Revamp Mode

 I seem to be in revamp mode.

For me, this particular organizing mode can be activated in several ways. It might be sparked by frustration with a system that's no longer working, the need for a system to bring order to some degree of chaos, or even the discovery of a tool I didn't know existed.

Take my recent lazy Susan rampage. I saw a problem, found a tool I liked, and began using it in multiple areas of my home to make things tidier. (I still love opening those cabinets!) The stick-on, motion-sensitive light campaign that followed the lazy Susan rampage didn't make things tidier, but it definitely made them brighter. (I just ordered two more for the kitchen).

I love it when a simple solution makes things better.

But even good solutions can need revamping. Years ago, I hired a closet specialist to install "storage solutions" in my deep Cape Cod closet, a space with a normal ceiling height at the front and a much lower ceiling at the back. The makeover definitely created the scaffolding for a more organized space but, even then, some areas were difficult to access because of the low ceiling at the back of the closet. Still, it seemed that having the shelves was better than not having them.

Now, thirty years later, I'm discovering that it's not the age of the solution that's the issue but, rather, the age of the user. I can get to the back of the closet, but it's awkward at best. Truth be told, it was awkward then, too (the configuration of the closet made that inevitable) but now, having spent the better part of the last fifteen years making organizing easy, I'm more impatient with anything that puts easy upkeep out of reach (literally, in this case). So, I've come to the conclusion that it's time to reconsider, revamp and/or repurpose. 

As is usually the case, I didn't come to this conclusion out of the clear blue sky, or even during a sleepless night. It was only when the closet floor became littered with shoes that had overrun the shoe storage that I realized I needed to make a change.

So, I made a few small changes that made things better, knowing that on another day -- one when I had more time and motivation -- I'd take the next steps.

Meanwhile, my brain has been conjuring up possible solutions. The only things I know for sure right now are that the front of the closet works, the back of the closet doesn't, and easy upkeep is my eventual goal. I suspect that there are things at the back of the closet I can easily part with, freeing up both space and possibilities.

As I write this, new ideas are bouncing back and forth across my mind. Whether I pull everything out, sort it, and put it back in a more organized fashion, add a tool or two to the existing set-up, or reconfigure the set-up entirely, I have one hope for the eventual outcome.

That I'll like it as much as the lights and the lazy Susans.

Then Again, Maybe I Shouldn't

This isn't the planner in question :-)
Photo: Melinda257 via Pixabay

 There are many obstacles to organizing. Time. Habits. Lack of confidence.

The shoulds.

You know -- I should do this or that. I should do it the way someone/everyone else does. I should be able to make this tool work.

Each of these thoughts is a great big mountain between us and our organization destination. If you've been reading these posts for a while, I hope you've found some ammunition for fighting back against the first three.

This post is about the last one. 

Maybe you have some ammunition against that one, as well. As for me, I've been writing these posts for a long time but somehow, last week, I found myself running squarely into that mountainside.

The thing is, I didn't realize I'd run into the mountain. I thought I'd taken a wrong turn.

Life has been busy and so, when I missed a scheduled appointment, I blamed busyness and interruptions to the routine that kept me moving forward. To be fair, those were contributing factors. 

But there was another, more insidious factor at play. It was small enough to fit into my purse and was masquerading as an ally.

My portable planner.

I don't typically have a small planner in addition to my main planner and weekly planner because, well, that's a bit redundant. But in order to stem the tide of appointment cards that are small enough to get lost in the recesses of my bag, or end up on the floor of my car, I thought I'd give it a try.

It's useful. Except when it's not. You see, in my hurry to find a cheap and easy tool, I purchased a planner where the weeks begin on a Monday. In every other planner and calendar I own, the weekly layout begins on Sunday.

I didn't realize this discrepancy until I'd already gotten the planner home. Even then, I brushed it off. I'd adjusted to this set-up in another planner a few years back and I thought I could do it again. 

One might even say I should be able to do this. 

But the issue here isn't whether I should or shouldn't, or even whether I can or can't. The issue is that this is the wrong tool for the job because it puts an unnecessary obstacle in my path.

It was only when I went to schedule the follow-up appointment to the one that I'd missed that I realized the sneaky role this allegedly innocent planner had played in my predicament. Only then did I hear my own voice, captured here on the page more times than I can count, telling me that if the tool didn't work, I wasn't the problem. 

I simply needed another tool.

At this point, it's easy to fall prey to the sunk cost fallacy -- I'd already spent money on the planner, so I had to make it work. But the financial cost was only one potential cost, and the possibility -- or probability -- of writing down the wrong date was a cost I was unwilling to incur. I'm someone who has an I need to see it personal style, which means that how things look on the page is a key factor as to whether that view will hinder or facilitate my planning. And, honestly, I'm a bit greedy. I prefer to hold out for a tool that will go one step further: one that enhances my planning and eases my mind.

This floral traitor was not the best tool. 

Within a week, I'd replaced the planner in question with a freebie whose layout was a better match for the way my mind works. Although neither planner came with an ironclad guarantee that I'll show up where I'm supposed to when I'm supposed to, the replacement planner has an edge.

Its layout makes it less likely I'll run face first into a mountainside.

What Does Creativity Have to Do With Organization?

 Over the past several years, I've been working on balancing productivity with creativity. An interesting byproduct of these pursuits has been the expansion of my definition of creativity. 

