Coaching myself

I recently had to treat myself as a client to deal with a situation in my kitchen.  You see, I bought a new microwave.  I've wanted one for a few years now.  My old one still works, but it was small and not that powerful.  After saving up some gift cards and doing research, I finally decided it was time.  I love the new microwave, but it is bigger than the old one.   My microwave lives inside a large cabinet next to the stove.  I love being able to shut the door and hide the microwave.  And the cabinet is large enough to provide some extra storage.  I used to store cutting boards and sheet pans in the cabinet next to my old microwave, but now there is no room for that.  So I was forced to make some changes.

When it comes to kitchen tools and gadgets, I have a hard time purging.  But I know it must be done from time to time.   In this case, I could have shoved the excess in another cabinet and just lived with it.  But I knew I'd get frustrated by the overflow very soon.    I also could have moved some things around and stored some items in the oven, like many people do.  Again, not for me.

What did I do?   I took all the baking equipment out from one smaller cabinet and the storage drawer under the oven.  Seeing everything together, I decided what I really needed and used versus what I could do without.  And then I packed up what was unneeded and put it in my car with the old microwave to donate to charity.  I didn't allow myself to really ponder each item.  I went with the facts of how often or when I last used each item.  And I trusted my gut.

The process only took about a half an hour.  And it was well worth it.

Time for a blog

Welcome to my first blog post for Organize and Maintain.  I hope you find it inspiring, informative and entertaining.  I'll be sharing tips on how to get organized and stay organized, links to useful resources, and some relevant stories from my life.