Welcome back to the Get Organized Challenge! If you are just joining us now, you can loop back and work on tasks #1 and #2, or skip those and start today. We are going to tackle your collection of videos and DVDs.
Let’s recall the process we are using throughout the month:
THE PROCESS
1. Gather your supplies: (you can reuse these same supplies each day)
- Boxes or bags labeled with “Donate”, “Elsewhere” and “Store”
- Trash can and recycle bin
- Damp rag/wet wipe
2. Remove everything from the area (yes, everything) and wipe it clean with a damp rag.
3. Sort the items into these categories: (The Seana Method’s R.E.D.D.S. system)
- R- Restore: these are the items going back in
- E- Elsewhere: these are items to keep, but that don’t belong in this space
- D- Donate
- D- Dispose: trash or recycle
- S- Store: items you want to keep for sentimental reasons, or perhaps for a long-term future use, but which you don’t regularly use. These items will eventually need to go into a bin/box in an attic, basement, or closet.
4. Keeping the “Restore” items out, and put all other items into the boxes/bags you prepared.
5. Move items to their final destination:
- Put the “Restore” items back into your designated area.
- Carry the “Elsewhere” box/bag around your house and redistribute its contents.
- Move the “Donate” box/bag to the car to be donated.
- Trash/recycle the “Dispose” items.
- Put the “Store” items into a container and move it to a remote location for future access.
THE TASK
Videos & DVDs are nice to have around, but they can quickly get out of control. The first step is to gather all your DVDs & videos and pile them up on a sorting surface (remember to wipe out the cabinet/shelf while it is empty.) Now go through and remove the ones you know you don’t want (e.g. broken movies, movies you didn’t like, subject matter you aren’t interested in, etc.) Don’t feel guilty about getting rid of these, even if they were a gift.
Unless you have a currently operating VCR, feel free to pitch old VHS videos. Most charities don’t even want them anymore because VCRs are getting hard to come by. If you have some favorite movies on VHS, make a note to purchase a digital version (gift suggestion?) If you have home movies on VHS, take them to a retailer who can transfer them to DVD. Any DVDs you decide you don’t want can be donated.
The next step is to go through and pull out all your “favorites”… the ones you love watching over and over. These are definitely to be “Restored”. You can either keep them in their original boxes, or you can put them into an organizer like this one to save space.
If you have holiday movies, consider storing these with your decorations instead of storing them in your “prime real estate” (which is your easily accessible cabinet.) This also keeps these movies “special” for the holidays.
Now you should have a stack of the movies you aren’t sure about. Odds are that some of these belong to other family members, and you want their opinion before donating them. Stack them with a post-it note on top with the name of the decision maker, and have him/her review either today, or by the weekend. For the movies that remain, make a goal of donating 50% of them.
The last step is to reload your space(s). How did you do?
This one I actually don’t have much of to go through but what we do is more of my husband’s and passing this info onto him. Thanks, Seana 😉
Janine Huldie recently posted…Moms Don’t Take Sick Days
I hope it feels great to be “ahead of the game” for some of these challenges. It’s common for one family member to be more into media than the rest. In our family, I would say it is my daughter. But with hulu and other online options, I think this will become a smaller and smaller problem. Tell your husband I said “You can do it!” 🙂
Great idea to separate the holiday themed movies.
Jill Robson recently posted…Merry Christmas
Thanks, Jill. It not only saves space but keeps you from watching them off season — which makes them all the more fun at the appropriate time. I started this when my kids were little and I realized the holiday shows didn’t feel special to them. I do the same with holiday books and toys.