Organizing Tip - The Sunday Basket
Today I'm going to share an organizing tip I love called The Sunday Basket. I didn't invent it*. In fact I heard about it from my former hairdresser who can not only color and cut hair but also organize and make everything look cute. But I digress.
Do you have a big pile of papers, unopened mail, old homework, bills, and catalogs you'll likely never read stacked somewhere?
Do you save stuff to do something with later, yet never go back?
Do you lose bills that need to be paid?
Do you squash kid art drawings in a pile of stuff for fear of your child seeing it in the recycle bin?
I used to too. If you have more paper than you can handle (show me a mom who doesn't!), this is an idea that could work for you.
In my first attempt to organize the pile, I used to have a system where I had files for each member of my family, and a file for bills, and one for invites, and one for who knows what. All that did was make the pile look neater but it didn't help me actually deal with them.
Enter the Sunday Basket.
The Sunday Basket is a catch-all where you put everything you need to look at on Sunday (or Monday or whatever day works for your family). To start, you'll need a basket or empty drawer. You probably already have one, but since nothing makes me happier than going to Homegoods to get something cute to use for organizing, I bought one. Make sure it's big enough to hold a full sized piece of paper.
Here are the basic steps. You can vary this as it works for you, but this is my process:
Recycle It - Right Away. In my former career, I got paid to make things more simple and efficient. We had a term called "motion waste" which means you move the same thing several times for no reason. Let's say you get the mail and carry it in the house. Set it on the table. Move it from the table to the counter when you eat dinner. Move it from the counter to a drawer when you wipe down the counter later. Open that drawer a month later and get it out. Then recycle it. Why have all of those wasted steps in the middle? On the way back from the mailbox, way in the door from the backpack etc, just immediately recycle what you know you won't need again. There. You just cut your pile by 75% before you even started!
Drop It In. Anything that comes into your house between now and Sunday that needs to be paid, written down, reviewed, responded to . . . Simply drop it in the Sunday basket. Remember rule #1, if it doesn't need action, it needs to be recycled and never make it to the basket.
Review Time. Set aside a time on Sunday (or whatever day works) to review and take action on the contents. It takes me about an hour to review the basket, update my planner for the week, and plan my meals. If you are just doing the basket, 15-30 minutes will probably work. Review every item in the basket and take action on it. Pay the bill, RSVP to the invite, write things on the family calendar. There are also items that need to be filed an saved. If you think about it, very few items fall into this category. I recycle all paid bills, invites (after I put them in the calendar). If there's something I want to keep forever - for example a really touching note from someone or a tax item, I file it in my office. If you have something that needs to wait another week, or that you can't take action on yet, you can put it back in the basket. I have a little file folder labeled "next week" that I toss in the basket for items like that.
That's it! Easy, right? I promise you'll have more peace of mind if you use this system. It's freeing to drop things in the basket throughout the week knowing you have a planned time to go back and review it. You'll eliminate that overwhelmed feeling of seeing the pile of mail and wondering what you should be doing, but haven't.
I'd love to hear how this works for you.
*I want to give credit where it's due, it looks like a professional organizer named Lisa came up with the concept, here's her site. Looks like she even sells a Sunday basket kit! You go, Lisa, thanks for the great idea.