Book Bite

 I didn't forget to post yesterday. It was just one of those days when no post seemed to come together and so, by the end of the day, I decided to try again tomorrow -- now today.

And this afternoon, it hit me. Why not let you read a little bit of the book that came out of this blog? So, here's a little piece of the intro. If it interests you, click the link at the bottom of the post to read more. 

See you next week.

When it comes to organizing, there are two kinds of people. There are Type A organizers, for whom organizing is easy and automatic. Practical, time-tested tools work for them. They’ve successfully (and consistently) mastered the use of three-ring binders, file cabinets, and pocket folders. Type A organizers are the embodiment of the phrase “a place for everything and everything in its place.”

And then there are the rest of us. 

We want to get organized, we really do. Tired of feeling scattered, we buy three-hole punches so we can corral all those loose papers into binders. We buy boxes of multi-colored file folders in an effort to restore order and we spend hours setting up filing systems only to be stymied by them later and revert to stuffing, cramming, jamming and putting things in “safe places.”

We know that getting organized is a worthwhile goal — a life skill we should cultivate. We understand that we save time and energy when we can find what we need when we need it. We secretly (or not-so-secretly) envy our put-together, Type A-organized friends who make it look so simple.

But for us, it’s not. In our best moments, we trust that we’re smart enough to master this skill, creative enough to cook up new solutions and fabulous enough to make our homes look stylish in the process. In our moments of weakness, however, we wonder if we somehow got in the wrong line on the day God was handing out organizational skills.

And it makes us feel lousy. And maybe even broken.

But we’re not broken; we are wonderfully made, and we each organize differently. Traditional tools might not be a good fit for us, but that’s a technicality, because organization is more than just the tools we choose. Successful organization requires three components working together:

styles + strategies + tools = organization

Click here to read more :-)

Then & Now: When the Occupant of the Childhood Bedroom is no longer a Child

 Last week, I wrote about those times when clutter tells a tale, as it sometimes does when we're overwhelmed. But those clutter clues can also be the telltale sign of another organizational challenge.

A life transition. 

Some of these are sad, some are joyful, and many are bittersweet, but all of them have the potential to strain our organizational systems and often, our patience as well.

Around this time five years ago, my daughter was finishing up her freshman year in college. After spending nine months adjusting to an empty nest, we were packing her up and bringing her home. We were delighted to bring her home.

But her stuff? That was a challenge.

Then:

This time last week, we were in Connecticut with a kid and her carload of stuff. 

Now we're home and making progress. 

Sort of. 

I expected it to take a while before everything found a home, and, on that front, my daughter is ahead of schedule. 

I didn't expect that when my young adult daughter moved back in she'd launch into a full-scale attack on her childhood bedroom. I'm grateful.

But overwhelmed. 

In less than a week, she has generated piles of clothes and toys to donate, and, as I write this, she's tackling her bookshelves. More toys remain to be thinned, and my job is figuring out where it all goes. 

I was prepared to figure out where the carload of stuff that came home would live for the summer, but this is something altogether different--something that stirs pride and exhaustion in nearly equal measures. 

Our daughter is an only child, one who has always had what she needed and much of what she wanted. Still, we've tried to raise her to understand how fortunate she is to have had that kind of upbringing. And now, watching her let go of the excess, culling the things that matter and releasing the rest, I'm not only impressed by her drive to organize, but I also feel as though perhaps we've done something right.

Vadim_P via Pixabay

In a previous post, I wrote that this transition would "inspire changes, as transitions usually do," a statement that turned out to be oddly prophetic.

Little did I know how lovely it would be to watch my I love stuff kid morph into a young adult who can distinguish trash from treasure and decide which stuff to toss, which stuff to repurpose and which stuff to donate in order to create the best of all organizing bonuses.

Clear space.

Now:

That same daughter has just moved into her first grown-up apartment. But did she take all of her stuff with her?

No, she did not.

While that's more than okay from an emotional standpoint, it's a challenge from an organizational standpoint. Unlike that summer five years ago, she's not here to sort through her remaining belongings. Though that's the plan for a future visit, it's clear that this summer's situation will need a different approach.

Stay tuned.

3 Keys (from last) Thursday: When Clutter Tells a Tale

 So, last week, my Thursday post focused how clutter can sometimes signal that we're overwhelmed. Didn't see it?

That's because I posted it on the wrong blog. No, the irony is not lost on me and now, the post isn't lost either. Here's last week's 3 Keys Thursday...on Monday.

P.S. The mail counter looks much better. 

 We all have them. Those clutter clues that tell us that we -- or our organizational systems -- are overwhelmed. Sometimes, we know already, and the clutter clues are validation for -- or contributors to-- our stress. Other times, we think we've got it all together until we see that clutter catcher spot in our homes that tells us that no, we do not. At least not right now.

For me, it's my mail counter. Those who've read Know Thyself know the saga of the mail counter, as well as how long it took me to conquer it. But, when life overwhelms me, my mail counter begins to reveal my drop and run organizational style in a very accurate and annoying fashion.

