I returned a tall ladder in my garage to a space close to where it usually goes. And then I made a quick adjustment. Where it was before I switched it made it possible to tip over and crash on my car. Could such a thing happen?  Well, with two recent minor earthquakes in Southern California top of mind, in a flash I considered it.  Where the ladder usually goes, it is bolstered by other objects and if it did somehow fall, it would not fall on my car.

This little tweak to my ladder inspired a thought about other things anyone can do to organize their stuff for safety’s sake.  If you can’t get motivated to organize for any other reason, this seems like a good one.  In fact, I don’t believe in obsessive organizing and know that the quality of your life may not improve if your condiments in the kitchen are alphabetized.  Organizing for safety is just very practical.

I have a couple of fire extinguishers. Where should they go? They should go in the areas most likely to have a fire accident, like the kitchen or garage. And up on a high shelf is not practical, so bring them down to a level where they can be grabbed quickly.

My cat’s travel carrier used to be on the highest shelf in the garage since it is only used once or twice a year. That could delay getting her to the vet in an emergency. Now it sits near floor level for quick access. I also have a carry-on sized piece of luggage in my garage (at arm’s length away from the car) with 3 day’s worth of clothes and toiletries. I put that together after having experienced my first involuntary evacuation in 2020 when my city was on fire.

I hate bugs. I now have a couple of systems in place to deter bugs from getting in my home when I open the door and it has to do with essential oils and the spray bottle prep. I’ve gotten over the occasional fly in the house, but I had to duel it out with a couple of wasps in the span of two weeks and decided to have a fly swatter very close to where they gravitate (kitchen window). Fun fact: I learned on-line that wasps can remember human faces for a few days and if you don’t successfully kill them, they take it personally and could return to attack you again!

Staying safe can be less literal and more abstract, such as staying safe legally. I happen to be the Trustee of a Special Needs Trust. Currently, the Trust does not generate any income. But if it does one day, that is when I will need to file a tax return for it.  And once that happens, the IRS can ask for ALL bank statements, going back to when the Trust account was opened.  Thus, I have to keep those bank statements indefinitely.  I must be organized in separating the Trust statements from all other banking statements which go into separate boxes each year and then get ripped to shreds after 7 years of storage.

Anything potentially toxic to my pets is kept out of reach and behind a door they cannot paw open. Think safety for both yourself and your loved ones.  You wouldn’t keep a plugged in electrical device on the toilet tank while taking a bath, would you?  These images may sound stupid, but as the saying goes, “better safe than sorry.”

What you can do as a unique purging/organizing exercise, is go through all your stuff and ask yourself for whatever items you are storing, if that current location is the safest for all its intents and purposes. 

Will the location of that item possibly injure someone?

Will the location of that item ruin other things if it spills over?

Will the location of that item make it harder to note if its contents have passed their date of expiration?

Will the location of that item be difficult to retrieve when time is of the essence?

Will the location of that item be harder to find when you are stressed and not thinking clearly?

Will the location of that item make it easier to accidentally throw away?

Will the location of that item be so hard to find that you replace it unnecessarily?

This is what organizing for the sake of safety, convenience, and peace of mind can look like and it may be one of the most compelling reasons to organize anything in the first place.

Aside from organizing by intentionally placing items in areas that make sense and are safe, I have also created “mental” systems and associations, which admittedly are there to confront any memory lapses. For example, I have a certain under cabinet light on at night in my kitchen which stays on until I take my evening medications and supplements. I have my pets’ flea and tick medications labeled for the months they are to be used, after experiencing one month when I just could not remember if I gave them their medication or not.

I have tied in the quarterly change of my HVAC filters with the seasonal shifts at the solstices and equinoxes.  I have other little memory gimmicks and write things down more so than ever before because I don’t have the nearly photographic memory that I used to!

Author: Kartar Diamond

Company: Feng Shui Solutions ®

From the Tao of Organizing Blog Series