How do I fix this? Workspace/clutter

My name is Pete Gossett and I have a problem...

I brought this up in the Jack Olsen thread, but it seemed worthy of its own topic. These pictures below are just samples. Pretty much every space I occupy, and attempt to accomplish tasks within, end up looking like this.

For me personally I've identified several reasons why I feel this continues to be a problem for me:

1.) Time - it always is a mad rush to something completed in time...before bed, before the weekend, before winter...whatever the deadline is, there always seems to be one, and there always ends up being competing interests chipping away a the time I need, or occasionally a lack of motivation. The end result is often not having time to really pick up/clean up afterward.

2.) Organization - for things I have a place for: tools in the toolbox, a place on the shelf, or in a drawer, I do pretty well with. It's the "new", unexpected, odd-sized, or atypical things I struggle to put somewhere.

3.) Organization/Time Pt.-2 - "I'll just leave this right here where I can find it, since I know I'll need it soon." Yeah, that usually works...

4.) Being a packrat/hoarder - I've actually done quite a bit of work to reduce this. I have such a difficult time saying "no" to free junk/scrap, especially if it gives me ideas for a project.

5.) I like junk! - There, I admitted it. My eyes light up when I walk in a dimly-lit shop/shed/warehouse and see stuff piled everywhere. I want to dive in, and dig through every inch of it looking for treasures...not necessarily measures by monetary value, age, or rarity...just anything I think is cool. I've made good progress working on this one too.

I know I'm not the only one dealing with this, and Tim's recent article touched on it somewhat in regards to projects that will never be finished. So what advice do you guys/gals have for overcoming this???

Area designation. That's my biggest thing right now. If I deem an area for "X", it has to stay "X". no putting something else in that area. It forces you to find another "home" for it, namely the garbage.

get your discipline back

I have a few things that have helped me (though I am still an extreme addict).

• Reduce space. I know people will argue with me over his one, but most of us have too much space. Too much space= too much stuff. It's a really simple formula. when I reduced my shop space, I got rid of some stuff.

• Limit organization. The better I get at packing stuff into corners, the more I hoard. I am best off with a few simple open shelves where everything can be seen. Lots of drawers, compartments, etc. are just a way of hiding the problem, not helping.

• Have a system for stuff not yet put away. I have a small Rubbermaid cart I keep near me while working. I toss things into it as I use them- tools, parts, trash, whatever. When the cart gets full, I stop and put stuff away.

• Reduce horizontal surfaces. I used to have 3 times as many workbenches as I do. They were just opportunities to collect junk. I got rid of most of them. Now, if I want a workbench, I'm gonna have to clean the one I've got (that is cluttered).

• Get big stuff off the floor- I have high deep shelves that I use ONLY for big stuff- seats, bumpers, tires, etc. Getting this stuff off the floor really helps eliminate clutter.

YMMV. In truth, I'm no hero on this. Anyone who saw my shop would recognize I have fallen off the deep end, but I did used to be much, much worse, and these things have helped.

You snuck into my shop and are posting pictures! We are in the process of making a storage room and i keep telling myself i will clean the shop when its done.

fasted58 wrote: get your discipline back

The problem is I never had discipline, at least when it comes to being organized. I'm hoping to improve that, at least a bit.

SVreX wrote: I have a few things that have helped me (though I am still an extreme addict). - Reduce space. I know people will argue with me over his one, but most of us have too much space. Too much space= too much stuff. It's a really simple formula. when I reduced my shop space, I got rid of some stuff.

I went from an empty 8800 square-foot building, to damn near being a hoarder, within 7 years. Now I'm going down to a 20'x32' garage + 12'x24' workshop. I HAVE to pare down.

- Limit organization. The better I get at packing stuff into corners, the more I hoard. I am best off with a few simple open shelves where everything can be seen. Lots of drawers, compartments, etc. are just a way of hiding the problem, not helping.

Interesting idea. I've been thinking just the opposite would be good, based on the Jack Olsen model. Yet I have plenty of stuff put a way that I couldn't begin to find if I needed it.

- Have a system for stuff not yet put away. I have a small Rubbermaid cart I keep near me while working. I toss things into it as I use them- tools, parts, trash, whatever. When the cart gets full, I stop and put stuff away.

