A Little Packing and a Lot of Procrastinating

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This week, I'm "away" at a conference. I put the quotation marks around "away" because I'm only half an hour from home, but am indulging in the luxury of two nights in the hotel where the conference is.

Which means packing.

I'm a procrastinator under many circumstances, but packing probably tops the list. As someone with an I need to see it personal style, my packing plan can be loosely described as, "it gets worse before it gets better."

For the past few nights, I've been mentally planning my wardrobe, considering what needed to be laundered, what could be layered (the hotel was COLD last year) and what went with what. So, this morning, when I got up, I pulled the contenders out of the closet and laid them out on the bed. One of the shirts needed ironing, so I brought that down to the basement, threw in a load of wash, grabbed some more contenders from the laundry area and went back upstairs.

And sat down to write.

Does writing count as procrastination? I mean, I couldn't check into the hotel until four, and the first session wasn't until seven, so....

Blog finished, it was time to dig in.

For me, the hardest part of packing is making decisions. This outfit or that one? If everything in my suitcase is black and white, is that a bad thing? How can I narrow my shoe choices down to the smallest possible number?

So, needless to say, more procrastinating ensued -- structured procrastination, in this case, as I simply opted to plan my reading material and electronics items before I made final decisions about my clothing.

My publisher's booth

In the end, all of the outfits were black and white (the better to mix and match in case of surprises). I narrowed the shoe choices to three (all black), but could probably have gotten by with two. I've got my laptop (so I can type this post), my iPad (so I can read the PDF of the novel I'm editing) and a few things to read just for fun. I finished the load of laundry and packed or put away some of the clean clothes that were hanging downstairs, so I left a few spots better than I'd found them.

So far, the only thing I've forgotten is my business cards. Annoying (and they never even made the
list), but workable. I do, after all, know my contact information.

Now all that's left is to enjoy the conference.

3 Keys Thursday: 3 Key Files

Dodgerton Skillhause via Morguefile

In yesterday's post, I shared last week's journey from piles to accordion file, and teased that the expandable file was half of my paper management system. The other half is a system of three folders, a master list and a to-do list. I've dubbed the three files my mini-tickler file.

In the past, I've had limited success, at best, with the tickler file, a set of files that allows me to sort papers day-by-day. At the suggestion of a friend who swore by them, I first considered a monthly tickler file (31 folders, one for each day of the month), but felt overwhelmed by the concept, so I dialed it back to a weekly tickler file (one folder for each day of the week -- color-coded, of course). Less overwhelming, but I still didn't use it regularly.

The most useful tool in my time management system is a single sheet of paper on which I write all of my obligations for the week. This allows me to see my whole week at a glance and to add tasks from my to-do list onto a daily schedule. During the semester, I keep this cheat sheet on a clipboard with my paper attendance records, a system I love.

My favorite pads from knockknockstuff.com

But this summer, the clipboard plan wasn't going as smoothly as it had during the semester. A stack of papers clipped together just wasn't working. I needed something that held relevant papers in a more organized fashion, but I also needed it to have the same simplicity that my clipboard system did.

Enter the mini-tickler file, which consists of four folders (different colors, of course) -- one for today, one for tomorrow, one for later (anything beyond tomorrow) and, since I'm a writer, one for ideas. This keeps things t as simple as possible while still providing a home for most, if not all, of the papers I tend to accumulate. I've also added a to-do list, which fits in the front pocket of my expandable folder and helps me keep track of things I need to do but haven't yet added to the daily schedule.

My simple took a little while to evolve, but I've limited it to the basics -- providing a way of keeping track of daily tasks, while still keeping things where I can see them. Built on tools that worked before (a folder that holds paperwork connected to daily tasks, an accordion file with an open top that lets me see what's inside), this system provides a home for the many homeless papers that would (and did) otherwise end up in piles.

It used to bother me that I couldn't transition smoothly from my school system to my home system, but I've decided it's silly to waste energy fretting over something that just is. My teaching days are very different from my non-teaching days, so it only makes sense that my systems need to be, too. A logical extension of my mail counter system (that took forever to evolve), I'm hoping this approach will plug the hole in the actionable items sector of my at-home paperwork. It wasn't until I started sorting through piles last week that I realized just how many homeless papers I had floating around in limbo -- not ready to be filed or trashed because I needed to take action on them first.

So, here I go. Time to dive in and put those papers in their homes.

Troubleshooting

Alexas_Fotos via Pixabay

One of the things I like best about summer is having time to tackle neglected tasks around the house. Not surprisingly, organizational tasks top the list.

Last week, I tackled the paper piles that had popped up in several spots in my house. A funny thing happened as I sorted through the piles.

I discovered a hole in my organizational system.

