Episode 7, Konmari Komono: Stationery

Assignment for the week: Go through all your writing supplies, eliminate what you aren't using, and put the rest together in one organized location.

This is just one of the many desks in my home.  Not exactly functional is it?

Longer version:
The next stop for me on the Konmari train was stationery. This means all paper and writing utensils. That includes note cards, post its, pens, pencils, staplers, tape, envelopes, hole punchers, paper clips, rulers, calculators, and more. As I worked to gather these items up, the list kept expanding. I pulled together items from every desk, every nightstand, every counter, every junk drawer.

Just a small portion of the masses I've accumulated.

*One thing I did NOT sort was CRAFT SUPPLIES.  In some homes stationery and craft supplies may be one and the same. But I own a LOT of craft supplies and a LOT MORE scrapbook paper. Those will be two categories for me that must be tackled separately.

Initially I sorted and put back EVERYTHING, but forgot to get rid of ANYTHING. Oops.  My husband and I are both teachers, so we have (and need and use) a LOT of office/school supplies.  We also have five kids in school. They have/need/use a lot of office supplies. So I couldn't feel good getting rid of much of anything. Plus these items are so basic, I found it hard to use the joy principal on them. How do you hug a pencil and decide if it brings you joy?

So honestly not a lot was gotten rid of on my first go around, and only a little bit more was reduced on my second sweep. In fact I may have just spent a lot of time sorting for nothing. But the plus side is, every time I decide on a specific space where something goes (I used to have like thirty different places where I felt like pens should rightly belong!), I am more inclined to put things away. Now when I see a pen on my dresser, I think "that doesn't belong here, I'll go put it in the jar on the desk." I also no longer have a junk drawer. Seriously! Everything that was in there before is now carefully put away with like items. And all my "stationary" is contained to two large cabinets. I am hopeful that I will eventually reduce my hoard enough that all my scrapbook and craft supplies might fit in these cupboards as well.

This cabinet contains paper, pens, and our printer.

This cabinet is folders, notebooks, markers, scissors, glue, and graph paper.

For this particular category, I didn't reduce the amount of stuff I owned by much. But simply sorting it has been a huge help. Now ALL the paper is in the same place. This means not only is it easy to find when we need it, but I also have a clear idea of how much we own (a LOT) so I know if I need to buy anymore (I DON'T). And when next school year starts, we'll save a small fortune by not having to buy any school supplies!