and always loved telling me that story.
She’s learned since then that you don’t throw something out without permission. 🙂
What a wonderful story, and I’m sure your daughter loves to organize like you. It’s a joy to open a drawer and find it clean and organized.
Such a rewarding little project, and it’s can’t really be done without the added structure. I love the options you provide. One challenge I run into periodically is a very shallow drawer. That can be a real hurdle because few organizers will fit. I have one that is my “go to,” but in some cases we just put down a liner and lay out tools like scissors, hole punches, and tape. I’ve even cut down cardboard boxes to try and add structure to shallow drawers.
I’d always prefer at least a 2-3 inch drawer with an insert, though. Definitely the way to go. It just isn’t hard to maintain a space when it is well organized, even a junk drawer!
Yes I agree, I have shallow drawers too and it’s not helpful. Maybe put the items in a cabinet if you have space and use the drawer for some kitchen items.
I picked the smallest drawer to hold the little things in my kitchen. It works pretty well and is easy to declutter and organize. Like you, it takes me about 5-10 minutes.
All it needs is just 5 minutes, if we stay on top of it, it should always stay clean and organized.
I love this. They have great drawer organizers at the $ store too. Good idea to not call it a junk drawer. We have more than one in our tiny kitchen. Ugh!
If we only had few more drawers, right? it’s never enough. If we call it “junk” it will become full of junk. Thanks for commenting.
Great points. They do say that names determine destiny, and if we call it a junk drawer, we may treat it as such. “Key and Pencil” makes it sound like a comedy troupe (maybe it makes me think of Key and Peel’s old show), but I like the idea of providing a descriptor to live up to.
I definitely prefer what you’ve done, with lots of little containers, rather than one divider (like a silverware or office supply divider) because it’s helpful to make it more adjustable for your needs. Client always appreciate that you can get the little containers anywhere from a dollar store to Target to Container Store, though I try to encourage being frugal because you don’t really notice the colors or styles after the drawer has been organized for a while.
“The names determine destiny” I agree on this line for sure. Now you can find little containers everywhere right? from different colors to different sizes, it doesn’t really matter as long as it’s organized of course.
I laughed at the phrase “jammin’ junk drawer” because with its organization, jam is one thing it won’t do unless you try to put your potato masher in it. And, of course, I love the short 5 min. to 10 min. tasks that move you forward in organizing your home.
I think setting a 5 min goal to organizing the “jammin” drawer, will make the process easy and hoping to give our clients the desire to stay on top of their drawers and cabinets.