Overcoming disorganization

[kirkroy]

I'm interested in hearing from disorganized types who have taken to woodworking and now have organized shops. I'm not too interested in hearing from those who are organized types (just like I have less interest in hearing someone who's always been skinny tell me how to lose bodyfat).

How do I accomplish something which is in no way 'natural' to me? If you've done this, what's worked for you?

[leehljp]

For me, it came down to a combination of two basic things:
1. Getting sick of not finding the tool, file, blade, screwdriver etc I used last week.
2. Getting sick of not being able to do something because I didn't want to have to clean every thing up first!

When I got disgusted with that, I decided to "organize" things. Rather than make it perfect, I got bins and boxes to put "like tools" into and put them on a shelf that was handy. Same for wood, parts, screws.

My problem is not that I am lazy, because when I have time, I do clean up and put everything up. I often don't have time to get everything lined up, do work and put it back in an organized manner in a small shop or garage shop. It may take me 15 to 20 minutes to get things ready to work with. Then work for 30 minutes or an hour, then a phone call or LOML calling or something else. Not enough time to put things back.

The bins and boxes with open tops are VERY handy for me to be able to put squares, pliers, markers, cutters, rules and small things into in a matter of seconds. Clean up can be done later and usually is. IF I am not rushed, I do clean up and organize better.

I have to take what I can as far as getting time to work on projects and I am not my own boss of my time as much as I would like to say that I am.

[Ed62]

This is something I still struggle with. One thing I did was to make a place for several pegboards. Some things in the shop now have a permanent place for a home. For those things, I know exactly where they are when I need them. I'm thinking about making a place for more drawers, which I find handy for organization also. I really think everything needs it's own place.

Ed

[LinuxRandal]

I to admit that this is an ongoing fight.

I go for a while, then get tired of the mess and clean. When I have cleaned it, I get back in the habit of putting things back up when I am done. My downfall, is those other events like, emergency phone calls, working too late to where one is falling asleep and shouldn't be working, working outside and suprise rain. Those are what gets me started down the path of disorder.

Once, ONLY once, I cleaned after a near accident (not with a power tool). I tripped on something I knocked off the bench and started to fall into the edge of a hand saw. That will be a quick motivator.

[mschrank]

Organization is an ongoing project for me as well. Like Hank, I get frustrated spending the time to prepare for a project, work on the project, then get pulled away before having the time to clean up.

One thought that always seems to bite me is "I'll just leave everything out so I can pick up where I left off later." Being able to "pick up where I left off" doesn't work out very often. Like most of us, I don't have nearly as much time for "woodworking" as I would like. Most of the tasks based out of my shop revolve around home improvement and maintenance, and there's always something new thing that needs immediate attention (for example, yesterday I discovered I have a leak in a drain line under my basement slab )

What's working for me is this:

1. Establish a place for everything. I try to return the item to it's place as soon as I'm finished using it. Obviously, that doesn't always happen, so....
2. Everytime I walk into the shop, even if it's just to grab a tool needed in the house, quicky put 2-5 things back in their place.

Granted, finding the time to initially organize and find a place for everything is tough, but it pays off in the end. I still have a lot of organization to do...probably always will. I just try and do a bit at a time.

[radhak]

You can never transform completely. If it's against your nature (as with me), you have to motivate yourself every so often. And you have to find ways of translating that into do-able actions.

Once, a friend came over so I could rip a couple of pine boards for him. While doing that, I needed one of my 4 quick-clamps. And though we spent all of 15 minutes searching, we could not find even one of them ! And that was when I got serious about cleaning up my act.

As others have noted, small steps work best. I started with bins just to segregate. Then stuck stickers all over for faster access. Then I put up pegboards, then built a couple of drawers/cabinets.

After all that, one day I was up on a ladder trying to take down a ceiling fan, struggling with a stubborn screw/nut, and felt the need for a specific spanner. I asked my wife to get it for me while I held the fan up (the other 2 screws were out and this was the only one hold it up, precariously). She tried her best to find it, and could not.

Later, I found it only after some effort . Felt like an idiot : for all my ambitions, my execution of 'get organized' had fallen short by far. That realization helped me fine-tune my approach.

Now for me, my motivation is - I should be able to direct somebody else over the phone to get me something from my shop ("...third drawer on the left, towards the back..."). That's not original, got it from some 'organize yourself' workshop, but it works for me...

Today, at least I know how much more I have to go! Whenever I have to leave the shop in a hurry, I try to remember and go back before bedtime to put things in place.

Never thought I'd work on something this hard !

[atgcpaul]

I went on a forced company retreat where we all took the Myers-Brigg test.
Of the 30 or so employees at the time, me and 4 others were at the far
"P" end of the spectrum--disorganized. Oddly, my major job function is to
organize samples and track the flow of samples through this place. I have my
own system that works for me and everyone's happy. I'm good with keeping
things organized in my head, though.

In any case, I always knew I wasn't the most organized person--just ask my
wife. My shop is in complete disarray but I manage to get work done in there.
I'd definitely get more done if it were neater, though. I try to organize but
quickly get discouraged by the enormity of it. However, I have found that
it's the little victories that help me along. Most recently it was to organize
all my fasteners and furniture hardware like drywall screws, shelf supports,
you name it into portable totes. Now I'm not digging through separate boxes
for this or that; they're all in one place and easy to find.

