Trying to cleanup around here and digging myself a bigger hole

[Eddyde]

Empathy, like many of us I have too much stuff and not enough space or time... Add to that, I have multiple ongoing projects, some personal some for work. Inevitably, when new projects come in some of the less important ones get pushed down the totem pole. One system I found helps to keep things somewhat organized is to make "Project boxes". I bought a bunch of plastic storage bins of various sizes, I put everything associated with a project in a bin, parts materials, hardware, special tooling, drawings, etc. That way, I can easily put something on hold and when I need to restart the project everything is right there in the bin. Only problem is the bins fill up faster than they empty...

 

[brino]

@Eddyde has pretty well summed up my position and solution.

My Dad died earlier this year and we (me and three siblings) are currently trying to clean out the house.
The problem is he kept everything the same as when Mom died 16 years earlier, mostly I think so the impact wasn't felt so thoroughly.

Anyhow, I keep making trips bringing home the few things my wife and I want, and needing to find space for those; furniture, tools, metal stock, and electronics components. I am having to spend so much time sorting, organizing, shifting things around.

I finally had enough and got this 10'x16' shed dropped in the yard last week.





It is about 1/3 full now, and I have plans and material to build some shelves for the plastic bins I have standardized on.
Things that have been piling up and shoved in corners are finally getting an actual place to stay.

I can now get to about half of the welding bench and a third of the table saw!
....but going to work everyday is really putting a kink in the plans!

Storage bins for projects is a realization I came to as well. Otherwise parts from multiple projects gets pushed into piles at the back of the bench when new, higher-priority things come in...... and then eventually I need to determine what bolts went to what project.

I think organizing will really all be one of those "forever jobs".

Brian

 

[ChazzC]

Only problem is the bins fill up faster than they empty...

That’s Entropy, not Empathy

 

[Eddyde]

Or Empathy for Entropy...

 

[RJSakowski]

I, like many others, have a similar problem. Not enough storage space. Not that I don't have space. I have 35' x 90' barn with two levels. The problem is the quality of the space. The barn storage is the lowest quality in that it is exposed to insects, rodents, and changes in temperature and humidity. The next level is the attic space which is relatively secure from insects and rodents but still sees changes in humidity and temperature, including summertime highs as much s 130ºF. Basement storage is temperature and humidity controlled and with diligence, I can keep the mice under control. Lastly is the living space, which is the highest quality storage. Unfortunately, it is extremely limited and my wife has priority.

I have an 11' x 14' space in the basement that would solve most of the storage issues. The problem is that it is a crawl space with a current height of about 4'. It could be dug out, the foundation reinforced, and a floor poured but the excavation would have to be bucket by bucket. My calculation is that there is about 11 yards of material to be removed which amounts to 500 buckets full. Every time I think about it, my back complains. Perhaps the best approach would be to limit the number of buckets to maybe five/day and I could have the space cleared out in a half a year.

 

[matthewsx]

Or an estate sale... Depends on how fast you move.

Believe it or not you don’t have to be dead to have an estate sale. We did it last year when we sold our Michigan home.

Funny thing though was the buyer wanted my shop so it wasn’t part of the sale except the things he didn’t want.

John

 

[RJSakowski]

Another issue that I have is trying to remember where something is stored. As I get older, my memory is less robust. I am getting better at storing things by catagory but I still end up going through tubs and boxes, looking for some item I know I have. A thought that I had was to label all the multiple storage locations with a number and create an index that identifies the location of each item by that number. Now I just have to execute.

 

[mmcmdl]

Have you seen his basement?

I'll have you know that the basement is cleaning up also . Why , I just sold a a pair of Starrett mics which netted me another 3 square inches !

 

[SouthernChap]

I really need to 'follow' you (or whatever it is one does on eBay); the last time I looked at your listing there were only three items, and the fact that I can't remember what they were suggests that all the interesting stuff goes fast!

 

[mmcmdl]

I really need to 'follow' you (or whatever it is one does on eBay); the last time I looked at your listing there were only three items, and the fact that I can't remember what they were suggests that all the interesting stuff goes fast!

I throw shi* on there in the spur of the moment when going thru my old boxes . No order what so ever . I'm learning this new phone which takes better pics also .