3 Keys Thursday: 3 Keys to Spicing Up Black and White

Shawshank61 via Pixabay

I love the show What Not to Wear. On a recent episode (well, maybe not recent -- I watch reruns), Stacy and Clinton did a makeover where their primary complaint was that the woman's wardrobe was boring -- too many neutrals. She had the essence of putting an outfit together, but her outfits didn't meet with their approval.

Gotta say this one hit a little close to home for me. My work wardrobe is light on the khakis and white button-downs, but probably 75% black and white (literally). Sometimes, I think I should branch out a little (or at least stop buying more of the same) but, the truth is, when everything in my closet pairs easily, it makes getting ready for work much more efficient.

While I do endeavor to structure my outfits so I don't look like I'm wearing the same thing every day, I think this is one place where I might part ways with Stacy and Clinton. Though I sometimes get bored with my color palette, I like the advantages my dichromatic closet offers -- like saving time getting ready and requiring less space to store a wide variety of multicolored outfit selections.

If you, like me (or the contestant on What Not to Wear) are happy with a wardrobe that encompasses only part of the rainbow, here are three keys to spicing things up.

• Add brights. When I'm tired of black and white (which happens at least once a week), it's easy to swap out a white sweater or jacket for one in coral, fuchsia or red. Or, on a casual day, trade in the black bottoms for a pair of jeans which, like black and white, go with nearly everything.
• Look for patterns. Despite their convenience, solid black and white get old fast. Patterned blouses can dress up black pants and a long, black sweater can tone down printed or patterned slacks for a more professional look.  I have at least two pairs of pants in an animal print, along with a comfy pair of black and white pull-on pants in spotted pattern that mimics an animal print. On their own, they make quite statement. Pulled together with a black tunic, sweater or jacket, they tame quite nicely and decrease the boredom factor as well. 
• Accessories. There were many mornings I looked in the mirror at my basic black ensemble and yawned. Over time, I've learned that the right shoes, earrings or necklace take even a solid black outfit from blah and boring to fabulous and fashionable. And, with so much black in my wardrobe, I have a ready answer when my family asks what I want for Christmas or my birthday -- a necklace that goes with black tops.

I can't say Stacy and Clinton were wrong to want to jazz up the contestant's wardrobe, but I can say that it's one time I hated to see them trash an old wardrobe when the biggest fashion crime some of the pieces committed was lack of color. And, for those of us not bearing a $5000 gift card for a new wardrobe shopping spree, sticking with the basics and using our much smaller budgets for a few key pieces can jazz up our wardrobes -- or our homes -- quite nicely. 

AdenArdenrich via Pixabay

Way Back Wednesday: Take Small Steps

Today's post is the second in a series on using the STYLE process to take your organizing to the next level. Last week, we focused on the "S": Start with successes. This week, we're moving on to "T": Take small steps.

The counter in my office  -- or the clearing off thereof -- is perpetually on my to-do list. Unfortunately, since it's merely annoying and not time sensitive, it keeps getting bumped to the bottom of the list by tasks that have actual due dates. Meanwhile, I do what I can in small snippets of time -- filing this paper, recycling that one -- until I have time to dedicate to giving the surface my full attention.

We all know that getting organized is a time-intensive task. It's easy to forget, however, that staying organized also requires a time commitment. It's easier (and faster) to just put something down on a flat surface (the desk, the kitchen counter, the dining room table) than it is to put it where it belongs, but the time we save in the moment isn't really saved time. We spend that banked time when it comes time to put away the things we set down in a convenient spot.

We can take small steps in lots of ways. We can spend just a few minutes tackling a hot spot (Give it Five!) or work to improve our habits (Don't put it down, put it away!) We can set small goals, tackling one spot, one drawer or one shelf at a time until the whole area looks just the way we want it.  Or, we can pick up as we go, concentrating on making things just a little bit better. We can focus on finding one container that does double duty by creating a home for wayward items and looking pretty in the process. We can work on broadening the good habits we already have in place, taking all the out-of-season items out of a closet or finally getting that bag of donations out of the trunk of the car and to its destination.

No matter which steps we take, it's important to notice the improvements we make. Taking small steps can get us to our destination, but only if we recognize that we're on the right path.

What small step did you take today? Acknowledge it, congratulate yourself and pay attention not only to where you're going, but also where you've been. 

