Keys to Sustainable Organizing

It's been a long time since I did a 3 Keys Thursday post, so I've included an extra "key" in this one. 

Though we press our organizing skills into service on a regular basis, keeping our homes tidy and our systems humming can still feel complicated and overwhelming at times. While our specific day-to-day needs and tasks change, keeping a few simple guidelines in mind can make it easier to build routines and systems that create both consistency and adaptability so that we know what we need to do almost intuitively. 

Just start. There’s no time like the present to just dig in somewhere—anywhere—and for any amount of time. Take five minutes and clear a small pile. Take a little longer and make a dent in a big one. What project have you been putting off? How can you improve the situation in fifteen minutes or less?

Keep it simple. When it comes to make organizing sustainable, more steps are not better. In fact, the simpler the plan, the more likely we are to stick to it and use it on a regular basis. What space in your home always seems to attract clutter? Is there a way to simplify the process of getting the items in those piles where they belong?

Keep things close if you use them often. Putting things away is great. Putting them where they’re easily accessible is even better, especially when they’re things we use often. Which frequently used items in your home are too hard to get to (and then to put away)? Can you swap out something that’s taking up prime storage space to create a home for them closer to where they’re used?

Don’t put it down, put it away. Protect clear surfaces! Keep clutter from gathering in the first place by putting things away instead of simply putting them on the first available clear surface. What is something that’s usually sitting out instead of where it belongs? How can you make it as easy to put it away as it is to simply put it down?

As simple as these guidelines sound, they can be challenging to put into regular practice. If you find this to be the case, perhaps start with just one of them, practicing it until it becomes a habit. Alternatively, when you find yourself stymied by clutter, you can ask yourself which principle would be the most helpful in resolving the situation. While it’s true that these guidelines won’t solve every organizing dilemma, they can help you determine the next best step to take. 

And sometimes a little direction is all we need to get started.

It's Time to Organize!

 When I write about organizing, I write mainly about the "what" -- what to do, what to choose, what makes life easier and organizing sustainable. By contrast, I hardly ever write about the "when." This makes sense, not only because practical tips are what help us improve our systems, but also because any time is organizing time, right?

Wrong.

There are definitely good times and bad times to try to organize and, what's tricky, is that they're as personal as our styles. And, most have both advantages and disadvantages. 

Company's coming!

Nothing like hosting a party or overnight guests to get us to tackle a space we know someone else is going to see.  The time crunch can be motivating -- or it can be intimidating. The ticking clock can kick us into high gear, or it can backfire, like an alarm going off before we're ready to get up. What's key here is the size and scope of the project. Small project? This might just be the time. Big overhaul? Better tidy up instead and save the re-do for another day.

Late at night

We know this is lousy timing for morning people, but even night owls get tired. A tired brain can be a fuzzy brain, leading us to either be mystified about what to keep and what to get rid of or to tilt too far in one direction (get rid of all of it) or the other (I can't part with anything). And even if we're of sound mind and energy, digging into a big task late at night can nudge our bedtime even later than usual, leaving us grumpy and woozy the next day. Better to take your prime time of day into account and plan accordingly.

I've got the whole weekend!

Perfect, right? Yeah, not so much. Too much at one time often leads to forgetfulness/confusion (where did I decide to put that?) and exhaustion, both of which makes us hate the whole thing when we're only halfway through. Take small steps.

Before anyone else is up

This one actually works well for lark moms (early birds), but not so well for night owls. The only caveat here is that it's pretty much a guarantee that once someone else is up, whatever got organized in the early morning peace and quiet may be put into disarray once that peace and quiet dissolves in the bright light of morning, so choose your desired spaces carefully.

When no one else is home

I have to say that this one's my favorite. No interruptions. I can listen to whatever music or podcast (or silence, if I prefer) that my little heart desires. It's a tough time frame to come by, though, and many pursuits compete for attention in this coveted time slot. This is a great time to dig into the out-of-the-way places that are most likely to stay organized even once the house is full again.

What's the perfect time to organize? If you've been reading this column for a while,  you already know that's a trick question. The best time is the time that works best for you and your family. No matter what time you choose, a little bit of pre-planning, based on your energy levels and desired goals is likely to help ensure that whatever time you choose is the right time for you.

Summer STYLE

 It's been a while since I mined the archives, and it always surprises me when I find something I didn't remember writing :-) This re-imagining of the STYLE acronym popped up when I typed "summer" in my search bar and I thought it provided some good guidelines for summer organizing -- one that's a little more directive as we attempt to dig into our organizing lists without making summer all work and no play.

