1
00:00:03,520 --> 00:00:10,200
Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,

2
00:00:11,680 --> 00:00:17,480
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

3
00:00:17,480 --> 00:00:23,000
Speaker 1: tip is to create an other category. Doing so can

4
00:00:23,000 --> 00:00:30,080
Speaker 1: make organizing a lot simpler and faster. My family moved

5
00:00:30,120 --> 00:00:34,240
Speaker 1: earlier this year, and I spent weeks unpacking. The kitchen

6
00:00:34,479 --> 00:00:38,320
Speaker 1: was particularly tedious, and only the rather urgent need to

7
00:00:38,440 --> 00:00:42,920
Speaker 1: find my pots and pans kept me going. I spend

8
00:00:42,920 --> 00:00:45,640
Speaker 1: a lot of time deliberating over questions like whether a

9
00:00:45,760 --> 00:00:48,760
Speaker 1: vegetable peeler belongs in the knife drawer or the utensils

10
00:00:48,840 --> 00:00:52,160
Speaker 1: drawer or somewhere else, and where to store napkin rings,

11
00:00:52,200 --> 00:00:55,000
Speaker 1: which we don't really use but have, and where to

12
00:00:55,040 --> 00:00:58,520
Speaker 1: put various things that aren't actually kitchen items but that

13
00:00:58,560 --> 00:01:01,760
Speaker 1: you sometimes need while you're in the kitchen. But most

14
00:01:01,800 --> 00:01:05,480
Speaker 1: flummoxing was all the random stuff that was in our

15
00:01:05,560 --> 00:01:09,840
Speaker 1: kitchen boxes. When you live in a house for a decade,

16
00:01:10,640 --> 00:01:12,959
Speaker 1: a lot of stuff winds up in drawers and in

17
00:01:13,040 --> 00:01:16,840
Speaker 1: piles in your kitchen, and so a box labeled kitchen

18
00:01:17,560 --> 00:01:21,319
Speaker 1: might very well have small toys and other random things

19
00:01:21,959 --> 00:01:25,760
Speaker 1: like a broken cup shaped like a dinosaur that can't

20
00:01:25,800 --> 00:01:29,840
Speaker 1: actually be used, but can't be thrown away, lest the

21
00:01:29,920 --> 00:01:34,800
Speaker 1: child with an affinity for it see it in the trash.

22
00:01:34,840 --> 00:01:40,120
Speaker 1: What made unpacking possible was creating a junk drawer. And

23
00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:42,400
Speaker 1: I don't even mean what most people think of as

24
00:01:42,400 --> 00:01:45,440
Speaker 1: a kitchen junk drawer, which might have pencils, a scissors,

25
00:01:45,520 --> 00:01:48,560
Speaker 1: rubber bands, spare change, and other such small items. I

26
00:01:48,680 --> 00:01:51,920
Speaker 1: have a drawer for those. Let's call that junk drawer

27
00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:56,000
Speaker 1: number one. I am talking the truly random stuff I

28
00:01:56,040 --> 00:01:59,240
Speaker 1: was pulling out of boxes. I couldn't really put it

29
00:01:59,520 --> 00:02:01,640
Speaker 1: back in the boxes, because then it would block other

30
00:02:01,680 --> 00:02:04,520
Speaker 1: stuff from coming out of the boxes, or I would

31
00:02:04,560 --> 00:02:08,520
Speaker 1: still have boxes sitting there in my eating space. So

32
00:02:08,760 --> 00:02:12,240
Speaker 1: I created an other drawer, we could call it junk

33
00:02:12,280 --> 00:02:15,799
Speaker 1: drawer number two, for anything that didn't have a clear

34
00:02:16,200 --> 00:02:21,280
Speaker 1: and appropriate home anywhere. Suddenly, the question where does this go?