And thanks to Loring for posting pics of his new clamp racks because that's
what I'm going to do this weekend.

It will all snowball into place--over time. Cleaning up those screws and
hardware have freed up drawer space where I was able to organize some
other things which gave me space here for fill_in_the_blanks. Getting those
clamps into a nice rack will keep my assembly area clear. As long as I stick
with it, I know I can do it.

Good luck to us all!

Paul

[pelligrini]

I'm certainly not organized when it comes to my shop, or other interests that accumulate a lot of stuff. I am getting a whole lot better though. It’s not by choice, but pretty much out of necessity; too much stuff, and limited space.

Like others have said, bins and boxes help a lot. I've been making some shallow stacking boxes/treys to get things under control. It has helped me with some box making skills too. I prefer shallow because there should only be one layer off stuff to find things easily. Grouping them is good too; Router accessories in a couple boxes, marking devices, measuring stuff, pegboard brackets, etc.

They also help in keeping the workspaces cleaner too. I can slide a tray that has most of my measuring instruments off the shelf and take the whole kit to the bench or saw. I also learned that if I put the device back in the trey I can find it much easier than just putting it anywhere convenient (still trying to overcome the 'if').

Since my shop is really a 10x12 shed space is a premium. My assembly and other tables break down, and I found that to actually break them down I have to clear off all the stuff. If I keep trying to break them down and the end of a work session (or two) it'll help keeping everything in its place.

Labels helped me finding things quicker too. I bought a Brother P-Touch label maker to help out and I love it. A lot of my boxes look the same and the labels really save some time.

I also moved many of my rarely used tools out of the prime tool locations. Specialized plumbing wrenches, screen spline rollers, etc were really cluttering up my pegboards. Grouping the items in some drawers worked well too; electrical stuff, plumbing stuff, random junk er.. stuff.

Ensuring that I don't have to move one thing to get to another helps, because that first thing usually would get left out somewhere else since the other was going to go back eventually. That created a snowball effect resulting in chaos.

[gsmittle]

I was going to recommend a book on getting organized but I can't find it.

g.

[Red88chevy]

Not sure if you are interested in hearing from disorganized types who do not have organized shops.
All the wood I have salvaged from neighbors make it difficult to walk through the shop. I keep
telling myself I'll use it all someday. One thing that has helped is my wife for Christmas bought
me a couple dozen plastic containers from Walmart. The smallest is about shoebox size and they
go up from there. They all have tops so they keep things from falling out. Only problem is
you need somewhere to store them, so they would be good in organizing a set of shelves.

[KLF]

I used to think I was somewhat organized in my limited space I have in my basement. Then my Dad passed away suddenly last Spring, and I had to help my Mom clean out his personal belongings that collected in the house from living there for 44 years. WOW. Turnes out he saved EVERYTHING. We filled a huge dumpster with all the crap we pulled out from just the crawlspace and garage. I'm surprised the house didn't fall down from the weight of all the stuff he had crammed in the attic.

Then when I got home, I realized I was following the same path. I had waaaaay too much crap laying around, with the thought "I'll need this someday". Example: one of the things I found in the crawlspace was a bunch of bags full of old doorknobs and locksets from when my Dad changed them out throughout the house about 10 years ago. He saved all the old ones, why I don't know because they were all beat up and some didn't even work any more. Then, when I got home, guess what I found in my own basement? Yup, a bag of old useless doorknobs!

So, I started taking truckloads of stuff to the dump. Giving stuff away. Taking things to Salvation Army. Selling off stuff on eBay (huge hassle, won't do that anymore). I still have some things to deal with, but I have a lot less than before.

General rule to think about, if you haven't used something in 2-3 years, you don't need it anymore. Get rid of it! If anything, try not to leave behind a house full of worthless junk when you kick the bucket.

[Ed62]

General rule to think about, if you haven't used something in 2-3 years, you don't need it anymore. Get rid of it! If anything, try not to leave behind a house full of worthless junk when you kick the bucket.

This is something my wife tells me on a regular basis. It helps.

Ed

[kirkroy]

Some good ideas here plus it's good to hear I'm far from the only one with this issue. I would take a picture of the current condition of the biggest flat surface in my shop but I'm afraid it would be too embarrassing...

I think I'll take it one step at a time, like making sure to always put the cordless drills away (and having a place other than the top of the aforementioned flat surface designated for the drills).

atgcpaul, I've done the myers briggs too and was at the extreme end of all the categories (INTP).

[Carlos]

1. Establish a place for everything. I try to return the item to it's place as soon as I'm finished using it. Obviously, that doesn't always happen, so....
2. Everytime I walk into the shop, even if it's just to grab a tool needed in the house, quicky put 2-5 things back in their place.

Yup, that's the ticket. I am insanely disorganized unless I establish the above from the start. In addition, every new tool must get a home before it comes out of the box.

[LinuxRandal]

Some things that have helped me:

Knowing people who have lost EVERYTHING, due to fire/flood, etc.
The 12 step program. If you can't walk 12 steps in any direction without walking into something (not structural), you have too much stuff.

And Dear ole George and stuff:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLoge6QzcGY