First of all, does “anal retentive” have a hyphen?
Now that I have that out of the way, I’d like to start a new series of postings here on Just Another Sarah. I am, indeed, anal retentive about some things. And if I’m not anal about them, my husband is, or my best friend is. So, suffice it to say, I know lots about being anal.
You may not be anal retentive (I really want to put a hyphen in it) and that’s okay. However, I fear that your life may often feel chaotic, unorganized… seriously, how do you function? So, to bring some order to your life, I thought I would start sharing some anal-retentive tips with you.
Tip #1: alphabetizing
I HIGHLY recommend* putting your DVDs in alphabetical order. Also, if you still have your CD collection out or you still listen to CDs (mine are all on my iPod, automatically alphabetized for me – thank you sweet baby Jesus) they too should be alphabetized. Otherwise, how else will you ever find what you’re looking for???
Movies are arranged by title, music is arranged by artist. Also, you must NEVER just throw a CD or DVD into the nearest empty case. I start twitching just thinking about it. It’s just wrong, y’all.
Sure, it’s a pain in the ass to shuffle everything around when you add a new movie to the collection. But there’s also something very satisfying about getting them all in order, right? Maybe it’s just me…
On a side note, books do NOT need to be in alphabetical order, but they should be grouped by author. Then they should be arranged so they look pretty on a bookshelf. Analness should not trump aesthetics.
You’re welcome.
*”Highly recommend” means “mandatory but I can’t enforce it if you don’t do it” in education-ese.
I love it! My problem is living in a house with people who do not understand the true meaning of “I highly recommend” that you do things the way Mom wants them.
Pantry shelves…food grouped…grains, canned goods (sub-groups for fruit, veggies, soups, etc), breakfast cereal, snacks (sub-groups for salty, sweet–something that mixes both really throws me into a tizzy!), etc…you get the idea.
Closet…separated by season, first, of course, then grouped…pants, skirts, suits (sub-groups for pants suits/skirt suits), dresses, blouses (sub-groups for sleeveless, short sleeve, long sleeve), sweaters…you get the idea. Oh, and the pants and skirts are arranged by length. Then each section ranges from lightest to darkest color. And…there’s one whole section that consists solely of USC Aiken garb.
So, yeah, umm…I get what you mean. Sort of. Majorly.
Can I move in with you? Because oh my god would I love to live with someone who appreciates the art of organization. The Husband? Not so much.
i think anal retentive gets a hyphen only when used as an adjective. as many mistakes as i make on a daily basis, i’m a little a.r. about grammar (this coming from someone who doesn’t like to use capital letters).
also, how could you arrange your music any other way? my dream is to get all of H’s cds in one place and “fix them.”