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Frequently Asked Questions – Cousins, Coworkers and FamilyTM

In Newsletters on February 25, 2025 at 2:50 pm

You love the idea of the Cousins, Coworkers and Family TM sorting method, but you have some questions. Here are a few of the most commonly asked questions to get you, “personifying your stuff so organizing is not so tough.”

If you are unfamiliar with this method you can read about it here. https://blog.iorganizeeverything.com/2025/02/05/cousins-coworkers-and-family-tm/

1. How do I know which is the right decision?

There is no right or wrong decision, only what works best and makes the most sense for you and your household. Trial and error can be the best way to practice and learn your preferences. You will get better at remembering where you chose to put something because you will start to naturally see how your items connect. Choosing the best category for you, will also depend on what other items you have around your home. It can also depend on how you use the item, what other items you use it with and where. Many people will choose the location or category they would think to look first.

2. Can an item fall into multiple categories?

Yes. If it is something you use frequently, consider owning a few to go with each category. A great example of this would be scissors. Scissors are a useful tool to have around the house for all types of needs. They can live with their cousins the boxcutters, in a toolbox. They can go also go with their coworkers, the knives in the kitchen. Lastly, you can choose to put them with their family, a group of other scissors in the art supplies.

3. Isn’t a cousin considered a family member?

Yes, but cousins are not your immediate family such as your mom, dad, brother or sister. The items that are categorized by family are identically the same when you ask, “What is it?” Cousins are an offshoot of your immediate family. When it comes to items, cousins are related in how they function but not identically the same. For example, a boxcutter is the cousin of a knife. They both cut things, but in different ways and for different scenarios.

4. What about putting the item in the location I use it the most?

Where you use it and/or what you use it with is considered coworkers.

If you would like to learn more about this method, worksheets are available for purchase https://iorganize.gumroad.com/l/yqaakd

For all other links and socials http://www.iorganizeeverything.com/links.html

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Cousins, Coworkers and Family TM

In Newsletters on February 5, 2025 at 3:33 pm


“Personifying your stuff, so organizing is not so tough.”

Cousins, Coworkers and FamilyTM is a method that helps with the sorting and categorization of the items in your home. This method teaches the personification of these items. Personification is attributing human characteristics to your belongings. This method is specifically for items that you have already decided to keep and now it needs to be put away somewhere.

This method was developed by Christen Fackler. She has been a professional organizer since 2009. During appointments, her clients would commonly pick up random homeless items and ask, “Where Do I Put This”? Her common response was, “with its friends”. Fast forward to 2021, Christen started creating and posting organizing videos online. In May of 2022 she created the Cousins, Coworkers and Family TM concept, when she posted the first video of the series, “Where Do I Put This”? The series was the evolution of finding the “friends” of your random, homeless items. Cousins, Coworkers and Family TM covers all the possible categories an item could live.

The organizing process is divided into 4 parts: purge, sort, contain and maintain. Purging is when you remove anything that doesn’t belong in that space, so you can organize what is left. Sorting is when the Cousins, Coworkers and Family TM method comes into play. Once you have purged and sorted, you then decide how to contain those items by deciding the physical location. Lastly, analyze your habits to decide how you can maintain this new system. For more information on the whole organizing process you can get my book, “How To Organize Everything“.

Cousins are items that are similar in how they function, but they are not identical. An example would be, a tube of glue living in a drawer with scotch tape. Both of these are tools that bind items together but in different ways.

Coworkers are the items that work together to complete a task or project. The coworker category can also include the location of where you use it. For example, glue can live with other arts and craft supplies such as construction paper, scissors, and stencils. An example of where it works would be, near a table or the room where creative activities are usually completed.

Family is any other items that are identical. To identify family, you want to ask the question, “What is it?”. An example would be, all the different types of glue lives together.

Worksheets are available in my iOrganize Gumroad Shop of digital products. You will receive a comprehensive 11-page printable guide which includes 3 worksheets accompanied by an introduction, method history, FAQs, and clear directions. Each of the 3 worksheets follows the same line of questioning, but presents information in different formats. The 3 formats cater to various visual preferences and experience levels.

For all other links including my socials visit my website iOrganizeEverything.com