S: Avoid the urge to stash stuff. You know you want to just put it somewhere, anywhere so you don't have to look at it any longer (just me?). But, we also know that creates a whole new set of problems, from not being able to find what we need when we need it to creating another space that will need to be sorted and organized. If the situation calls for a stashing of the stuff (a last resort), try containing (all of) it (as is) instead. Only you will know that that pretty basket or tote is concealing the pile that was on the dining room table and, if you keep everything together, it'll be easier to retrieve what you need.

Take other users into account. Everyone's home - yeah! Everyone's dropping stuff and running - meh! As you organize the cluttered spaces, remember that, unless you want to be permanently responsible for keeping them tidy, it might be a good idea to consider other users' styles when you choose your tools. 

You know what works, so trust your styles. When a clever container appears on the horizon, promising to solve all your organizing woes, resist the urge to embrace it, no matter the cost. Instead, run its attributes through the styles filter before laying down that cash. Stick to the tools that are a fit for the way you think and organize and be very wary of anything pretty that promises a quick fix. Lasting is better than fast.

Leave it alone. It's summer! Warm weather and long days beckon. Resist the urge to create a perfect house and focus your energy on what needs to be done (or what you're most motivated to do). If a space is tidy enough, walk away. 

Enjoy it all -- the clear spaces and the spots that harbor clutter dropped by the people we're blessed to spend summer with. Organized is nice, but it isn't everything.

Happy organizing -- whether you're starting with what's visible, or that thing that's been on your list for months, every small step leads to a more organized space.

Beautiful Inside and Out

 When we organize, we almost always focus on what’s most visible – eliminating the clutter on the table, filing papers out of sight. But sometimes, making what’s behind closed doors and inside closed drawers look nice can be just as important.

Now, before you panic or accuse me of suggesting that you make everything in your home -- visible, or invisible -- into a showplace, let me reassure you that is not what I mean at all. What I’m saying is that tidy spaces, wherever they may be, can offer a sense of peace and even whimsy as well as a sense of organization. 

As is often the case in organizational tasks, how much the state of what’s behind closed doors matters depends on your styles. For those with a cram and jam or drop and run organizational style, for example, just knowing what you need is in the drawer somewhere is sufficient. Mission accomplished. Anything else just feels like extra work.

If, on the other hand, you have an I need to see it or I love to be busy personal style, those tidy interior spaces with each item in its designated drawer organizer or decorative container can evoke not just tidiness but peace of mind as well. Being able to quickly pluck an item out of a drawer without digging for it or knowing at a glance which box contains the item we seek is not only a time saver, but a stress reducer as well.

Okay, I can almost hear the eye rolls (or maybe that was my husband from the other room). Don’t labels work just as well? 

Yes, they do. It’s all a matter of personal choice. And I often choose both.

When I began overhauling the storage spaces in my office months ago, my I need to see it personal style overruled my drop and run organizational style, nudging me to house my belongings in pretty containers. For some reason, it was important to me that the storage containers I chose for inside the cupboards be not just functional, but attractive as well. I still don’t know why this was so important – maybe it was changing out the old shelf paper in the kitchen cabinets – but it was a non-negotiable requirement.

I’m sad to report that this organizing project has gone on for an inordinately long time. The main reason for this is that my office is the place where clutter gets “stored” when it’s littering a vertical surface in a public space, meaning that cleared spaces become cluttered spaces when I need to re-home piles in a pinch. In other words, I clear away one pile only to replace it with another when I need to stash some stuff out of the way.

So, last weekend, disgusted once again by a growing pile of homeless items and determined to make some headway, I ventured into the office to work for half an hour reducing the piles. I made a bit of headway before opening the cabinet doors to assess the available space. An hour later, I found myself at the dining room table, wielding my glue gun and adding some cheetah-print ribbon to a plain brown box. 

In the end, the counter looked only marginally better, but the carefully curated selection of purchased boxes and upgraded and repurposed containers behind the cabinet doors was a triumph. Not only did they provide workable storage, but the end result also made me smile every time I opened the doors. I even showed off the finished space to my husband, who was appropriately appreciative.

Setting aside the fact that I got distracted by pretty containers, the day felt like a win. The best part was actually the repurposing, which not only tapped into my creative side, but also reduced the “good box” collection in my basement and yielded a new use for a container otherwise destined for the recycling bin. (Or gathering dust in the basement).

Organizing can be serious business. It’s important to create spaces that bring us peace and to create systems that enable us to find what we want when we want it. But just because the purpose is serious, that doesn’t mean the process can’t be fun. And if that means hauling out the glue gun and animal prints from time to time, so much the better.

There's Only One Way to File...Isn't There?

 For years, I've filed my paperwork traditionally. Each company with whom I do business gets its own file folder and any paperwork associated with that company goes into that folder.

Easy peasy.

