Father: 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 and 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...
Daughter (Emily): "Dad, where's my Princess Polly?"
Father: "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 every day.
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 in the beginning.
Voice Over: Parents aren't the only ones who can benefit from proactive preparation. Since 1951, Iron Mountain has helped businesses 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.