How To Use Zones For An Orderly Space
If I could be an organizational coach, I would want to be known for teaching people how to use zones to create an orderly space. Yes, kind of like a zone defense…where you’re defending against a disorganized space. I think this concept can help anyone from a beginner organizer to an advanced organizer, because it not only puts your space in order, but it also helps put your mind in order. A big piece of being organized starts with how you think about a space, and this principle of using zones will help you learn how to do just that.
The Zone Defense
What Is a Zone?
A zone is an area with a particular purpose. They naturally exist all over your house: the silverware drawer is for utensils; the closet is for clothes; under-the-bathroom-sink is for toiletries; etc.
But a zone can also be more than what the house naturally provides in its architecture. Take for example, that chair where you throw all of your clothes that you wore once so you don’t want to put them away but you also don’t want to wash them yet… Yeah, you know what I’m talking about! Maybe it’s just a pile, but everyone has one. Well, that’s a zone. You probably didn’t think about it when you put the chair in the room, but over time it has become a specific area with a particular purpose. A zone.
And it may sound crazy, but I would consider that a somewhat orderly space because it is a zone. If the partially-dirty-partially-clean clothes are thrown about everywhere, then that’s disorganized. But if you have collected them into a zone, then you’re already on the right track. Now it’s just about taking it to the next level.
From Zone To Orderly Space
To make a zone into an orderly space, all you have to do is add boundaries. This usually means using some type of container, but it can also be spacial or visual boundaries.
Using the example from above, if you already have a zone where you keep your clothes that you’ve worn once and don’t want to wash or put away, you can then embrace the zone and take it so far as to create a section of your closet or room for these items. Designate an entire dresser drawer or hanging section for the half-dirty clothes. It may seem silly to start off designing your closet this way, but in reality it’s creating a system that is true to how you actually live. (And you might actually be able to sit in the chair for once!)
In other examples, your boundaries might be a basket or a storage bin. Or maybe you use tape to create lines on a shelf. Having the right organizational items to contain and maintain does help, but you don’t always have to buy something to have a functional system. If you can make a boundary and respect it, you have an organizational system.
The Finish Line
The finishing touch on any organization project is the LABEL. Why is this? Because non-obvious zones only exist in your head. Labels communicate the purpose of the zone to others, which empowers them to respect your zones and thus maintain the orderly space. Labels transform the zone into an ongoing system.
As an aside: This is my favorite simple label-maker, because it allows you to customize the label via an app on your phone and then print right away. You can choose the font, manage is the size and layout, and even add graphics.
The Power of The Temporary Zone
This principle of zones may seem pretty straightforward when it comes to organizing a space, but I think it becomes a transformational way of maintaining a space when you do it all of the time. Not only in the permanent spaces of your home, but also for items in motion. By this I mean: you can create temporary zones. In fact, you might already do this…
For instance, when I am packing for a trip, I usually plop a suitcase in the corner of my bedroom and start throwing things in it over the course of a few days. For those few days, that corner is a packing zone. And when I return from the trip, the corner becomes an unpacking zone. This is probably pretty common behavior. At it’s a temporary zone because the corner of that room takes on a temporary purpose. If your partner left a random item in that corner, you would likely think something along the lines of, “Is this supposed to come on the trip with us?” That’s a form of organization.
But you can take this principle further…
Examples of Temporary Zones
- When unpacking your suitcase, make little piles of where things are going to go—i.e. a bathroom pile, a kitchen pile, a dirty laundry pile, a clean clothes pile. Then put things away by zone. You might only need to take one trip per zone and you’ll maintain higher levels of focus.
- After a holiday or birthday party, if you receive a lot of gifts, create temporary zones for where the items are going in the house. I enjoy doing this so much that I find myself sorting as I open my stocking on Christmas morning… Even if I’m not in my own house, I repack everything coming home with me by destination within the home (again—bathroom, kitchen, closet, etc.).
- If something needs to go upstairs or downstairs, I put the item at the foot or the top of the stairs in a temporary “on-the-go” zone. This way I don’t have to go out of my way in the moment, and I just load up my hands the next time I’m going that direction.
- Bonus tip: Use a house purse if you frequently find yourself needing to move more items that you can carry.
All of this is to say… I don’t think zones can be over-used. They are useful when used in a large capacity or a small capacity, for permanent things and for temporary things. The more, the merrier!
Apply It: Zones in Real Life
My Current Non-Orderly Space
When I married my husband, he had a dresser drawer full of socks. Since I took the job of putting away laundry, I started to put his dress socks on the right, athletic socks on the left, and lounge socks in the middle. Natural zones have emerged by doing this. (Yay!)
But the system has gotten a little out of control recently, so I think it’s time to add boundaries. My plan is to add boxes…maybe some new drawer organizers, but more likely leftover shoe boxes since those will work just as well, and I’d like to avoid buying something new for this little corner of my house. Then I’ll add labels to make sure that my husband and I are on the same page and can maintain the system together. I anticipate that it will take a total of maybe 5 minutes, and then the sock drawer will be organized enough to save time every day thereafter.
How You Can Get Started
Much like any change you make in your life, it’s important to start small. What is one zone you could create today? You don’t even have to move stuff to it. Just assign it in your mind.
Once you start envisioning that area as being for a particular purpose, you can slowly populate it with stuff. Next time you walk by something that belongs there, pick it up and bring it with you. As the zone takes form, it will become easier and easier to finish the job. Add boundaries or containers or labels as appropriate.
Before you know it, you’ve organized something. Your space is more orderly than before. And guess what? It’s going to be so easy to start again, because all you have to do to start is to assign the zone in your mind.
What zones are you creating? Or what zones do you already use that have transformed your space? Share below in the comments!
