Quality time is easier to come by when the dvds are well organized

Any organizing effort with dvds as the focus entails planning but few materials

Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble. Do you recognize the words as dialogue spoken by three witches huddled around a boiling cauldron in an eerie scene from the play—Macbeth? Good for you. If the mantra, however, is one you find yourself mumbling while trying to deal with the clutter caused by a dvd collection gone wild, that’s not so good. Organizing dvds does not have to be a hellish experience. All it takes is a plan. And an assortment of adhesive-backed labels used for categorizing dvds and compact discs, too.

A plan to organize dvds takes little in the way of materials. You need no eye of newt or toe of frog or wool of bat or tongue of dog. All you need is a method for categorizing the collection, a way of dividing one genre from another and a way to keep track of the contents of the collection. It’s not magic—black magic, white magic or otherwise. Organizing dvds takes a plan based on common sense. But convenience is the key to preventing lapses into chaos.

Choosing favorites

Organizing dvds can entail a preliminary period of doing nothing but observing. An example is a help. Long ago, officials at a popular university undertook a plan for landscaping the campus and installing a network of new sidewalks. What was the first thing they did when it came to determining the locations for the new sidewalks? They did nothing—nothing but plant grass.

Instead, they waited and watched as students cut across the newly green quadrangle. Eventually, the travels wore a path into the newly planted grass. That is where the sidewalks were poured. Do the same when organizing dvds. See what’s used a lot.

Determine what’s important

Use the same strategy. It is a helpful one when organizing dvds. Do nothing but observe. What dvds are viewed often? What dvds rarely see action? How many dvds contain occasionally used reference materials pertaining to gardening or wiring a lamp? You will want to keep favorites at eye level—or in an easily accessible spot on the shelves or in the book case used for your collection.

Organizing dvds in a way that will keep frequently used choices available and within easy reach will considerably tame the clutter. Observe. Acquire an appropriate supply of dvd labels so that organizing dvds is quick and easy. Set aside a loose-leaf binder or folder and notebook paper with holes. The paper is useful for creating a table of contents as the project unfolds.

Organizing dvds is something a family can do together. But it’s easy to do alone, too. If the dvds are in a pile or scattered around a room, gather them up. Look for tips about organizing small spaces is storage room is at a premium. Then, get ready to make stacks. And get ready to write. Look at the dvd. Write down the name on the piece of notebook paper that will begin your table of contents.

Some people prefer to use index cards and a card box for keeping track of dvds. As each dvd is inventoried and documented in the table of contents, place it in a pile according to your preferences of categorization—comedy, thriller, horror, adventure, romance, etc. Folks who have every movie made by their favorite star may want a category used exclusively as storage for those dvds.

In the ideal world, after a short time you will be organizing dvds quickly and efficiently. Look, write, stack. Then, fill out the dvd labels, attach the labels to the dvds and place the labeled products into their correct positions within the book case or on the shelves. A category of favorites may include dvds of several genres. Now, take a look at your handiwork.

Creating a table of contents

Do you have such-and-such, starring so-and-so? A table of contents is the ultimate in organizing dvds. You know what movies you own. You can jot a note that such-and-such title was borrowed by someone. You can jot a note to yourself that one or another of the dvds belongs to a friend and should be returned—some day.

Thus far, using the method described here, each dvd title has been written down as the dvds are piled in various stacks according to their film type—romance, comedy, etc. Now, go back over that list and get ready to make another draft—a final draft. Double space this one, so as to leave room for future dvd purchases.

This is the beauty of organizing dvds. You can devise a tailor-made system for knowing what you have, where it is located, and why-oh-why it is not there—in case of borrowers who come down with a bad case of amnesia when it comes to returning things.