A new store is opening up in my area, and for a little extra (“extra”, like I have other sources) money I took a week to help. It was a temporary job, but after what my body has been through for the past almost 10 years I wasn’t sure I could do it. This was a bit of self-discovery for me. I may have overdone it going full time, even as a temp job, but I was able to do more than I thought I could. I hope to bring that energy to other projects, especially ones that might become a regular income source, or at least a nice boost of cash while also getting some stuff out of the way (points to the “Clutter For Sale” tab) or improve my skills in other projects.

The job was dropped on me without a lot of warning, so I didn’t get to do anything last week for this project, and today is partly me trying to get things back to normal here, so there’s no decluttering this week, either. Just assessing what I did at the store I was helping set-up and how I can bring to this project. Mostly what I did was stock empty shelves, and being a new store there were a lot of those. However, I did have to organize them so others could find what they’re selling and I can work that into me finding my own stuff here at home. So Operation: A Place For Everything works there as much, if not more, than it does here. I’ll spin you through the process, hopefully not exposing a store secret in the process. Then I’ll see what worked there that can also work with my home project.

Organization is important when it comes to layout out a store. Your customers need to be able to find what they want. However, we’re starting from scratch here. The shelves are up, but knowing how to place the items for sale in the most accessible and usable way possible is the big step. There was a lot of stuff in numerous departments. Knowing what to put where was someone else’s job. Our job was putting them there.

There are tags on the shelf but that takes a long time to go through. Taped to a shelf in the area was something called a “planogram”, a map of the shelves. Each shelf section had its own planogram, showing where everything needed to go. The ones this store used were in three sections. Two of them were a visual representation of the shelves and the items on there, one with pictures of the item (except when they didn’t have them) and one a list of the items in that section, numbered to help you find the spot in the pictures or on the shelf. As we worked through it and had items on the shelves, it became easier to locate generally where the item was, because similar items went in the same general spot. All the sleep aids were in one location apart from the pain medication, apart from the office supplies–that sort of thing. (Office supplies were in another part of the store, but you get the idea.) Eventually we didn’t need the planogram and just used the similar items and brands as our starting point to find them on the shelves.

Unless you’re way too into organizing, you probably won’t need something like this. I know I don’t. However, it does play into Operation: A Place For Everything. Each area had their own items, arranged for easy locating and easy access. It’s just good organizing. Most people don’t store the toilet paper in the living room, except maybe during the 2020 lockdown hoarding. That’s what Operation: A Place For Everything is about with my home decluttering. Every storage area is chosen for best use, whether it’s media library, food, clothing, office/art supplies, or a collection of items for sale. This last one should be the next home project here. I have toys for sale, but where I have them now awaiting a buyer, either from the Clutter For Sale page or some other method I haven’t set up yet, is not ideal to access them. I need to figure out a better spot for them, where they won’t be in the way but can easily packaged up to sent to their new home.

A good plan of where things go is required, but also figuring out how to arrange everything. Just as stores only stock the stuff they think they can sell, we should only get the stuff we really need or can use. Making the shelves look good is also part of the planning. You don’t want the shelves to look cluttered, but you do want to grab the eye and encourage a potential customer to take a look. In our case, the decor of the house should be inviting to us and our guests, the decor of the room to encourage relaxing, creating, sleeping, or whatever use the room has. A store has one job, but your home has more than one job, even if it’s just an apartment. Organizing and decorating is part of making the room functional to its assigned task.

As I write this I’m still tired from the week. It will be nice to get back to my usual projects and try to make them pay off, but I didn’t hate the job I did this week. The people were nice, I was able to do more than I thought, but the last half of the day tended to drag and full-time at a physical job like this may be a bit much for me. The manager did say she’d call me if they needed seasonal bonus help, and if it was part time I might be able to handle it better, though I would make less money than the full time gig I just wrapped up. I learned what my capable of, and my limits might not be as bad as I thought after all the medical issues, but there are still limits I may or may not be able to overcome, but I’ll find out which is which at a more “me” pace. I’m glad I did it if it gets me moving again and learning my limits vs what I thought they were, but I’m happy to return to the projects I need and want to complete.