Children, in all their infinite wisdom, seem to know that things work best when divisions are obvious. If you buy a plate for a small human, it features at least three distinct sections, lest various components of a meal join and meld together.

I can handle the carrots and the apple slices and the taco, but only if I can clearly recognize each for its own. But should the peas become jumbled with the scrambled eggs, I won’t know what’s what, I’ll be overwhelmed by the culinary mess you’ve presented me, and I’ll positively lose my shit, and possibly stage a hunger protest, the children decry.

Yes, keeping small components contained and separated is clever, then, in the kitchen, and equally so in the rest of the house.

In fact, it is the smallest items’ being out of place, and without a proper place, that undermines the whole of the operation. It’s the rogue spools of thread rolling around in a drawer that causes one to get accustomed to living in a state of clutter. Or the batteries, haphazardly strewn in any and every available drawer that does it. Or the children’s beads. The hardware store’s worth of screws and nails. The first aid essentials.

Rounding like things up and storing them together in the same place is major milestone in the journey to Live Simply. But for the Master’s degree, opt for a divided container that allows for boundaries between the related small stuff.

Less digging through, less routing around for, less food related tantrums, more better.

1. Parts organizer

2. Deluxe super satchel

3. Storage satchel with 20 removable dividers

4. Stack-on 13 compartment organizer

5. 6 compartment box

6. Clear hobby case