Here’s a guest post from Dion, a member of Hollywood Storage Center’s Clean Team™ with a great tip to manage clutter-creating housemates.

So, I live in an apartment with a few other guys. We all take turns taking out the garbage, washing the dishes, all that stuff. But I like to keep things clean — guess I have the best kind of job for a guy like me, right?

Anyway, we’ve all been so busy — jobs, girlfriends, taking the dog to Ventura County beaches, working out, and all — that my roommates were leaving their stuff all over the place! Piles of bills on the table, sneakers all over the living room, you name it. The worst of it was a few weeks ago… I couldn’t find my own car keys on the table under all that mess!

I figured, there’s got to be a better way! So I looked in the garage and found some empty plastic tubs. I thought, “That’s it!” I took a Sharpie, wrote each guy’s name on a tub, and threw their things into it. Who knew that this would turn into a new “system” in the house. Now, when they come home, they just drop their mail, books, keys and random items into their tubs instead of on the tables, and I don’t have to look at the chaos. After they’ve had some R&R time, they clean out their tubs and put away the contents instead of cluttering up the coffee table, counters and floors. This has worked so well, they even admit they’re happier in the house without the stacks of stuff lying around.

No surprise when you see this: According to Herbert Benson, M.D., the director emeritus of the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, 60-90 percent of visits to doctors are due to stress, which causes everything from anger and insomnia to heart attacks and infertility. He says, “In today’s hyper-paced world, better organization is not just a desirable skill; it’s the key to better health.”

 

I see customers putting plastic tubs to good use in their self storage units daily; what a great find for home, too. I work hard to keep our Newbury Park storage facility clean as well, and — of course — give organization help whenever I can. Whew. I think I need some R&R!

Thanks for the storage advice, Dion! We love fast and easy ways to keep things organized!