How do You Organize When Life is Overwhelming?

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We tend to appreciate our organizational systems the most when we're "crazy busy." Unfortunately, this is also when we're most likely to notice the gaps in our systems and least likely to have the time to fix them.

Yet another reason to appreciate organizing by STYLE. (But you probably figured I was going to say that, didn't you?)

If we know and respect our styles, the stopgap measures we put into place in our time of need are more likely to help us build a bridge that spans those gaps. While it's certainly possible that we'll default to the worst traits of our personal and organizational styles when we're in a pinch, knowing the tricks and tools that work for us can also lead us to more constructive solutions.

• I love stuff people may leave a trail of collectibles scattered throughout the house, but they might also gather up their treasures and put them into the logical homes they've assigned to the things that mean so much.
• I love to be busy people may power through their calendars with barely a backward glance, but they might also take a few minutes to update their planners and return supplies to the special storage they've allotted for each activity.
• I need to see it people may leave everything sitting out, at least at first, but they might also put their piles into lidless bins, see-through crates or color-coded folders when they have a snippet of time in which to make an improvement.
• Drop and run people may leave evidence of every activity they've completed in the past week scattered in various locations, but they might also drop that evidence into the containers they've selected to corral the clutter until they can make time to sort things and put them in their rightful places.
• Cram and jam people may stuff things into backpacks and storage spaces, but they might also stop short of cramming and jamming the quality out of their things by moving to a new (expandable) storage space when the old one is full.
• I know I put it somewhere people may practice "out of sight, out of mind," putting things away in any available space, or they might also put everything into one "safe place" they've designated for "crazy busy" times such as these, cutting down on the number of places they must look to find things they've put "away."

Baby steps are still steps in the right direction, and it's important to keep in mind that organization is a process with ups and downs imposed by the ebb and flow of life.

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Especially when we're "crazy busy" and the flow seems to be drowning the ebb.