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Let me tell you a story about my 7-year-old daughter, Emily, whose room is a total mess.
It's always carpeted with wall-to-wall toys and inevitably somebody steps on an ever-so-sharp
building block. You know the one. And tears ensue. Usually mine. So, immediately the cleaning
process begins and includes lots of tears and tantrums. Once again, usually mine. But
it's a vicious cycle. The room never stays clean, so it was time for more than a change.
It was time for a plan. Even though most 7-year-olds don't know what that means or where to start.
So, for the first step, we got rid of the toys that Emily no longer used and in some
cases, it was a little hard to let go. Next, we classified the remaining toys into categories
into their respective boxes, including the critical, "I don't know" box. More for my
benefit than hers. This helps to avoid the generic, "dump everything out and wade through
it until you find it" search process, which really only helps to create another mess.
"Dad!!! Where's my Princess Pony!?" "Look in the doll box!" And it makes future clean-ups
easier, since now, everything has a place. Including a new home, for the toys she plays
with less often. She knows they're safe and easily found and it leaves more room for the
toys she actively uses everyday. So, Emily and I learned some valuable lessons that many
people learn the hard way. Planning isn't just for parents and things usually work out
better in the end if you prepare for them from the beginning. Parents aren't the only
ones that can benefit from Proactive Preparation. Since 1951, Iron Mountain has helped business
of all sizes keep what they need, organize what's left, and make the right storage decisions
to increase efficiency, reduce risks and costs, and at the end of the day, realize greater
business value from their information.