Nearly every item in every pile was an actionable item -- something I needed to do, read or file. Although some were time sensitive (bills), others were less so (magazines). None were urgent; those things had already been taken care of. Before sorting, I had a vague idea of what was in each pile (i.e., I knew where all the bills were) but I lacked a system beyond my collection of I need to see it reminder piles.

I discovered that although I'd whipped my mail counter into shape -- or so I thought -- I'd dropped the ball when it came to keeping track of the mail I personally needed to do something with. I'd developed the habit of sorting the mail daily, getting rid of junk, filing catalogs and handing off most of the bills to my husband, who does the lion's share of the bill-paying, but my mail ended up -- you guessed it -- in a pile. These piles took up residence on my dining room table, so they didn't look homeless but, indeed, they were.

Oops.

As I sorted the piles, it became apparent that nearly everything in them fit into one of several categories -- and the the resulting mini piles could be easily contained -- and maintained -- with the right tool.

Enter my handy dandy accordion file (which, of course, I already had because I collect this sort of thing) and which -- even better -- had an open top with no flap to conceal its contents. A few minutes with the accordion file and my label maker and voilà!

Yes, that's a clip sticking out of the top.
It's attached to the front pocket so the bills
don't fall to the bottom.

A new, workable system was born.

Things with the shortest time frames get filed in front, things with medium time frames get filed in the middle and things I just want to keep readily available get filed in the back. The perfect complement to my mini-tickler file (more on that tomorrow), my accordion file had been transformed into a workable system for all of my miscellaneous paperwork.

And it even had room to grow.

It's a process.

Taking Time to Make Time

Dodgerton Skillhause via Morguefile

This morning, I taped a radio interview for the Kyle Heimann Show. For his opening question, Kyle asked me which room in my house was the messiest. While I'm pretty sure no one asks Marie Kondo that question, I was thrilled that Kyle asked me. Clearly, he knew what I say often here: when it comes to organization, I'm a work in progress.

Nowhere in my life is this more true than in my management of time. To me, time management is a pipe dream. I can't even capture it, let alone manage it. But I am getting better.

The funny thing about time management is we have to take time to manage time. If we don't take the time to write things down, keeping track of our commitments and our to-dos, we run headlong into scheduling snafus that derail our days, leaving us frustrated, exhausted and feeling about as far from productive as we can get.

Here are three key strategies that, in my experience, are worth the time they take.

Plan your schedule. I sit down on Sunday evening (or Monday morning, when I'm not teaching) with my calendar and my to-do list and map out the week ahead on a single sheet of paper. This not only adds some structure to my days, but it primes me for what lies ahead (for better or for worse). Sure, some days life will intervene and that schedule will fall apart. Other times, the schedule will be overly optimistic and unfinished items will get pushed to the next day. But, if I don't transfer tasks from my to-do lists to my calendar, they often hang out on the to-do list indefinitely.

Leave wiggle room. What looks like a wasted half hour between appointments on paper can be a lifesaver if you get caught in traffic, get an emergency text or phone call or simply need a few minutes between activities to catch your breath. While it seems like packing the schedule makes us more productive because we get more things done, I've learned from painful experience that what a packed schedule most often makes us is late.

Pixabay

Pencil in time to relax. We aren't built to run 24-7, a fact I preach better than I practice. I've learned the hard way that running until I hit the wall is not a good plan. By the time I hit that wall, I'm cranky and have no energy for the quiet pursuits that recharge me. Taking time for ourselves, whether it's meditation, an exercise class, a nap or a bubble bath, makes us more productive, not less. In addition there's evidence that giving our minds time to roam free, as it were, contributes to creativity as well.

Being a work in progress isn't so bad. Especially if we focus on the progress part.

The Details of the Landscape

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Last Thursday, I finished teaching my summer course. Last weekend, I took off my blinders and took a look at my house.

Oh, my.

It's amazing (and a little terrifying) what can happen to a house while life happens.

It's not that it's really awful -- mostly dust bunnies and accumulated I need to see it piles -- just ubiquitous. I mean, I write about this stuff, for heaven's sake. Shouldn't I be better at this?

Well, I am better -- than I was -- but that doesn't keep me from running into the same obstacles as everyone else. From January to July, I worked with the team at my publisher to finish editing a book and put it out into the world, taught three college classes, took a trip to Ireland to visit my daughter who was spending the semester abroad, came back to finish up the classes and launch the book, taught a summer class and finished the novel I'd been working on for several years.

I was busy -- just like everyone else -- but this is not a contest. Quite the opposite. The paragraph above is my busyness and I quite enjoyed all of the things on that list.

Other people have different busyness. To get through the busyness, we put on our blinders and forge ahead. In the process, we miss some of the details in the world outside the blinders, catching only fleeting glimpses of it as we speed past. It's only when we slow down and intentionally take in the scenery that we realize just how much there is to take in.

