Magazine Mayhem and Malaise
Two weeks ago, I confessed that yes, even Paper Doll is an avid collector of magazines, and how I combat the almost-inevitable build-up of magazine renewal cards and the insidious junk mail pile-up of disingenuous (OK, fibbing) magazine subscription departments. Then last week, we reviewed how the power of the potential knowledge implicit in our magazine collections make it so hard for us to let go of the glossy, fat bound issues as well as the clippings we’ve taken from them. As I said then,
I really hope you took my advice (and my confessed addiction to Reese’s Peanut Butter Easter Eggs) to heart and are on the way to internalizing the notion that merely possessing (but not using) dust-covered magazines (or exercise videos, or language tapes) will not actually make us more knowledgeable (or slender and ripped, or fluent in French). Thus, I really hope you’ve pared down your collections to the clippings or full issues that represent the bare minimum of what you already use or (being realistic with yourself) will use.
So today, let’s talk about how to store the magazines (or vital information clippings) that remain.
MAGAZINE CLIPPINGS
No-tech Solution–Welcome to the infinite wonders of three-ring binders. For those of you who clip just the essentials from your magazines, you can organize the material with a few three-ring binders, a box of sheet protectors and a few sets of notebook dividers.
To get an idea of how to use the 3-ring binder idea for clippings related to cooking, for example, you can revisit this previous Paper Doll post.
As a professional organizer, I find organizing inspiration and advice in just about all of those seventeen magazines (with the possible exception of Entertainment Weekly, which merely keeps me charming and sane). If I shlepped a whole magazine collection around in my trunk every time a client wanted help visualizing what a solution might look like, my car might bottom out. Instead, one lovely three-ring binder includes a wide variety of residential organizing categories/sections, including:
- Organizing tools
- Offices/Desks/Filing
- Bedrooms
- Living areas
- Kitchens
- Closets
- Pantries
- Utility rooms/Mudrooms
- Garages/Basements
- Organizing papers (yes, this category is often the inspiration for Paper Doll posts)
Other three-ring binders include web site URLs, articles and references for time management, life balance, identity theft, stress-relief, and a whole host of non-residential/non-business categories.
What kinds of categories of your clippings might you sort? How about gardening plans (sectioned by plant type or season), home remodeling dreams/plans (categorized by room), family health advice (sectioned by illness/wellness type, with grouped articles on topics such as nutrition, exercise, first aid, colds/flu, chronic illnesses specific to yourself/your family) or finances (with sections for articles on savings, investments, retirement, college-planning, etc.).
High-tech Solution–Are you on a first-name basis with your computer? Do you caress your Blackberry lovingly when you think others aren’t looking? If you own a scanner and are comfortable with technology, save and organize your vital clippings with a program like Scanalog.
While any scanning program would suffice, it’s in your interest to use a scanning program that actually indexes and catalogs the articles in question. Scanalog is designed specifically for scanning, categorizing and indexing articles and clippings to keep information organized. Once you scan in the articles, the system allows you to tag the information with either 11 pre-set categories and 102 pre-set sub-categories, or you can create your own, and the articles are condensed into teeny tiny JPEG format files. (How? Don’t ask Paper Doll. I’m still trying to figure out how photocopy machines work!)
MAGAZINES
Before you read further, I implore you to go back to last week’s post, discouraging you from keeping any but the current issues or truly favorite issues (such as holiday issues of Southern Living if you do a lot of entertaining at the holidays, or back-to-school issues of Seventeen Magazine if you’ve got adolescent daughters). That said, sure, you’re going to want to have a neat way to display magazines:
Zero expense, minimal style–If you have fewer than a half dozen magazines each month, and you are careful about tossing old issues when new ones arrive, it should suffice to fan the magazines out on the coffee table or keep one neat pile (with edges squared) on a side table in a common room. Do not let your family use the magazines as coasters.
Minimal expense, minimal style–If you want to store the current month’s magazines tidily, check your local Dollar Store (or regional alternative) for shallow, lightweight baskets, sans handles, for storage. The advantage of such shallow baskets is that you won’t be inclined to try to overstuff them. Of course, the disadvantage is that the titles will not be immediately viewable, as you’ll only be able to see the magazine on top.
An alternative is to check out the corrugated paper, plastic or mesh magazine holders
common in retail stores like Target or Wal-Mart or office supply stores. These let you “file” your magazines so you can see the spines. However, magazine holders have a “permanent” feel about them, and your general goal is to keep most magazines only temporarily!
Moderate Expense, Maximum Style–If you’re the sort who always believes form must surpass function, then you’ll want to invest (either money or time) in magazine displays that delight you. If you’re the crafty type, acquire the aforementioned low-expense cardboard or plastic magazine boxes and decorate them to your heart’s content. Do people still do decoupage?
If, however, you are like Paper Doll and were sadly born with out the crafting gene, fear not. There are beautiful magazine file boxes available for displaying your current issues or saved collections neatly and attractively. At OnlineOrganizing.com, for example, you can find the nifty Blooming Bins Magazine Holders pictured below:
Pretty…and just in time for Spring!
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