Storing Stuff at Home is Like a Giant Game of Tetris
By Jeff Moffitt
@moffittjc (124803)
Gainesville, Florida
January 20, 2024 10:48am CST
Last night I finally got around to putting all of my Christmas decorations into my storage closet. I took them down out of the yard and from inside the house over the course of the past two weeks, but I just piled all the boxes in my covered patio in the back of my house, saving the actual task of putting it all away for another day.
As I tackled the job last night of getting everything into the closet (which I failed at miserably since I still have boxes left over that won't fit), I couldn't help but think it was like playing a real-life game of Tetris, trying to fit all the boxes in to every possible amount of available space. I was a great Tetris player back in the day, and I have always prided myself on my ability to pack or store anything in the smallest space possible. But I frustrated myself last night when I couldn't squeeze the last few boxes into the storage closet. Maybe I was tired. Perhaps I was cold. Whatever the reason, I finally gave up and went inside the warm house.
Now today I should go back out there and try to re-sort everything again to squeeze in those last few boxes. But you know what? I'm just going to say f*ck it, and find a place somewhere else for those few remaining boxes. Because it IS too cold out right now for me to be outside working on a useless chore.
Have you ever felt like you were playing a game of Tetris trying to pack or store stuff into what is clearly not enough space?
19 people like this
22 responses
@snowy22315 (192403)
• United States
20 Jan 24
Not really, I have enough space, but it is not uitlized very well..so it makes things more difficult than they need to be.
4 people like this
@moffittjc (124803)
• Gainesville, Florida
20 Jan 24
In reality I probably have enough space, but I like to complain that I don't (I think we all do). When warmer weather gets here, I'm definitely going to do some spring cleaning and get rid of a lot of stuff so I can free up even more space.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (124803)
• Gainesville, Florida
20 Jan 24
@aureliah That is true. We never seem to be content with what we currently have. We just want more and more.
2 people like this
@FourWalls (76422)
• United States
20 Jan 24
I can see your storage bins all different shapes and colors.
Yes, I’ve had that problem. I had it where I last worked. There was only so much room in that little storage closet we had. 
3 people like this
@FourWalls (76422)
• United States
20 Jan 24
@moffittjc — it’s a good idea. I personally couldn’t remember what code I’d selected for each color so I don’t even bother with that.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (124803)
• Gainesville, Florida
20 Jan 24
@FourWalls I have storage bins that are the colors of the seasons...red/green for Christmas, orange/black for Halloween, green for St. Patrick's Day, etc.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (124803)
• Gainesville, Florida
20 Jan 24
Hey, how'd you know my bins were all color-coded? (they are) lol
2 people like this
@LadyDuck (478367)
• Italy
22 Jan 24
@moffittjc 
It was a funny game, I played all the time on our old Apple computer.
It was a funny game, I played all the time on our old Apple computer.2 people like this
@moffittjc (124803)
• Gainesville, Florida
22 Jan 24
@LadyDuck I had an old Dell computer that I used to play Terris on all the time.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (124803)
• Gainesville, Florida
21 Jan 24
I used to play Tetris all the time when I was a student at the university. It was much more fun than studying! Haha
2 people like this
@Marilynda1225 (85213)
• United States
20 Jan 24
Your title made me laugh. I can certainly relate to organization and Tetris. My garage is the same. We have one section where everything is stored and the other half is for the car. Once it's all stored and organized it works perfectly but take something out and then try to put it back and like you said, it's Tetris!!
2 people like this
@Marilynda1225 (85213)
• United States
22 Jan 24
@moffittjc the guy across the street from me has a garage jam packed with all sorts of stuff. He has to keep his cars in the driveway. Since he's directly across the street from me and leaves his garage door open I can see how much stuff he has. I'm sure he isn't the only one here who can't fit cars in the garage.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (124803)
• Gainesville, Florida
22 Jan 24
@Marilynda1225 George Carlin used to do a comedy routine about our obsession with hoarding stuff. He joked about the fact that people couldn’t park their cars in their garages because it was full of stuff. And when the garage got full of stuff, people would rent storage units to hold more stuff.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (124803)
• Gainesville, Florida
20 Jan 24
When I have the time, I don't mind re-organizing and re-stuffing to get everything to fit. It can be a fun game sometimes, just like playing Tetris. But who has time for all that these days? lol
I wonder how many people have garages but can't park their cars in them because it is so full of stuff?
