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Banish the Miscellaneous Category When You're Organizing


When you're elbow deep in organizing your stuff—whether it's at home or the office—there's one category you should steer clear of if you want to actually make progress and actually stay organized: Miscellaneous.

Oprah.com highlights 10 habits of highly organized people, and we particularly latched on to the miscellany item:

Never label anything "miscellaneous"

You put a bunch of things into a file or box and write this catchall across the front. "But within a week you've forgotten what's in there," says [professional organizer Julie] Morgenstern. Instead, sort items into specific groups—"electric bills," "lightbulbs," and so on.

We doubt many people would argue with that logic, especially considering that miscellany is the stuff that junk drawers and unprocessed piles are made of. Photo by redjar.

The 10 Habits of Highly Organized People [Oprah.com via Lifehacker AU]