It's also human nature to adjust to our surroundings. The things around us become familiar and blend into the the landscape. That laundry basket full of clean clothes to put away might bug us for a short time but, if it sits there long enough, it becomes the new norm. Only when it's emptied and the clear space recaptured do we heave a sigh of relief as we take in the loveliness of it not being there.

Arousaland via Pixabay

Over the weekend, I began chipping away at the details of my landscape, deciding what should stay, what should go someplace else and what should just go altogether. It's a process I quite enjoy, actually -- one I look forward to tackling when I have a moment to take off the blinders and take in the view. In fact, I enjoy the process almost as much as I enjoy its reward -- the clear space that is, at once, a sign of the organization I've been seeking and a validation of the work it took to get there.

As you chip away at your landscape, be patient. The busyness of life can be daunting, but most of it consists of things we wouldn't really want to miss. As much as I longed for a weekend to dig into the bits of landscape that caught my attention as I flew by them last spring, I wouldn't have traded in any of the things I did instead for even a month of organizing time.

Now, however, that month is here. If you need me, I'll be assessing -- and sorting through -- the piles.

3 Keys Thursday: 3 Key Closet Interventions

Dodgerton Skillhause via Morguefile

So often, we look at the problem areas in our homes and think we have to do a complete overhaul. But overhauls can be overwhelming, exhausting and time-consuming, leading us to dread them, or to not do them at all.

This is exactly when the "T" in STYLE ("Take small steps") comes in handy.  

The thing is, every intervention, big or small, leads us in the right direction. If we approach the big spaces (closets, crawlspaces, garages, etc.) with a "Take small steps" mentality, setting reasonable goals for ourselves, it's easier to get started. 

One of my goals this summer is tackling closets and drawers. Most are in pretty good shape but, having recently overhauled one of each (dresser drawer in the bedroom and pantry cupboard in the kitchen), I know how great it feels to open them every single time afterward and see how nice they look. In addition, I've created more space so that as things come in (as they inevitably do), I have a place to put them.

Ready to baby step into a big space? Start by assessing the situation. Open the door (or drawer), look inside and take stock, discerning the "before" situation. 

Then, set aside whatever time you have and set a reasonable goal -- what you want the "after" situation to look like. I'm not talking about the completely finished product. I'm talking about what you can reasonably accomplish in the time you have.

When I tackled my pantry cupboard, I set out to get rid of all the expired/unwanted stuff on the bottom shelf. Once I did that, I had enough space left over to store some things that had been living on the counter because they were homeless. I hadn't set out to do that second part but, once the clear space emerged, I saw a solution.

Here are my "Take small steps" plans of attack for three closets at my house.

1. My closets (2) in the master bedroom. Before situation: Contains clothes I haven't worn for quite some time. Desired after situation: Has been divided into keep, toss & consider. Keep: Dressy stuff that hasn't been worn because I rarely have a need to dress up and things I still love that still fit and flatter. Toss: Anything that doesn't look good on me or is out of style. Consider: Stuff I think I might wear again, as long as it still fits and flatters and is still in style. This last category will be returned to the closet, hangers facing the wrong way, so I can monitor whether or not these things get worn. A sticky note stuck onto a shelf or a note tucked into a drawer in the closet ("This closet was de-cluttered in July 2019") will help me keep track of how long it's really been since I wore that shirt. Next small step: Closet shelf, drawers and bins.
2. Mudroom closet. Before situation: Contains games, coats, shoes, shirts, and miscellaneous office and wrapping supplies. Desired after situation: Games have been whittled down to classic games and those we actually play. Coats have been tried on and the same keep/toss/ consider rules I used for the bedroom closet have been applied. Office supplies and wrapping supplies will get a once over, but most will get to stay as I just recently overhauled that part of the closet and all of those have designated spots in the closet. Next small step: My work here is done, but I will encourage my husband and daughter to go through their shoes that live in the bottom of the closet.
3. Family room closet. Before situation: I thought this closet was fine until my daughter suggested we clean it out, declaring it "a mess." Apparently, my recent overhaul wasn't ruthless enough. As with the pantry cupboard, I'm going to start at the bottom since I left that section essentially untouched last time (there was nowhere to go with the record collection that's eating up most of the space). Desired after situation: #1 and #2 were easy, but this one is hard  because I don't know where to go with the stuff. I'm going to have to go for general here and simply aim for clear space in the bottom of the closet and, I hope, a home for the vinyl that's less intrusive. Next small step: Overview of the closet to see if a reconfiguration is in order.

I have no plans (and even less desire) to tackle all of these closets in one day. Based on the goals I've set, I think I can accomplish my "desired after situation" in each case in an hour or less. When that time is up, I can reassess and declare the space finished or set up whatever small step I choose to do next.