2 people like this
@Hannihar (130204)
• Israel
21 Jan 24
@moffittjc
It does not sound like much fun to put the stuff away. What is Tetris? I hate packing and putting stuff away. It is all a real chore to me. That is a good idea to find another place the for few remaining boxes to be put.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (124803)
• Gainesville, Florida
22 Jan 24
Tetris is a game in which different shapes drop from the top of the screen, and you have to fit them in at the bottom of the screen to fill in a row across the bottom. Every time you complete a row, it disappears off the screen. Row upon row can build up on top of each other until you can fit the right pieces in to clear them out. And as time goes on, the pieces start dropping faster and faster from the top of the screen, making it harder to decide (and react) to where you want the piece to drop on the row. It's a great strategy game, and really teaches you how to fit things in to spaces.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (124803)
• Gainesville, Florida
23 Jan 24
@Hannihar It’s an older game, one that was hugely popular back in the 1990s. The game made the news again lately when a teenage boy became the first known person to ever beat the game.
1 person likes this
@Hannihar (130204)
• Israel
23 Jan 24
@moffittjc
Thank you for explaining that to you. I do not know that one.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (124803)
• Gainesville, Florida
22 Jan 24
There is one space in my house that I keep immaculately clean, and that is my garage.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (124803)
• Gainesville, Florida
27 Jan 24
@nela13 Should I come over and help you clean?
1 person likes this
@nela13 (59062)
• Portugal
24 Jan 24
@moffittjc my garage is the most mess place in my house
1 person likes this
@AmbiePam (100299)
• United States
20 Jan 24
@moffittjc You just have a love of celebrations. I think it goes along with being a Disney lover. 
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (124803)
• Gainesville, Florida
20 Jan 24
I DO have a storage shed, and it’s full as well. Ugh…I need to downsize my holiday decorations! Lol
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (124803)
• Gainesville, Florida
21 Jan 24
@AmbiePam I only recently started getting into celebrations. And you’re right, I think Disney played a big part.
1 person likes this
.@moffittjc (124803)
• Gainesville, Florida
20 Jan 24
When I got up this morning at 6:30 it was 27. We don’t see temps like that in Florida very often. I believe our high today was only 50. But guess what? Three days from now we’ll be back up in the 80s!
1 person likes this
@shaggin (74273)
• United States
21 Jan 24
@moffittjc brr yes that’s very cold for you then. Thank goodness it will get back up to 80 soon. I can’t wait to see temperatures like that again. Maybe by June at the earliest.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (124803)
• Gainesville, Florida
22 Jan 24
@shaggin Wow, June for you! By June, we'll be in the upper 90s with practically 100% humidity, and I will be begging for winter to get here again!
1 person likes this
@MarshaMusselman (38834)
• Midland, Michigan
20 Jan 24
No, can't say that I have. I just move things to another closet or get rid of something else I don't need.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (124803)
• Gainesville, Florida
26 Jan 24
@MarshaMusselman I’m starting my spring cleaning a little early, but I’m going to go through my drawers and shelves in my bedroom before I start tackling the closet.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (124803)
• Gainesville, Florida
22 Jan 24
So you just shift things around from one place to another?
1 person likes this
@MarshaMusselman (38834)
• Midland, Michigan
26 Jan 24
@moffittjc yes. When kids move out might as well use their space too.
My mom had clothes in the closets of three bedrooms a few years back. I always thought that was odd. Not I'm doing the same thing. Although I have begun to eliminate what I'm no longer wearing.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (124803)
• Gainesville, Florida
31 Jan 24
I do the same thing. My daughter or girlfriend will tell me the freezer is full and that nothing else can fit, and then I’ll go and find a way to add several more items.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (124803)
• Gainesville, Florida
20 Jan 24
I got it all figured out this morning, so all is packed away now. I think I just needed the bright morning sunshine to make it easier to see inside the storage closet.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (124803)
• Gainesville, Florida
21 Jan 24
@just4him Thank you. It’s a really good feeling to finally have all the Christmas stuff put away.
1 person likes this
@just4him (318811)
• Green Bay, Wisconsin
20 Jan 24
@moffittjc Most likely. I'm glad you got it figured out, and it's packed away.
1 person likes this
@lovebuglena (47167)
• Staten Island, New York
22 Jan 24
Maybe next time take a pic of all the boxes together (wherever you store them) so when it's time to put them back there you will know what should go where.
I wish I had more closet / storage space in the house. I hate my linen closet. Hard to get stuff in and out of it. And no room for new stuff. And the closet in my bedroom is terrible. Barely any room for more hangers and shelf storage area is uncomfortable. Hard to reach the shelves as they are so far back. I'd just gut everything and redo the whole closet but I bet it will cost thousands. Can't afford that.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (124803)
• Gainesville, Florida
22 Jan 24
You offer great advice, but it would be difficult for me to get a good picture of my storage closet, because it is pretty big (and L shaped).
@moffittjc (124803)
• Gainesville, Florida
22 Jan 24
@lovebuglena Well, it's not quite up to mansion standards, but it does give me plenty of storage space on my back patio!
