As seen in the Dayton Daily News on November 8, 2014.
We all know having an organized home can save you time and a great deal of frustration. For these reasons, it’s important to get organized as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, in today’s busy world, people struggle to find time to organize.
If you don’t have big windows of time to devote to an organizing project, you have to look for ways to organize a little bit at a time. Sometimes, you have to get creative and use any bit of down time to get organized. One of the ways to do this is to make your time in the passenger seat of your car as productive as possible.
When you have the opportunity, ask to be the passenger instead of the driver. That way you can organize your home items while you’re away from home.
You will need a traveling office supply kit for your projects. Use a plastic pencil box and fill it with pens, pencils, Sharpie markers, highlighters, binder clips, tape, scissors, Post-its and a small stapler. You should also bring a notepad, manila folders and a few plastic grocery bags.
To begin, look around your home and see what organizing projects can be done in smaller stages in the confines of a car.
Everyone struggles to keep up with paperwork, so this is a great place to start. Gather any unopened mail or a stack of papers from your desk. Once you’re in the car, set the stack of papers on your lap and sort into different categories. Use the grocery sacks for paper that needs to be shredded or recycled. Label the manila folders To-do, File, Read and Bills-to-Pay.
Continue working through the stack until each paper is in a category. When you arrive home:
- Dispose of the trash.
- Put your Read folder where you like to read.
- File paperwork in your filing system. Decide what items in the To-do and Bills-to-Pay folders need to get done first and work on those.
Work through all of your paper piles using this system until your paperwork is manageable.
Here are other projects that can be done from the passenger’s seat while on the go or during those times when you are waiting in the car, like waiting for your child’s practice to end.
Photos. Collect all the loose photos around your home. Bring a photo safe marker and label each picture with the date, names and other identifying information. On your next car ride, sort these photos by year, event or person. Once sorted, bring along a photo album so your pictures are protected and can be enjoyed.
Recipes. Gather all the recipes you’ve been cutting out and use the manila folders to sort into categories. Appetizers, breads, soup, salad, beef, pork, chicken, and desserts are some you may consider.
Coupons. Toss expired and clip new ones to sort into your coupon holder.
Receipts. Pitch those you don’t need and save others for store returns, tax purposes or business expense reports.
Batteries. Purchase a battery tester and round up all the batteries throughout your home. Recycle those that no longer work and sort the others by size into a box.
Once you start using your passenger time productively, your home will be more organized and you’ll feel less overwhelmed. You may even be disappointed when you reach your destination, because you’re getting so much done.