I enjoy perusing the popular Facebook group, The Organized Genealogist. Recently, I’ve seen a number of posts where people are showing off pictures of their genealogy research rooms after they’ve taken the time to declutter and organize them. They’re beautiful and really fun to look at.
But the organizer in me is disturbed when I don’t see labels on containers and shelves, as is sometimes the case. I imagine that the person who has organized the room thinks that she’ll remember where everything is. But why tax your brain? It’s a simple thing to create a label. And it has a big payoff: it makes it easy for you to find what you’re looking for and, perhaps even more importantly, put things away.
Another benefit to labeling is that it helps ensure that you’re organizing in identifiable categories. In other words, if you can’t put a label on a drawer or a bin, it’s probably because you have a mish-mash of categories contained in that space. Labels help you clarify. And clarity is good.
Your labels don’t have to be fancy. I do love my Brother P-Touch label maker. (I have the P-Touch 2030, but there are a variety from which to choose.) But there are plenty of other ways to make labels:
- Post-it® Notes (check out the full-adhesive type)
- Post-it® rolls
- Avery address labels printed on your printer
- Sharpie on masking tape
- Dry Erase tape (a product I just became aware of)
I think it’s a great idea to create labels that are easy to remove or change, in case you want to reorganize or your categories change. It also makes it a little easier to pull the trigger and create the label if you know it might not be there forever.
Please don’t get caught up in making the most perfectly gorgeous label, if it gets in the way of getting it done. That said, if you’re the crafty type who takes great pleasure in beautiful labels, go for it. Pinterest is a great place to search innovative ways to label.
In my work as a professional organizer, I frequently am called into spaces where organizing systems have broken down. And in those spaces I almost always notice an absence of labels. If you’re going to the effort of organizing your genealogy space, labels will help you maintain that organization. Again, it’s a big payoff for a relatively small effort.
