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Color Coded Organization Ever misplace something such as your glasses, keys, wallet, PDA, cell phone? Well you aren't alone! Most of us, young and older, misplace something almost every day. With all of our responsibilities and our very busy, technical world, we seem to have more things to misplace every day. This month's checklist is aimed to help you keep yourself organized, as well as help you misplace fewer things through color coding. Experts suggest that we use memory joggers to remember where we put things ---colors are excellent memory joggers. You can use a variety of colorful products to help keep yourself organized ---- large bins, baskets, trays, files, tags, and of course bags --- just to name a few useful color coding organizers. For example, I use a TuffBaggs purple waist wallet for my daily bag which is easy to locate. I use a royal blue checkbook cover for my personal checking account -- again I just look for royal blue on my desk. Color coding will help you organize yourself and save you time when shopping, on vacation, going to work,or just having a good time! Use this checklist as a suggestion guideline for color coding and organization. You can easily modify any of our suggestions to your own lifestyle and household needs. (1) Color Code by Function Select different colors for different functions. Whether you wish to carry a red gym bag for your daily workout, use a purple waist pack for your daily bag, or easily locate your green check book through color, color is a great way to jog your memory to the location of your things. For example, choose black for your phone case, green for your PDA case, and red for your CD/tape/MP3 player bag. All of these gadgets will be easily recognizable and remembered through the use of color. Organize your closet, dressers, and clothing by function and use color to code your wardrobe based on your activities. Place all of your shoes, bags, accessories and clothes in each group that meets your lifestyle and then color code them by this activity. Here's another example of color coding by function. The use of cloth bags for shopping is great for the environment and is generally more comfortable for carrying your load of goods. Most of us have the chore of grocery shopping which takes up a lot of our time. So why not color code and make this chore easier and faster?! When grocery shopping take a black tote for health/beauty aids/cleaning supplies, a blue tote for frozen and cold items, a red tote for pantry/can goods/dry items, and a green tote for vegetables and fruits. When you get home you'll know exactly which bag of groceries goes where and you'll be more organized when putting away the groceries. (2) Use color coding to track You can track just about anything through use of color coding -- personal gear, office files and projects, homework assignments, chores around the house. For example, have each member of your family pick his/her favorite color and use bins, baskets, tags, bags, files, paper, markers, etc. that match this color. Consistently use the personal color whenever identifying and organizing personal items. This will make it very easy to locate each person's belongings. This is especially helpful for larger households and for medications, special foods, and other special needs. For example, Aaron has selected the color blue. All of his bags are blue such as his back pack, his CD player case, and his gym bag. Aaron uses a blue marker to identify his school folders. He uses blue labels when labeling his belongings. Even his clothing hangers are blue! (3) Color coding by category Color coding by category is great for more specific tasks and defined functions, such as bill paying and organizing the office. For example, we can keep all of the paper work under control with color coding. Use a green file for checking and savings account information , red file for the bills to be paid, blue for family/personal correspondence, an orange file for vacation and entertainment, and so forth. Students can color code their subjects, families can organize themselves by setting up storage boxes and baskets by color for each person, and offices can color code departments and subfunctions by color throughout the company. (4) Color coding by time One can color code each day of the week and assign certain responsibilities to everyone in the family. This way each person will remember what the responsibilities are for that day. For example, Monday is blue day which means that everyone brings their dirty clothes to the laundry room ahd helps do the laundry. Tuesday is purple and is cleaning day. Wednesday is red indicating out to eat night! Have fun assigning colors to make each day special. (5) Color coding your personal bag Color coding is very helpful in your personal daily bag, work-out bag, travel bags, any bag. Most of us just want to enjoy our free time or get our jobs done timely, not hunt around, trying to find something. Color coding to the rescue! Separate your smaller gear by type and function with smaller bags and by color. For example, use a blue toiletries/cosmetics bag, a red pouch for medications, a black mini purse, a green wallet for money, and a purple cell phone case for phone. TuffBaggs are great for keeping yourself organized and we have 7 great colors to help you do this! So with color coding and TuffBaggs you should be misplacing few things. zippered purses companion pockets wallets glasses/phone cases Top of Page |
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