I like that idea! I also have a small wheeled cart in my old garage, that has largely turned into semi-permanent storage. Considering its original purpose was a movable workspace, I might just...uh...repurpose it for its intended purpose.

- Reduce horizontal surfaces. I used to have 3 times as many workbenches as I do. They were just opportunities to collect junk. I got rid of most of them. Now, if I want a workbench, I'm gonna have to clean the one I've got (that is cluttered).

I've had this thought myself, but I'm concerned I'd just end up with piles of crap on the floor. We'll see, as I definitely won't have the counter-space at the new place that I have here.

YMMV. In truth, I'm no hero on this. Anyone who saw my shop would recognize I have fallen off the deep end, but I did used to be much, much worse, and these things have helped.

At this point in my life, any improvement would be welcomed. Since I'm basically starting with a clean slate - and don't necessarily have to find a place for everything since much of it can remain in IL unless/until I need it, I really want to get a method/discipline in place to prevent the new garage/shop from becoming like the old one.

Yeah, the cart is probably my best idea.

It lets me be a slob, but limits the volume.

In my not a grosh build, I either made a permanent home, or it went away. I found a lot of E36 M3 I couldn't identify, had no immediate use for, or had no good home for. The unidentified stuff got offered free on Craigslist, no immediate use or planned use went for sale on Craigslist, and I went with bankers boxed on custom made shelves for organizing what was left. I also am taking great pains to minimize stuff on the floor. I only have 500 square feet.

Lastly, I now clean up the shop every Sunday after church. Even if I haven't worked in there that week, I still walk through to sweep, put stuff away, whatever. Some Sundays it takes two hours. Some five minutes. But it let's me start off the week organized and clean.

You're looking at cleaning as cutting into project time. You need to realize that cleaing IS a project unto itself and it requires dedicated time and energy. Jack has posted pictures of his garage mid project before and it's a mess. Then you see pictures of it clean. No magic there, he takes the time and cleans up.
This is a constant house/Grosh/workspace issue for me too.

petegossett wrote:

SVreX wrote: - Reduce horizontal surfaces. I used to have 3 times as many workbenches as I do. They were just opportunities to collect junk. I got rid of most of them. Now, if I want a workbench, I'm gonna have to clean the one I've got (that is cluttered).

I've had this thought myself, but I'm concerned I'd just end up with piles of crap on the floor. We'll see, as I definitely won't have the counter-space at the new place that I have here.

You probably WILL end up with piles of crap on the floor. I am willing to bet that you currently have piles of crap on the floor in front of piles of crap on the workbenches- which is worse? For me, I HATE piles of crap on the floor. I am just learning to use my anger well- when there are piles of crap on the floor, I am EXTREMELY motivated to get rid of them.

Jack Olsen says he has 10 workbenches in his garage. The creepy part to me is that they are all empty. That's not the world I live in.

You (and I) are not the same kinds of people as Jack Olsen. You are going to have to develop habits that work for you. Pics of Jack's shop are little more than shop porn to guys like you and me. I can't live like that, and I doubt you can either.

Wheels help.

All of my workbenches, shelving units, and large pieces of equipment are mounted on wheels. It lets me push things out of the way when I temporarily need more space, and allows me to clean behind/ under better.

petegossett wrote: At this point in my life, any improvement would be welcomed.

Your new smaller shop will go a long way toward fixing things for you.

You will move the important things first, and find a storage system that works. By the time you get to the end, you really won't have any need or desire for most of the remaining crap.

Be open to change, but be realistic about yourself as well. Allow yourself a little forgiveness.

I like Duster's idea of cleaning the shop every week after church. It's a method of developing better habits.

make time to put the stuff away after the job is done. that's my number one enemy, and i'm trying to force myself to do it every time. at the end of a crappy/long/cold/greasy job it's easy to toss the stuff on the bench or just inside the garage door on the floor. then it keeps piling up. taking 20 minutes to put crap away when you're done saves the horribly overwhelming job of cleaning up 2 years worth of not-put-away tools and crap.

I try to use The 6 Month Rule.

Going to use it in 6 months? Yes, keep it. No, pitch it.

Have you used it in the last 6 months? Yes, keep it. No, pitch it.

No, it doesn't usually work for me either, but it does help.

I didn't see very much stuff there that wasn't garbage, I'm afraid. If you have a desktop computer case lying sideways under a cigar box and some eggcrate foam, its garbage. Throw it out.

