Desk Clutter

             

               Kid clutter is normal, many kids don't understand why it is important to put things away properly. When using my quiz to figure out the persons style of living and how they want their items to look when organized will help them to understand that they can be organized and stay organized. This Client is a high schooler and has a love for school and academics. She loves this desk of hers because it is huge, can hide all of her belongings and still display her special trinkets that she has collected on special vacations. I had her take the quiz and we learned that her style is Conventional. She doesn't like to see her items, she likes them hidden. She came to me looking for help in how to organize her stuff in a way that she could keep most of it, have it nearby if she needed it and still have a ton of space to do her actual work, but have most of it put away. 

Our first task was to take everything out and go through what she needed, wanted, what was trash/donation, or what needed to be in a different space. Then we began to put things back.

 Each top drawer has a specific tool; pens, pencils, scissors, hand sanitizer, lotion, etc.  and then the bottom drawers have dividers in them and she has one spot for index cards, stress relief, Washi tape, and gum. 

Next was her journals, notebooks and folders. She had them in this drawer, but stacked on top of each other. She hated that she would have to take every item out to get the bottom folder. So we made a simple change, we turned them on their side and now she can see each one and take just the one she wants. She was so excited for this option, and she kept saying "how easy, I never would have thought to do that."

Our final big change was to move the typewriter up on top. She loves it, but doesn't use it. And it took up a large portion of space on her desk top, so we moved it up to the top of her desk and now she has a ton of workspace. 

It has been a few weeks, and school is back in session and she still has a neat and organized desk. She has no problem getting right to work, or finding a tool that she needs. She says it has cut her homework time down because she is no longer making space to work, and doesn't waste time looking for things, and enjoys sitting in that space so she doesn't procrastinate as much. After all she is still a teenager and sometimes texting friends is a priority. But she can do that now instead of cleaning her desk!