Top 10 Organizing Tips from My Dad

In honor of Father's Day, I wanted to share some tips I've learned from my dad over the years.  He's the guy who passed on a love of labeling things to me, and he has so many great ideas for keeping things organized!  

On a serious note, I'm so blessed to be my father's daughter.  He and my mom have been married for 42 years and my dad has been the best example of hard work, good morals, and generosity that I could have asked for.  He was an involved parent attending countless piano recitals and school activities, driving our family on summer road trips, moving me in and out of my college dorm room, walking me down the aisle at my wedding, providing advice on car purchases, and helping with lots of repair projects!  He's now a devoted Grandpa and setting the same examples for his grandchildren.

Top 10 organizing tips from my dad:

1.  Label your board games
You know when you're playing a game that has questions on cards and someone starts suddenly knowing all of the answers and you realize someone put the cards back on the wrong end of the box last time you played.  Well, my dad has a simple fix for that! Simply put a piece of masking tape on whichever end you designate the front.  To make it even clearer, write "FRONT" on it.

​2.  Keep track of dates of purchase and maintenance on your owner's manuals
For large purchases, most of us keep the owner's manuals.  My dad has always written the date of purchase and noted and maintenance and the date on the cover.  You could also staple the receipt to the manual.  Not only is it interesting to see how long things last (he had the manual from his record player from the 1970-something), but it's helpful when dealing with warranties, or knowing the timing of preventative maintenance.

3. Hang a tennis ball on a rope from your garage ceiling
My dad has a nice garage and he maximizes the space in front of where the cars park with built in cabinets and hooks on the walls.   To keep my mom from pulling the vehicles in too far (and likely also to make sure the vehicles were in far enough not to get caught in the closing garage door), he long ago installed a hanging tennis ball.  You pull the car up until the tennis ball just taps your windshield, so you know you are parked in the perfect spot.

4. Customize your belongings to fit your space
The bathroom I used growing up has an area that juts out just past the tub (which my dad did on purpose when he built the house, of course, for plumbing access.)  The problem is the only rugs that would fit in the space were too small to really do any good.  No problem, Dad to the rescue!  He cut a notch in the rug so it fits perfectly against the wall and a side benefit is that it can't slip around either.  This applies to so many things in my parents' house beside rugs.  My dad coined the phase that my brother and I still jokingly use, "You know what a guy could do..."  Whenever he said this, you knew he had a great idea!

"You know what a guy could do..."

5. Don't let sentiment cause clutter
My dad is somewhat of a minimalist.  He doesn't care for a coffee table in the middle of the room or many knick knacks sitting around.  My dad had a decent sized record collection, some of which he'd had since he was a teenager.  They were stored in a wooden cabinet with sliding doors.  Several years ago, he wanted to use the record cabinet for another storage purpose (in the garage on that wall in front of the vehicles - thank you hanging tennis ball for keeping it safe!)  In order to use it for garage storage,  he got rid of the records. I remember feeling sentimental about him getting rid of them and they weren't even mine.  He didn't let sentiment cause any unnecessary clutter.  I'm grateful that my husband and brother got several of the records for their own collections!

6.  Research and analyze which is cheaper and better - fixing/refurbishing or buying new
This one may only apply if you have the ability to fix things yourself. If you know my dad, you know he can fix just about anything!  There are times that most people would have just gotten a new (insert whatever is broken in your house) but my dad did the research to fix it.  For instance, he put a brand new bottom in the bathtubs instead of replacing them.  It was cheaper and less work in the long run than tearing out the old one and installing a new one.  There are times though, were  you've fixed as much as you can fix, and it's just time to buy new.  

7.  Label generously
My dad has been making labels as long as I can remember!  His go to is masking tape and a sharpie.  Putting labels on things helps to identify them (the reason spices of similar colors are labelled in my mom's spice cabinet) and helps us remember where things go (this is why I label my clear bins in my refrigerator - I certainly don't want my raw meat to ever go in the bin where my yogurt is supposed to go!)  I have to admit, I did think my dad took it a little far when I saw that he had labelled the tape dispenser, "TAPE."

8.  Take notes and keep things you want to reference later in a central location
My dad takes notes and records things he wants to remember later.  Even if you have a good memory, you can't remember everything!  Dad has his own system for reference in an Excel spreadsheet with many, many tabs, where I use Evernote to keep track of things I want to refer to later.  Your system doesn't have to work for everyone - just for yourself!   

 9.  Do things the right way the first time.
I say this to my kids often, "Do it right the first time."  Often there's a shortcut or an easy way out, and if that can qualify as "the right way," by all means, take that path of least resistance.  But too often, the easy way is not the right way, and then you end up having to redo the task or fix a mistake later on.  Sometimes tasks take my dad longer than I would expect, but it's done right and it lasts!  Several years ago, I had some issues with the caulk around my bathroom tub and my dad fixed it for us (yep, I'm lucky, I know!) It took a lot longer than I anticipated, but because he used the right materials,  fixed his mistakes while the caulk was still wet, smoothed it with the correct tool, and waited the appropriate amount of time for it to dry - it looked great, served its correct purpose, and has lasted a long time.

10.  Use your talents to help others
As I said earlier, my dad can fix just about anything and everybody knows it!  This was demonstrated yesterday when my almost-4-year-old nephew picked up a toy that wouldn't work and bypassed everyone to go straight to my dad and say, "Grandpa this is broken, will you fix it?"  Being good at something does usually mean you get asked to help people do that thing, and sometimes that can feel like a burden. Though I can't read his mind, it doesn't seem like he minds when he's asked to help with someone else's project.  I think he looks at it as an opportunity to solve a puzzle while helping someone out.  He's certainly helped me out more than I could ever thank or repay him for.   I think because I saw my dad using what he was good at to help his family and others since I was a little girl, it seems natural to me to share my talents, too.  I also think that we improve our skills, become faster and more productive at things when we do them more often - practice makes perfect, right?  If we can improve our skills and become more efficient at them while helping someone out, it's a win-win!

My dad has taught me much more than these 10 things (some of them I've written about before) but these are some that I thought you might like to try out.  I'm so fortunate to have a dad who has been present my entire life, and it was really fun to think of some of the things he's taught me.  I challenge you to make a list of some specific things someone important in your life has taught you - and share it with them!  Happy Father's Day, Dad - I love you!