5 Steps to Organizing Your DVDs According to Your Organizational Personality

With the ever-increasing price of an adult movie theater ticket, I am increasingly grateful for Netflix, Hulu, iTunes, and Amazon to rent or buy a cheap movie ticket. So whether you primarily use one of these service providers or something else, your stash is full of hundreds of DVDs and CDs that you've collected over the last 10-20 years.

Here's a fun weekend project to help you get those DVDs and CDs organized.

Step 1: Assess Your Media Situation

As you bring all of your media to the assembly area, ask yourself the following questions:

• How many DVDs and CDs do I have?
• How often do I watch/listen to them?
• Do I want to keep these DVDs and CDs?

If you don't want to keep the media, you have to decide whether it is worth your time to try to sell them or whether you want to donate them to a charity or someone who likes to collect DVDs and CDs (save yourself some time and the potential headache and go ahead and donate them).

If you want to keep your media, proceed to Step 2.

Step 2: If you don't need regular or quick access to the media, store the DVDs and CDs in a plastic, waterproof container (and label properly)

You can relocate the boxed up contents into storage (garage or storage closet/room). The level of organization inside the storage containers is your call. I wouldn't recommend spending a lot of time sorting the media since you're not anticipating needing to find a specific DVD or CD on a regular or quick basis. If you store the media in a plastic, see-through container, it will be much easier to find the container whenever you need it.

Step 3: Sort.

If you're at this phase, you need a storage solution that will give you regular or quick access to your media. You can either sort your media by categories (genre, year released, actor, or some other preferred category) or chronologically (by name of movie). Again, this is a personal choice and should be based on your personal preference.

This could be the most time-consuming part of the process…if you have a lot of media and don't have a good system. Pull out your timer, set it for 15 minutes, and sort your movies into your pre-determined categories. If it takes you longer than 15 minutes to sort all your media, take a quick break (less than 5 minutes) and sort again until all media has been properly sorted.

Step 4: Choose Organizing Solution.

You already have the media sorted and have an accurate account of how many  CDs and DVDs you have. Now it's time to select your organizing products. And for this, let's look at some options based on your Organizational Personality. Quick recap:

• Vic The Visualist – likes things out where they can be seen; store neatly and label everything
• Mackenzie The Minimalist – likes to keep areas perfectly clear; store sensibly and out of eyesight
• Dena/Dean Martin The Pack Rat – likes to hoard and save; get rid of unnecessary packaging to save space
• Peyton The Piler – likes neat piles; use product that organize and keep things “neat-looking”
• Sylvia/Sly and The Family Slob – has great trouble finding things; store items near where they are used

Binders with Storage Pages

Perfect for: Mackenzie The Minimalist

 

Bookshelf/Media Rack

Perfect for: Vic The Visualist & Sylvia/Sly and The Family Slob

Storage Boxes

Perfect for: All Organizational Personalities, depending on where the boxes are located. Mackenzie The Minimalist wants the boxes out of sight so storing them on a shelf or inside of a closet is best.

 

Entertainment Center with See-Through Doors

Works for: Vic The Visualist, Dena/Dean Martin The Pack Rat, Peyton The Piler, and Sylvia/Sly and The Family Slob.

 

Entertainment Center with Doors

Perfect for: Mackenzie the Minimalist and Dena/Dean Martin The Pack Rat.

Step 5: Organize and Maintain.

Place your media in its appropriate location and take heart that one item on your to-do list has been accomplished!