3 Keys Thursday Then & Now: 3 Key Tools for Wrangling Start-of-Semester Papers and Tasks

Created with Canva

I started this blog nearly five years ago, and thought it would be fun to revisit some of the posts I wrote early on and update them, based on where I am now in my organizing journey. Today's post was written in September 2016, with an eye toward 3 Key tools for starting the new (fall) semester.

What I said then:

Beginning a new semester is always a messy proposition -- at least for me. As new ideas proliferate and mix with old papers, I end up with piles which, if not put in some kind of order, threaten to bury all those great ideas before I even get started. Since my styles haven't changed, I know just which tools I need to get me through the transition from summer to semester. Here are a few of my favorites.

• Flat surfaces. I hinted yesterday that my sofa is one of my organizational tools, but the truth is, any flat surface will do when it comes to packing my bag for school (or packing anything for anywhere, for that matter.) To make sure I don't forget anything, I lay everything out, separated into piles by course (a general psych pile, an early child development pile and a freshman seminar pile). Then, each pile goes into a hanging file folder that goes into my bag, and off I go! 

• Steno book. This is a new addition to my arsenal. The two column layout allows me to put two classes on the front of each page and my third class and my writing projects on the back. This keeps all my to-do lists in one place, held together by the spiral at the top of the book. In the past, I've used single sheets divided into sections, but they quickly become crumpled in my bag and the lists invariably intermingle. I'm very optimistic about this new approach, especially since my writing, which gets short shrift during the semester, has its own column among all of the teaching stuff.

• Planners--this year's and last year's. When it comes to my classes, I use my planner as a combination calendar/journal. I write all my due dates (color coded by class) on the month-view pages and use the daily pages to keep track of my progress. Then, when it comes time to set due dates for the coming semester, I simply go back to my notes to create my course calendar. As a global person, I'm much less stressed out by the details of due dates when I have a reference point, and, once I've updated this year's planner, I can set aside last year's version, grateful for its assistance. I'm not quite ready to get rid of it yet, so I'll store it with my reference materials.

Danielle Brigance via Pixabay

What I say now:

Planners: I still swear by them. Setting up the course calendar (what we're doing when) remains my most time-consuming and least favorite semester prep task. I've gone through several planners since this post was written, but every one has had the same set-up -- enough space to write due dates on the month view and enough space for each day on the weekly view to allow me to keep track of where I started and where I left off so I can begin the next class seamlessly, even if I fall behind. Especially then. 

That steno book earned its keep for a long time but, once I started using a clipboard for my course paperwork and tucked my single sheet weekly summary under its clip, the steno book got set aside. I still like the column set-up, though, and, when to-do tasks for my classes become overwhelming, it's very possible I'll put that steno book back in action.

Dodgerton Skillhause via Morguefile

Though I still avail myself of flat surfaces to lay out course materials, I've gotten much better at making it a tidier proposition. Usually, my dining room table is my go-to because I can lay out materials for multiple classes and still see everything. I'm happy to say that my organizational systems for paper flow have kept the living room sofa largely off-limits as an organizing surface.

Having the right tools is key to getting off to a good start and, when we find the ones that work for our styles, we often continue to use them. Even better, we learn to replicate those same ideas in other trouble spots so we can whip them into shape, too. 

What are your favorite tools for keeping tasks in mind and papers under control?

Way Back Wednesday: The S in STYLE

Today's post is the first in a series on using the STYLE process to take your organizing to the next level. 

My home is by no means an organizational showplace. When I say I'm an organizational work in progress, I'm not kidding. For a while, I no sooner got one area under control than another would demand my attention. Even now, when I'm tired and overwhelmed, it's easy to revert to the worst aspects of my I need to see it personal style and drop and run organizational style, which invariably leads to clutter quickly replacing clear spaces.

It's a process.

But every day, I make my bed. When I read in one of Marcia Ramsland's books that making the bed instantly tidies better than half of the room, I decided that the two to three minutes I'd spend pulling up the covers and tucking them into place yielded perhaps the best effort-to-value ratio of any organizational task I faced.

When I stop looking for perfection (the things I do every single time and/or every day) and focus on tasks I perform habitually (most of the time), it's easy to spot organizational successes. The counter in the kitchen where we used to dump our mail improved tremendously once I found a style-based solution to the influx and is now a spot that boasts clear space more often than not. Assigning homes to the things I most typically drop when I'm in a hurry served to clear up not only floor space and counter space, but also to allow us to use furniture like sofas and chairs for their intended purpose: sitting. Using a visual system (labels, color-coding, patterned file folders) for paperwork eliminated the "guess what's in this manila file folder" game.