As a writer, musician, and sometime actress, I feel as though I possess some creativity in the traditional sense. Still, I've never really thought of myself as artistic. Trying out sketchnoting helped me to loosen my grip on a standard definition of creativity, as did exploring the topic of perfectionism. 

These days, I find myself viewing creativity more broadly and I'm in constant pursuit of activities that enhance it in any form. Toward this end, I bought a book called 1001 Ways to Be Creative, which I'm perusing a few pages at a time, looking for ideas and further reshaping my already dynamic definition.

When I look back, though, I realize that what I've been viewing as a recent quest was sparked more than a decade ago when I began to look at organizing through a new lens. In a quest for self-improvement, reading about organizing helped me to validate a long-held belief that we all organize differently. In addition, it helped me to stop beating myself up about my own "disorganization." The concept of personal and organizational styles arose from all of that exploration, and I began actively pursuing non-traditional, creative ways of bringing order to my surroundings.

At its core, creativity includes looking at the world differently, seeing beauty in the ordinary, and coming up with new uses for old things. It's thinking outside the box, or bin, or drawer. Creativity and organization converge when we look beyond traditional tools like binders and file cabinets, and not only use the tools that work with our styles, but learn to seek them out. 

One of my favorite organizing hacks is the round bin with plentiful holes that I use to hold plastic kitchen items like measuring cups and measuring spoons. I'm certain this tool was meant for different uses and spaces but, as a five foot tall person, it's a perfect fit; all those holes provide multiple ways for me to grab the bin and access its contents. Had I used more traditional storage, I'd need a step stool every time I needed to pull out the measuring cups, an additional step (no pun intended) that quickly grows old on busy days.

Learning to look at traditional tools in new ways is a great way to turn things we already own into storage. A year or so ago, my daughter began cleaning out her spent jar candles, draining the melted wax and using the jars to store small items. (Storing food in these repurposed jars is not recommended). 

Thanks to her example, I've begun to do the same, adding an empty candle jar collection to my cleaned-out jelly jar collection. One of those candle jars sits under my sink, holding dishwasher pods, while a jar that once held jelly now holds cosmetic brushes. The white plastic bins my prescription eye drops come in can be made prettier with washi tape and pressed into service to hold other things (refill heads for my electric toothbrush, for example). Because these bins can't be recycled, they would otherwise have been consigned to a landfill. Or worse. Repurposing them saves time, money, and resources.

Whether you're a Type A organizer, or someone who has begun to embrace her personal and organizational styles, you probably have some idea of what works for you. Analyzing the attributes of a container that's earning its keep can be the first step to identifying other containers you already have on hand that can be pressed into service. Some may work well as is, while others may need adaptations (draining the wax from candle jars, for example). Or, if you're feeling creative, you can dress up these repurposed containers with fabric, washi tape, glitter glue, or whatever else you might have on hand. 

Sprinkling a little creativity into your organization can make it more fun. And, if you've made a New Year's resolution to de-clutter and spruce things up, you might just be able to accomplish both of these tasks in one step.

An Influx of Lazy Susans

 Lately, I've been on a lazy Susan kick. If I could recapture all the time I spent on websites comparing one lazy Susan to another, then comparing one cabinet organizer to another, I could...

I don't know. I just know I could do something more productive.

It all started with the Christmas baking, when I had to pull out half the contents of a shelf in the pantry cabinet to get to the ingredients I needed. Being neither an enthusiastic nor a frequent baker, this wasn't a big deal at the time. It was only when my daughter was baking a couple days later, and I had to explain to her how to access those same ingredients that it suddenly seemed like a ridiculous set-up.

I knew immediately that a lazy Susan was the solution. What I didn't know was how many there were! Luckily, armed with my cabinet measurements, I was able to find what I wanted fairly quickly and place my order.

Problem solved. Except...

Bitten by the organizing bug (who knows I'm an easy target), I started exploring options for improving the state of my other cabinets. I decided that the under-sink cupboard in the kitchen was in even greater need of reorganizing than the baking ingredients shelf, so I went online again. Once more, I found what looked like a good tool pretty quickly and placed the order.

Christmas came and went and I followed the tracking for my lazy Susan. When it came, I spent an evening reorganizing the cabinet, which now not only looks so much better, but also affords much easier access to all of my ingredients. 

And this is when I went down the rabbit hole.

Enthralled by the improvement, I started thinking about other spots that could benefit from a lazy Susan, including the lazy Susan cupboard in my kitchen. Several hours and many comparisons later, I went to bed. The next day, I finalized the order.

A few days later, three different lazy Susans arrived on my doorstep. I can now report that my suspicions that a lazy Susan might not the best tool for my lazy Susan were confirmed. I did, however, reorganize the space in question,  repurposing containers I already had and using them to improve that space.

Which items, you may ask? First, a cardboard magazine holder (of which I have an abundance), cut to fit the height of the cabinet. Second, a baby wipes container (The "baby" in question is 27. Don't judge. Those containers are so perfect it's almost worth buying the wipes to get the container. Almost.)

As for the lazy Susans...one replaced a basket on my countertop that held spices. One is slated to go below the first one that started me on this kick. The third one is on my dining room table, awaiting its assignment. And there will be an assignment. Those tools are not going back.

And neither am I.