1 person likes this
@lovebuglena (47167)
• Staten Island, New York
22 Jan 24
@moffittjc Oh wow. Is that like a closet in a mansion? You'd need to take pics from different angles then lol.
1 person likes this
@Deepizzaguy (111633)
• Lake Charles, Louisiana
21 Jan 24
I have had to that a few times a year getting old clothing out of the house so I can replace them with newer clothes.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (124803)
• Gainesville, Florida
22 Jan 24
I'm about to start that "closet cleanup" process in my own master bedroom closet. I've noticed I'm running out of space there too.
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (193911)
• United States
21 Jan 24
Yes. We have a 4 bedroom house; and every inch is filled with crap. I have been trying to downsize for years; but it seems like it's still the same! Have a good day.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (124803)
• Gainesville, Florida
22 Jan 24
I was successful at doing one major downsize, but I've noticed crap is slowly starting to build up again in my current house. I have already made it one of my New Year's resolutions to do a major spring cleaning and get rid of as much as I can to donate to charity.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (124803)
• Gainesville, Florida
25 Jan 24
@LindaOHio I started a spring cleaning project last night (although I didn’t get very far at all) where I am going to through every single thing in my bedroom and get rid of as much as I can. I started with one of the bookshelves. I have a lot of drawers to go through, as well as the nightstands, under the bed, and in the closets. I’m going to tackle a little bit each night, with the hopes of getting rid of a ton of stuff.
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (193911)
• United States
23 Jan 24
@moffittjc If we ever have to move to Assisted Living or something like that, we are in trouble. We'd have to downsize by about at least half.
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (164636)
• United States
20 Jan 24
The story of my life. I am going to say it is too cold for you to be messing around outside like that.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (124803)
• Gainesville, Florida
22 Jan 24
It definitely has been too cold for me to be messing around outside. Which is why I had no problem giving up for the day and going back inside. Normally, I'm the type of person that sees a project through to completion once I start it, but in this case I ran out of daylight and the temperature kept plunging. Enough of an incentive for me to give up for the day and go back inside to the nice warm house!
@moffittjc (124803)
• Gainesville, Florida
22 Jan 24
I always think of the game of Tetris whenever I am loading our car for a vacation trip, trying to imagine in my mind how I can best fit everything inside the vehicle and still give the family plenty of legroom.
1 person likes this
@Juliaacv (54077)
• Canada
20 Jan 24
We have that same problem here, it is like fitting things together like a jigsaw puzzle and you cannot have 1 box or item out of place.
Before we downsized, my hubs was 'bored' one year on Boxing Day and decided to make a huge wall unit of shelving with some wood that he had in the garage. After that it was a dream, so organized, and nothing crowded.
I had 1 shelving unit in 1 room in the basement for the family Christmas tree, and the shelves in the other room were for the 'fussy' Christmas tree. I had 2 sets of decorations, 1 for show and 1 for us.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (124803)
• Gainesville, Florida
20 Jan 24
My daughter and I collect Starbucks Disney water bottles and tumblers, and we have a shelf full of them on one wall in our dining room. She told me it’s too cluttered now and that we’re going to need to add more shelving units. She’s not wrong, and sometime soon I need to get working on it.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (124803)
• Gainesville, Florida
22 Jan 24
You've written many discussions about organizing and cleaning your stuff, so I know you have experience with it!
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (124803)
• Gainesville, Florida
22 Jan 24
I definitely need to declutter! That will be a good spring cleaning project for me once the weather warms up. It's just too cold to tackle that right now.
1 person likes this
@BearArtistLady (6036)
• United States
20 Jan 24
I go through that myself, and I usually end up going through and getting rid of a bunch of stuff. I would love to tackle my storage unit in my carport, but 98% of the stuff isn't mine. I am letting my neighbor friend use "some" of my space to store her stuff. But it keeps growing, she's a bonified collector and it isn't going to change. She has her storage cupboard in her carport FULL, and it is much easier to just add her stuff to my cupboard. I can't win!!! So, somewhere along the line I am hoping to get the stuff out of the cupboard and stack up the stuff I want to get rid of and get my friend with the truck to come by and we'll take the stuff to the thrift shop and I'll do a major donation. Maybe the neighbor will get the hint. I looked in her apartment last night and almost fainted!!! She barely has trails through her place. So, don't feel too badly about not being able to get everything back into your storage. Your problems can't be as bad as mine...I haven't gone into the fur for bears that I have stored. Of course that isn't a huge problem, it's just that the cats rearrange it to suit their sleeping needs and how they want their beds. 
I won't argue with them on that. They're too cool otherwise.
I won't argue with them on that. They're too cool otherwise.1 person likes this
@moffittjc (124803)
• Gainesville, Florida
20 Jan 24
Be careful, that neighbor of your may end up taking over your entire home to store her stuff! lol. She definitely sounds like a hoarder.