These successes matter. They remind us that we know what we're doing, no matter how lived in or imperfect our homes and organizational systems may be some days. When we focus more on what's working than what isn't, not only do we feel better, but we learn what to replicate other areas, and what to strive for to make our hot spots into neat spots.

The first step in getting organized by STYLE is to determine the styles that define you. In addition to taking the styles quiz, one way to do this is to see what works for you -- to identify your successes. Doing this will help refine your styles and determine the strategies that take you from frustration to organization.

So, You Made a New Year's Resolution to Get Organized

Happy Thursday! I'm taking a break from my usual 3 Keys Thursday post to share the video of my Facebook Live presentation, "So You Made a New Year's resolution to Get Organized." After the initial video dread, I had a lot of fun doing this over at the CatholicMom.com Facebook page this morning, and I hope you find something useful in it.

See you next week with more of the usual. :-)

True Confessions Wednesday: I Love Stuff

True Confession #17: I’m a little bit I love stuff.

When I introduce the styles at meetings and conferences and/or when people take the styles quiz, almost inevitably, someone asks if they can be all of them. My response is that, while it seems that way at first, for most of us, one predominant personal style and one predominant organizational style emerge.

That doesn’t mean, however, that traces of other styles don’t linger, influencing the way we do things. The I love to be busy style is a great example. Many people don’t love to be busy, but have had busyness thrust upon them by the multiple roles they play. For them, successful organizing and planning might very well mean taking strategies for the I love to be busy personal style into account, making it almost a secondary style choice.

Though my primary styles are I need to see it (personal) and drop and run (organizational), I can feel my I love stuff tendencies arise when I’m decluttering a space. I can be ruthless about many things, but I keep arguably more than my fair share of sentimental mementos. It’s not the thing I want as much as what it evokes— memories of times and places past. While I’ve gotten a lot better at getting rid of things I was saving only because I should save them, there are plenty of extras that survive the purge. 

Another time I can feel my I love stuff tendencies rising up and clamoring to be heard is when I wander through the aisles at The Container Store or even my local Target. I want it all! Okay, maybe not all of it, but I’m intrigued by the sheer variety and quantity of organizers that are available. Again, I’ve made progress in that I only take home what I truly think I will use, but my basement is a testament to the fact that it hasn’t always been that way, and that I should always “shop” there before heading out to buy new things.

When I think about it, the connection between my primary I need to see it personal style and my secondary I love stuff tendencies is clear. It’s visual. The same part of me that responds to visual cues is emotionally cued by certain objects and drawn in by the visual appeal of pretty things. Knowing this, I can be more analytical about the choices I make, whether it’s deciding what to keep and what to toss or when to buy and when to pass. 

In the end, which style prevails? For me, my I need to see it style steers the ship and runs the show. It’s more consistent than the I love stuff tendencies that draw me to a souvenir or a pretty organizer and, when pressed into service, my primary personal style helps me to organize sustainably. In the end, my prevailing style and its first runner-up work together so that I’m organized in a way that consistently works for me, but things look pretty in the process. 

3 Keys Thursday: 3 Key Tools for Staying on Task

Photo: Dodgerton Skillhause via Morguefile

Between semesters, I try to kick my writing into high gear. Although I'm excited to dig into projects and spend more time on them, I sometimes find that I get distracted, which impacts not only how quickly I get to work, but how well I continue working as well.

Over time, I've come up with ways to keep myself on task -- most days, anyway. If you, like me, struggle to stay on task even when the task is something you want to do, maybe these three simple tools can help you, too.

A timer. Have you promised yourself to spend a set amount of time on a particular task? If so, a timer is a simple way to keep yourself honest. It can be a kitchen timer, the timer on your phone or even a timer set by a digital assistant like Alexa or Google Home. I use timers regularly for my writing sprints and organizing "small steps." Knowing the timer is keeping track keeps me from keeping one eye on the clock and helps me remain focused and in the zone.

A notepad. After a more-than-adequate period of procrastination during which no random thoughts other things, especially if what I'm supposed to be working on is difficult. Luckily, the solution is simple. Keeping a notepad and a writing implement at my workspace doesn't quite eliminate the temptation to bail and do something else, but it does give me permission to stop working for the ten seconds it takes to write down the task in question and then get back to work. Immediately.
arrive unbidden, I sit down to work, only to unleash a string of reminders to work on every nagging task on the planet. (Okay, maybe that's a slight exaggeration). If I'm not careful, it's easy to keep popping up and down to do all of those

DarkWorkX via Pixabay

A workspace. I have the luxury of being home alone most weekdays, which means I can work anywhere in the house. Most of the time, I work either in my office or in the family room and I have set up both of those spaces to be work-friendly. The main tools I need are easily at my disposal, so I have no excuse to stop working and go get something. It's all right there, so I can grab what I need, whether a pen, a pair of scissors or a tissue, and get back to work. Immediately.