35
00:02:21,880 --> 00:02:25,359
Speaker 1: Became a lot less stressful because I could answer myself

36
00:02:25,480 --> 00:02:28,640
Speaker 1: or a younger helper by saying, I don't know, so

37
00:02:28,720 --> 00:02:32,200
Speaker 1: put it in that bottom drawer over there. Once I

38
00:02:32,240 --> 00:02:36,880
Speaker 1: had a drawer for this big category of other unpacking

39
00:02:37,120 --> 00:02:40,520
Speaker 1: went more quickly. I could efficiently get the rest of

40
00:02:40,520 --> 00:02:47,000
Speaker 1: the kitchen a lot less junkie. Creating an other category

41
00:02:47,040 --> 00:02:50,840
Speaker 1: can be helpful in many contexts when we designate a

42
00:02:50,880 --> 00:02:54,560
Speaker 1: spot where anything can go everywhere else can be a

43
00:02:54,600 --> 00:02:59,200
Speaker 1: lot more orderly. Another category is a great technique when

44
00:02:59,320 --> 00:03:03,880
Speaker 1: organizing physical spaces, especially areas like kitchens, offices, and kids

45
00:03:03,960 --> 00:03:06,280
Speaker 1: rooms where there is a fair amount of stuff that

46
00:03:06,360 --> 00:03:11,160
Speaker 1: defies classification. An other category can be useful in a

47
00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:16,480
Speaker 1: household budget too. COVID tests parking tickets, the impulse purchased

48
00:03:16,480 --> 00:03:19,880
Speaker 1: at a charity auction. If you know where those items

49
00:03:19,919 --> 00:03:23,400
Speaker 1: belong in your budget, great, If not, put them in

50
00:03:23,840 --> 00:03:29,080
Speaker 1: other it's a junk drawer. Longtime listeners will have heard

51
00:03:29,080 --> 00:03:32,280
Speaker 1: my encouragement to batch the little things. That means to

52
00:03:32,320 --> 00:03:35,520
Speaker 1: designate a time each week for doing all the various

53
00:03:35,560 --> 00:03:38,400
Speaker 1: tasks that need to be done but don't fit neatly

54
00:03:38,480 --> 00:03:42,520
Speaker 1: somewhere else in your schedule. Batching little things is the

55
00:03:42,600 --> 00:03:45,880
Speaker 1: time equivalent of a junk drawer or an other category.

56
00:03:46,720 --> 00:03:49,880
Speaker 1: I pay bills, respond to invitations and fill out forms

57
00:03:50,360 --> 00:03:54,840
Speaker 1: in one fell swoop on Friday afternoons. So the next

58
00:03:54,840 --> 00:03:57,920
Speaker 1: time you are spending way too much time and mental

59
00:03:58,040 --> 00:04:04,320
Speaker 1: energy deliberating about how to categorize something, embrace the genius

60
00:04:04,360 --> 00:04:08,840
Speaker 1: of the junk drawer. The paradox is that by creating

61
00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:15,120
Speaker 1: one seemingly unorganized space, everything else can be more orderly,

62
00:04:16,560 --> 00:04:20,280
Speaker 1: certainly more orderly and in less time than if you

63
00:04:20,400 --> 00:04:26,600
Speaker 1: insisted on absolutely everything having a category or place. We

64
00:04:26,760 --> 00:04:30,479
Speaker 1: all need junk drawers in our lives. It is really

65
00:04:30,520 --> 00:04:36,200
Speaker 1: the best way to be workably organized in the meantime.

66
00:04:36,960 --> 00:04:41,080
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making

67
00:04:41,120 --> 00:04:50,760
Speaker 1: the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to

68
00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:53,720
Speaker 1: hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,

69
00:04:53,880 --> 00:04:57,640
Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook

70
00:04:57,720 --> 00:05:02,520
Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod that's b E the

71
00:05:02,640 --> 00:05:06,880
Speaker 1: number four, then Breakfast p o D. You can also

72
00:05:06,880 --> 00:05:10,960
Speaker 1: shoot me an email at Before Breakfast Podcasts at iHeartMedia

73
00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:13,640
Speaker 1: dot com. That Before Breakfast is spelled out with all

74
00:05:13,680 --> 00:05:16,200
Speaker 1: the letters. Thanks so much. Should I look forward to

75
00:05:16,200 --> 00:05:25,120
Speaker 1: staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartRadio.

76
00:05:25,720 --> 00:05:31,159
Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,

77
00:05:31,240 --> 00:05:38,480
Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.