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You spend most of your early school years with
absolutely no need for a sophisticated organizing system. Elementary school just
isn't that demanding.
Then, in junior high, the pace picks up and there's
an outpouring of paper and books that only gets heavier as the years progress.
Without a reliable and useful system for your home -- study area, locker, and
backpack, it's virtually impossible to keep track of all the papers and homework
assignments that pass through a typical student's hands in an average week. A
great deal of important materials can slip through the cracks or end up as Fido's dinner.
SPACE FORMULA -- PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
After you have analyzed and strategized, you'll be ready to roll up your sleeves, dig into those piles, and start creating some
order.
S.P.A.C.E.
Sort -- Go
through each possession and group of similar items.
Purge -- Get rid of the duplicates, excess, undesirable, and irrelevant.
Assign a home -- Decide where each item you are keeping will live.
Containerize -- Use bins, baskets, and cubbies to keep categories separate and make cleanup a breeze.
Equalize -- Maintain and update your system to keep up with your changing interests, needs, and priorities.
The key to succeeding with the SPACE formula is to complete every one of the steps and, most important, to complete them
in order. Some of these steps may sound familiar to you. But
chances are that in the past you followed only a few of them, and not
necessarily in their proper order.
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