If you like big wooden spoons, hang them on the wall, give them to an old folks home, or garbage.

And so on.

Toyman01 wrote: I try to use The 6 Month Rule. Going to use it in 6 months? Yes, keep it. No, pitch it. Have you used it in the last 6 months? Yes, keep it. No, pitch it. No, it doesn't usually work for me either, but it does help.

i have a 7 year rule that is similar. it keeps me getting rid of stuff for vehicles that aren't around anymore that have not been replaced with another to use the parts on, while keeping stuff around long enough that if i buy another i'm not pissed at having thrown out a bunch of stuff i have to buy again.

I have the same problem. I'm currently trying to reorganise my garage, though I suspect it's an exercise in futility....

I like junk far to much and for some reason hate throwing things away.

Sorry, I know that doesn't help... I'm part of the problem not the solution.

Streetwiseguy wrote: I didn't see very much stuff there that wasn't garbage, I'm afraid. If you have a desktop computer case lying sideways under a cigar box and some eggcrate foam, its garbage. Throw it out. If you like big wooden spoons, hang them on the wall, give them to an old folks home, or garbage. And so on.

In the top pic:

The computer was one I ended up with after doing a job for someone. Their hard drive was dead, they bought a new PC & gave me this one. I happen to have a good friend who really could use a new PC but has no steady income, so I decided to put a new HDD in this one to give him...then I couldn't get it to boot from any external media, even though it's enabled in BIOS. After a couple evenings of working on it, other things came up, and that's where it ended.

The 35mm slide carousel was one of dad's. I've been slowing gathering stuff as I go through it, and I need to put that one with the rest of them...once I figure out where I'm putting them.

Next to it, you can barely see a black accessory stand for Dremel bits. My Dremels are on the table too...somewhere. Then in the transparent/white plastic bag is the seat cushion to a vintage Costco stepstool, that a friend reupholstered for me about 3-years ago, but I've not taken time to put the 6-bolts into it to put it back into use. Some of other stuff definitely belongs in the garbage though.

patgizz wrote:

Toyman01 wrote: I try to use The 6 Month Rule. Going to use it in 6 months? Yes, keep it. No, pitch it. Have you used it in the last 6 months? Yes, keep it. No, pitch it. No, it doesn't usually work for me either, but it does help.

i have a 7 year rule that is similar. it keeps me getting rid of stuff for vehicles that aren't around anymore that have not been replaced with another to use the parts on, while keeping stuff around long enough that if i buy another i'm not pissed at having thrown out a bunch of stuff i have to buy again.

Unless I write a date on it, I wouldn't have a clue whether I'd had it for 2-years or 10-years for most stuff.

I did just get rid of a big box of brand new auto parts that I have no idea what they were for. Random crap like belts, seals, wheel bearings. All stuff I bought when I was preparing for a project so I didn't need to take the hour round-trip to the FLAPS and back, but never returned afterward.

Looks like like garage... basement... living room... pretty much all of my house...

It's funny... as I type this from an apartment in NH 300+ miles from home in PA, I sit here and marvel at the open space.

that last pic tells me that you need to figure out where the comically large plates and bowls are and make room there for the spoons and forks..

novaderrik wrote: that last pic tells me that you need to figure out where the comically large plates and bowls are and make room there for the spoons and forks..

Yeah, unfortunately they don't fit in our silverware drawer.

I've told people I'm starting a collection of classic colossal cutlery...unfortunately, no knives or flatware to match - although I do have plenty of other 70's goodness to go with it. Sadly, SWMBO and I have completely opposing decorating ideas, but she finally agreed to give me free-reign on my new home-office. So the present plan is: reclaimed knotty pine on one wall, at least one pair of the fork/spoons, a 2.5'x3.5' framed matador pic(the dude, not the car), a velvet sturgeon(or is it a muskie?), a couple vintage mariachi statuettes, and a giant 1/2-naked lady rain-lamp in the corner...probably a few other smaller nicknacks too. All things I already own.

Those wooden utensils give me flashbacks. My parents attempted to start an import business in the late 70's and brought in wooden things from the Philippines. One of the items were similar to those.

In reply to Ian F:

When I was growing up in the 70's it seemed like everyone's home had a pair.