No matter how well-prepared we are for the task at hand, motivation is something we just can't bottle. But, if we can keep distractions at bay, we have a much better chance of getting from start to finish with few interruptions in the time we've allotted for the task.

And then, when we're finished, we can check it off the list.

True Confessions Wednesday: One Size Planner Does not Fit All

True Confession #16: I love planners. I've read that we should have only one planner -- a master planner, in which we keep track of everything. I tried that. And, while it worked (sort of) when my daughter was small and I was working a traditional job and keeping traditional hours, it wasn't a perfect fit.

When I retired from my job as a school counselor, I rethought the single planner approach. These days, I keep separate planners for work and home, as well as a writing planner in which I keep track of goals, submissions and other writerly things. I also create a week-at-a-glance sheet every week after consulting with my family to make sure I'm up to date on appointments that don't involve me (we do this over dinner on Friday nights). In a pinch, I use the calendar on my phone, but only when I need to note an appointment and don't have my planner with me. My I need to see it personal style means that old school (paper and pencil) works way better for me than electronic.

Clearly, I'm about as far-removed from a single planner person as you can get and, while I'm sure that sounds unwieldy to many people, it works for me. I'm also very picky about my planners and can take a long time choosing one that's just right. There are features I must have, features I'd like to have and a price point I try not to go past.

So, when one of my writer friends told me she'd created a planner for inspirational writers, I was intrigued. I wanted to share her work, but wasn't sure how, besides posting a link and a photo. But, when she generously shared a pdf of her work, I had my approach.

Anatomy of a planner.

As you read, think about (and maybe even jot down) the features that are needs and wants for your style. The planner I'm virtually flipping through might be the one for you, or it might not but, since it has a lot to offer, it's a great way to dissect a planner and break down the things we need as we choose the ones that work for us.

Amazon.com

The cover: Okay, you can't judge a book (especially a planner) by its cover...but I do, and I love this one. The pristine inside of a planner is going to go from blank to overwhelming before you can say New Year's resolution, so I want the outside of my planner to evoke calm. I especially love the tree (which is not gratuitous -- the authors use it inside), but I have to say the blue is lovely. So much so that I made it a point to lead with the color cover from Amazon instead of the black and white from the file.

See what I mean?

The front matter: Honestly, I never really thought about front matter -- I like space to jot notes, but beyond that, never really considered the pages that come before the calendar pages. Rachel and Demi thought about it, though, and used the front of the book to wed 2019 to 2020, allowing space for the user to move from where she was and is to where she wants to go (which also happens to be a theme in my writing right now, so perhaps that's why I thought it was such a cool idea). These are the kinds of things I use the margins of my writer planner for but, in this planner, there's dedicated space for these considerations, along with places for a word, a prayer and a Bible verse for the year. And, remember when I said the tree is used inside? The front matter includes a tree for mapping out goals (along with an illustration of how to do that).

The layout. When I'm shopping for my school planner, any calendar that doesn't have both a month- at-a-glance and a week-at-a-glance goes right back on the shelf. (I use just month-at-a-glance for my personal and writing calendars). This planner goes one better, including year-at-a-glance for 2020 and 2021 in the front matter, as well as my necessary views (monthly, weekly). The margins in the monthly view allow dedicated space for writing goals, personal goals and Bible Study goals while the weekly view includes to-do list space, monthly goal space, room for prayer intentions and, my personal favorite, room for gratitudes. There's also a monthly overview at the end of each month to review where you've been before you decide where you want to go. And at the space for notes? Lots of it.

A planner for authors. First of all, I've never heard of such a thing but, in all fairness, I haven't sought one out either. Since this planner is by authors for authors, it includes a submission tracker, pages for income and expenses, book lists and even story ideas. Need even more space? Once you've purchased the planner, you can to to the Year of the Book website and get free printables. (You can also download a PDF from this site if you're looking for a less expensive option).