This week is one of those weeks. End of semester tasks have left me with a singular focus, and I've slipped into dropping the mail and running back to the tasks that are time sensitive. I knew I was doing this but, when I came into the house after running an errand the other day and was greeted by a pile in a space that was once clear. that put the exclamation point on how much things have been falling by the wayside (including this blog post, which was supposed to be finished and posted yesterday).

Is this happening at your house? If so, here are three questions to ask yourself when clutter pulls you up short like a flashing neon sign.

Is this a temporary issue, or do I need to rethink the organization in this space? When we go through busy patches, life changes, or difficult times, clutter is often our companion. As frustrated as I am by the current state of my mail counter, I know there's a light at the end of this tunnel. When I get there, I can sort the accumulated pile and restore order. For now, my sorting method focuses on two priorities: making sure everyone gets his/her own mail and making sure the bills go where they need to so they get paid. If your answer is different, though, consider the next two questions.

Are these items homeless, or do they need new homes? Often, clutter accumulates when we don't know where to put things, so we put them down instead of away (drop and run), we cram them into an existing space that may already be overstuffed (cram and jam), or we put them where there's room instead of where they belong (I know I put it somewhere). In those last two scenarios, the clutter is often behind closed doors or hidden in a drawer, but those of us with drop and run organizational styles are more obvious. If I'm honest, my drop and run organizational style has led to a few things that aren't mail landing on the mail counter. Most have homes, and I need to put them there, but one large item needs to be downsized so it doesn't take up so much space. Still, all of this is validation for my conclusion that this is a temporary situation, not a sign I need to do an organizational overhaul. Different situation at your house? Sort the clutter into two piles: what belongs here and what doesn't. Put the things that belong back and concentrate on finding real homes for the rest.

Do I need a new container, or time to restore this one? Sometimes, the pretty container or the one we had on hand doesn't do the trick and it needs to be replaced by something more efficient. That might mean picking something larger, or something with drawers that allow us to corral the clutter in a way that makes sense to us. Try emptying the container onto a table and sorting from bottom (where the older items are) to top. If this sorting process leaves you with a pile that fits back into the container (without overflowing), your work is done (if you want it to be). If not, consider what you need (think styles) to keep this space under control.

We all have times where clutter wins the organization battle. But, by being honest with ourselves and using our styles to create long-term solutions, we can win the war.

It's a process. 

Throwback Thursday: It's a Process

Though this blog has been going since 2015, my organization posts started out my Porch Swing Chronicles blog. It was only when I found myself writing about organization a lot that I decided those posts deserved their own space.

And here we are.

The post below ran in June 2013. I don't like household chores any more now than I did then, and I still use little tricks to restore order, especially when life gets hectic.

I'm not a big fan of household chores. I do what I need to do to keep things running, but I tend to put straightening things up near the bottom of the list. Consequently, I tend to tidy in spurts, and in sneaky little ways.

My magazine-a-day campaign is a perfect example of one of those sneaky little tricks. The magazines were (once again) taking up more than their fair share of space, so it was time to take action. The action I chose to take was hardly efficient (get rid of one magazine a day for a week), but it worked. In retrospect, I realized that I used the basic behavioral principle of pairing a pleasurable task (reading the magazines) with a necessary one (reducing the clutter). When it comes to theories, behaviorism isn't one of my favorites, but I have to admit that, in this case, it worked. By the end of the week, I'd gotten rid of eight magazines -- painlessly -- and jump-started the desire to keep going. I'm aiming slightly lower this week (reading all those magazines took a bite out of my book-reading time), but hoping that going deeper into the pile will mean uncovering outdated issues I can toss without reading.

www.freepsdfile.com

A woman in one of the organizing classed I taught has an even better system -- her junk mail never makes it into the house. She picks up the mail and sorts it in her garage, dumping the junk before she even walks into the house. Lacking a garage, I've never been able to adopt that strategy, but am working to adapt it instead, sorting the mail immediately instead of dropping it onto to a pile and moving on to the next thing on my list. Because I am, by nature, a drop and run kinda girl, this is more challenging than it sounds.

This drop and run organizational style often leads to more than just magazines and mail piling up, and has served as -- ahem -- inspiration for another one of my pick-up tricks. Since much of the clutter in my house tends to accumulate on my dining room table, which is centrally located on the first floor of my house, I use a simple strategy of picking up one thing and putting it away each time I pass the table. Simple. Easy. Immediate reinforcement.

Oops. There's that sneaky behaviorism again.

While adopting the Nike slogan ("Just do it!") would probably make things happen a whole lot faster, my silly little methods end up making an unpleasant task more pleasant, whether it's a pick-up pass, or setting a goal of putting away/disposing of a certain number of items in a day. I'm sure my naturally organized friends -- the ones I've affectionately dubbed "Type A Organizers" -- are shaking their heads at my silliness as they sip their iced beverages in their spotless homes, but the rest of you -- the ones, like me, who struggle to keep up with the clutter that seems to be an inevitable part of life -- know just what I mean.

Please, join me in the games. And if they work at your house too, please let me know by commenting below or contacting me on Facebook. I'd love to hear about them.