Start with Successes

This week, I'm digging into preparations for spring semester. Picture, if you will, someone with an I need to see it personal style pulling together material from a variety of books, documents and online sources in an effort to create a cohesive whole -- one that has both virtual and hard copy components. 

There is stuff everywhere. And, as I work, it only gets worse.

But, at the end of the day, it all goes away.

Well, most of it anyway.

In my posts here, I usually focus on the practical, whether I'm sharing my own experiences or offering suggestions for ways to make your styles work for you. At the heart of this is style-based problem-solving, so I focus a lot on what to do when faced with an organizational challenge. 

Last night, that challenge came in the form of a strong sense of overwhelm. I quickly realized this feeling arose as much because my office isn't usually this out of order anymore as because of any task I was attempting to tackle. Amid the explosion of papers, books and ideas that surrounded me were organizing systems that work. So, I took a few minutes to put away some of the accumulated paraphernalia -- pens, pencils, highlighters, a planner, some lists -- and felt better almost immediately. 

Over time, my office has morphed from cluttered to functional. There are still improvements to be made but most things have a place -- one that's easy for me to access and that fits my styles. This is a major victory, one that occurred only through a series of baby steps.

Because my posts usually focus on the practical, I pay more attention to taking small steps, finding homes and letting things go than I do to starting with successes or easy upkeep.

So today, I want to give the first STYLE step its due. Whether you're struggling or satisfied when it comes to organization stop right now and take a moment. Look around. What have you done well? Where in your house do things always get put away? Where has organization created a sense of peace, making it a space where you like to spend your time? 

This isn't merely a pat-on-the-back exercise. There's a reason the "S" comes first. Finding our successes motivates us to keep going and it gives us a sense of what we can replicate in other areas where things aren't working so well. And, as we approach the end of a month where many people have determined to get organized, it gives us hope that achieving that goal is possible.

Today, my office was every bit as cluttered as it was yesterday, but it didn't bother me as much. Knowing I have systems to corral the clutter at the end of a productive day allows me to look past it as I'm working because I know where it all goes when I call it a day.

Well, most of it anyway.