Whether we're looking for planners -- or anything else, for that matter -- it's always nice when the item we find not only meets our needs and wants (and fits our styles), but also provides things we didn't realize we needed and/or wanted in the first place. One of the reasons I abandoned the single-planner approach was the sheer size of the planner I needed in order to keep track of everything, but this planner has me thinking it'd be awfully nice to have just one place to go. Or, as the authors say in their intro, "Having a place to keep all this information helps us focus on the things that matter."

What's in your planner?

3 Keys Thursday: 3 Key Elements of STYLE

In yesterday's post, I talked about the personal and organizational styles. Part of who we are and what we do naturally, they can be stumbling blocks or building blocks. Once we know that, we can embrace them, but we also need to know what to do with them.

The personal and organizational styles guide the way we organize by helping us choose the tools that work and flipping existing habits into helpful ones, but they don't provide a specific process. For that, we need a different kind of STYLE.

While each of these letters stands for an important piece of the process, three of them are also an important part of the organizing by STYLE philosophy. Whether you're an organizing by STYLE veteran or you're just starting out, the first three skills are key to embracing your styles rather than fighting them. Why does this matter? Because beating ourselves up is not only unhealthy, but it wastes time and energy that could be spent on actually making progress.

For those who are new to this approach, these three keys, combined with our personal and organizational styles, build the foundation to a system that works and is sustainable. For those who've  been doing this for a while, they can be a troubleshooting guide.

When I see something I need to improve (yes, that happens regularly), it's often one of these three keys that leads me to a solution. If I start with successes, I begin by assuming I'm doing something right, even if the system isn't working. Something this simple is energizing and opens the door to problem-solving; okay, if this part is working, but this part is not, what does that tell me about the changes I need to make? It may not happen all at once but, over time, it defines a blueprint for change.

Often, we get overwhelmed by the mere idea of getting organized. We have a life change or make a New Year's resolution, but we don't know where to start. We might even see the successes, but they seem so small compared to work we need to do that we're tempted to quit before we start. If we take small steps, the task not only seems less daunting, but also builds in more successes along the way. Success breeds success and soon, we're seeing progress.

Finally, the (relatively) simple task of deciding yes, it has a home and defining where that is reduces clutter not only in the moment, but on a long-term basis as well. I don't know about you but, at my house, homeless items make up about 90% of the clutter. If something is worth keeping, it's worth creating a place for and, once we know what that place is, we're more likely to put it there.

Whether you're a regular reader or have landed here only because you're on Day 2 of your 2020 New Year's resolution, don't forget that this is a process. Just as we won't lose those pesky 20 pounds overnight, we won't get organized that quickly either. The good news is the we don't have to do it all at once. If we use our styles as our guide and take small steps, building on our successes, we'll get there. Even better, we'll get to a place where we can maintain what we've created because it's built on what works for us.

Happy New Year! Let's Get Organized!

Happy New Year! Have you resolved to get organized in 2020? Well, you've come to the right place! What place is that? A non-judgmental place where you are encouraged to be yourself, build on what comes naturally and consider what works for you rather than one-size-fits-all storage solutions.

If it's your first time visiting, you might want to start out by taking the personal and organizational styles quiz. It will only take a few minutes and it will help you to determine which personal and organizational styles rise to the top for you. Though the names are far from technical and scientific, I'm very serious about helping people get organized. I just don't think it's necessary to check your sense of humor at the door in order to make that happen.

When I came up with these names, I was working with elementary school students, and so the names needed to be non-threatening and kid-friendly. As I began to talk with adults about getting organized, I found that they appreciated the silliness of the names, perhaps because the silly names made an overwhelming task seem less daunting. And so the names stuck. And you'll see them here a lot.

The first three (I love stuff, I love to be busy, I need to see it) are what I call the personal styles while the second three (drop and run, cram and jam and I know I put it somewhere) are the organizational styles. Hmmm....color-coding...any guess which personal style is mine?

Personal styles are the way we naturally function -- a part of our personality. Organizational styles are the methods we naturally use when we aim to organize -- unchecked, however, they're more like obstacles than organizational resource. The key to organizational progress lies at the intersection of our personal styles and our organizational styles.

Pixel2013 via Pixabay

When it comes to organizing, there will always be things we cannot control: the size of our living space, the amount of available storage space and the number of hours we have in a day. Sure, we can move, build on and pull all-nighters...but do we really want to devote our entire lives to getting ourselves organized?

Not me!

What we can do is impact those uncontrollable variables -- and even maximize them -- by using our styles to our advantage. 

So let's get started. Tomorrow, I'll talk about three ways to use STYLE (all caps for a reason) to enhance your styles and your organizational systems.

Happy New Year. Let's do this.