If you're the kind of organizer who likes to set aside a day and dig in, have at it! But, if you find that baby steps are the way to go, choose your day, set your timer and get to work. If you're like me, you might even find that taking small steps allows a plan to emerge as you go. 

And maybe your experience will be like my pantry cupboard experience. You set out to tackle one shelf and, fueled by progress and clear space, you just keep going.

Have a success story to share? Tell us about it in the comments below!

Who Says Desktops Have to be Boring?

raw pixel via Pixabay

As someone with an I need to see it personal style, I struggle with my desktops -- both actual and virtual. I've made some progress with my actual desk, seeking out containers that match my style and pressing them into service.

But my computer desktop? That's another story.

Last night, I spent a lot of time whipping my computer desktop into shape. Putting things into folders is hard for me -- not actually difficult as it takes about two seconds -- but hard because my fear that out of sight is out of mind is very real. One of the reasons I love my MacBook is the drag-and-drop feature that allows me to pull things easily on and off the desktop. But, in order to do this, the things I want to drag and drop need to be on the desktop.

You see my conundrum.

But last night, I decided I was tired of a desktop that looked like a dumping ground and so I started dragging things into folders. When I was finished, the desktop looked amazing. Several columns of little blue folders all labeled and lined up. There was only one problem.

All the folders looked the same -- except for their labels, of course.

Which was why I'd avoided doing this in the first place.

Although I loved my newly created clear space (my favorite reward for an organizational job well-done), I felt the need to jazz up the desktop a little. I thought for the hundredth time how great it would be if I could color-code my virtual file folders the way I color-code my actual folders. There had to be a way, right? And if anyone would know, Google would.

So I Googled it. And you know what? There's an app for that! And it's FREE!

Check out ColorFolder Master on the App Store!

I could not have been happier.

Ten minutes later, I had color-coded file folders on my newly de-cluttered desk top. I haven't quite worked out which types of folders should be which colors -- although I could give every single folder its own color if I wanted to -- and I hit a little snag when I changed my mind about the color I wanted for one folder, but I found a work-around. And, since I now have the app on my laptop, I can change the folder colors any time I want.

It really is the little things.

Pixabay

Happy Independence Day! 
Celebrate your styles, and set yourself free from criticism and perfectionism :-)

Productivity Postponement

LUM3N via Pixabay

It's Wednesday afternoon and I'm finished class for the week. My husband is at work, my daughter is at the gym and the house is quiet.

My head, on the other hand, is not quiet. Not in the least. An empty house all to myself is a rarity these days and, when the door closes behind the last person to leave, I start contemplating all the things I could/should do, the "need to do" things colliding with the "want to do" things.

I need to write a blog post. (Here I am!)

I need to grade some papers.

I need/want to clear the clutter off the dining room table, but I don't need a quiet house for that so that  task will wait (which only makes me want to do it now).

I need/want to tackle the desk in my office but, that doesn't require the sound of silence either.

I want to sit down and read a good book, trouble shoot my Kindle issues and/or play a game on my iPad.

And then there are the articles that are coming due.

My mind is swirling and I'm tired and I haven't even done anything yet. Am I whining? I think I am.

I'm definitely not adulting well at all.

A friend of mine posted on social media the other day that the essence of parenting is interruption. This rang truer for me than anything I've heard or read in a long time (thank you, Carolyn Astfalk). As a work-at-home writer, I think I'd expand that even further. The essence of family life -- or perhaps just life -- is interruption.

I hate interruptions. My favorite thing in the entire world is a whole, entire, unscheduled day stretching out before me for me to fill as I -- and only I -- see fit. No deadlines in the form of ringing phones or message chimes, dinner to be made or appointments to be kept.

Just time.

No tiny time frames for big tasks. No to do lists filled with empty spaces where the check marks should be. No guilt because when I am being productive, I'm working when I should be paying attention to the other people who are in the house.

Just. Time. One of the few commodities I love more than chocolate

I suppose an endless succession of that kind of day could get lonely and even boring, but I can only imagine. I'd be willing to take one for the team and try out, say, a week or so of those days.

Back here in the real world, I'm trying to use the time between interruptions the best that I can, choosing the things I should do over the things I want to do, and attempting to keep my grumpiness to a minimum when the back door squeaks open and my haven is no longer just mine.

My wise friend Carolyn framed these feelings in this way:

"Apparently God is serious about the whole dying-to-self thing, and He's employed the cutest little humans to bring home the message."

I haven't had cute little humans running around my house for some time now, but I suppose three full-grown adults with different time schedules, needs and interests sharing the same small living space provides a similar lesson, especially when the three adults call themselves a family. And, while family life doesn't always lend itself to productivity, maybe there's a reason for that.

And clearly, some #deepthoughts lessons I need to learn.

Thanks, Carolyn.

Alexas_Fotos via Pixabay