Except it's not. I hate to file so, for years, I've accumulated stacks of paper to be distributed among these disparate, albeit appropriate folders. Normally, my I need to see it personal style runs the show but, when it comes to filing, my drop and run organizational style is the one that takes over. I finish paying bills, for example, drop all the statements into a pile, and run to the next (more interesting) task. Months later, I get disgusted enough with the burgeoning pile to do a filing session that takes five times as long as it would have taken if I'd just done all the filing in the first place. And, to make matters worse, I end up with a fat file folder full of old paperwork that needs to be culled so there's enough room for the new additions.

Just me?

You'd think the advent of paperlessness would save me but, alas, this is where my I need to see it personal style pushes herself right back to the front of the line. She thrives on hard copies. 

And so the cycle continues.

Years ago, I bought a set of file folders decorated with the months of the year. I no longer remember what I intended to do with them -- maybe it was to try the tickler file system a colleague raved about (alas, also not fit for me) -- but that no longer matters. These lovely file folders are now the foundation of a system that satisfies both my I need to see it personal style and my drop and run organizational style.

Each month, I put all my paperwork for the month into the appropriate folder. One month, one pile, one folder. Filing is simple because everything gets dropped into one place, which makes organizing my papers a one-step process, pleasing even to my drop and run organizational style. Each file is clearly decorated with the name of the month, which satisfies my I need to see it personal style, who thrives on labels.

Retrieval might be a bit more complicated -- this remains to be seen -- but since the folders are all in one place and the number of files I have to sort through is limited to twelve, I'm not too worried.

As for annual maintenance (which -- let's be real -- wasn't taking place annually anyway), it's simple. Each year, I pull out the previous year's stash, keep what's important, and ditch the rest -- one month at a time. I haven't yet decided if I'm going to create an annual folder for all the old (previous years') stuff or keep it in the monthly file. I'll know this better when I see how much I actually want to hang onto.

Are there exceptions? A few. The paperwork for my car, for example, goes into a dedicated file. Why? Not because there's any hard-and-fast rule -- simply because it makes more sense to me.

I'm inordinately excited about this change and, since paper clutter is my biggest nemesis, I'm left with only one question.

Why did it take me so long to figure this out?

Sigh. It's a process. 

Credits: 

Top graphic: Image by Jan from Pixabay

Monthly file folders from currentcatalog.com

Creating a Road Map

 It seems to me that I'm always busy. Honestly, I'm not sure I know how to be any other way. But lately, I've been feeling overwhelmed before I even start some days.

Too many days.

I'm absolutely certain that I'm not alone in this, just as I'm absolutely certain that I possess the skills to change my outlook from overwhelmed to extremely well-occupied (I'm an optimist, but I'm also realistic). The trouble is, when I'm overwhelmed, my head may believe I can conquer the feeling, but it's my emotions that are running the show.

So yesterday morning, I asked for some divine guidance in constructing a map out of the low-lying fog of overwhelm that descends lower and lower as the week progresses. It didn't take long for me to find my first clue. When I sat down at my desk, there it was.

Beside my laptop was a small notepad -- one that was there by design so I could jot down short-term or non-essential bits of information. The name of a TED Talk someone recommended. An attribution for a photo I was using in a blog post. The kind of information that I needed in the moment but that wasn't permanent or time-sensitive enough to make it to a to-do list. It wasn't supposed to be another to-do list, but it showed every sign of becoming just that.

I didn't need another to-do list. I had enough already.

That's when it hit me. I already had systems in place. I just wasn't using them.

Which is precisely why I felt overwhelmed. In short order, I figured out three steps I could take right away.

Simplify. My multiple to-do lists weren't doing me any favors. My here-a-list, there-a-list, everywhere-a-list-list approach was a major contributor to the cloud hanging over me because everywhere I turned, there was either something to do or a list of things to do.

No wonder I felt overwhelmed.

The thing was, I had a system, so I'd already determined the "how" piece of simplifying. It was time to...

Do a routine check. This was as simple as asking myself if I had a method in place for dealing with my lists. I do. And it works -- but only if I use it. A combination of busyness and laziness had led me to a series of quick fixes, which left me feeling....

You guessed it. Overwhelmed.

It took me about two seconds to recognize that returning to my routine would lift the cloud, at least part of the way. If there had been no routine or if the routine I had in place wasn't working, I'd need to do some strategizing and planning but, in this case, it was as simple as returning to good habits instead of investing in bad ones. 

And, with that in mind, there was one more thing I could do to nudge that cloud up a little higher.

Do what works. Returning to my routine was the biggest step in this direction, but I also needed to give myself permission to go back to the T in STYLE and Take small steps. Part of the reason I felt overwhelmed was that my goals weren't realistic. No matter what I do, there will only ever be 24 hours in a day, so planning 26 hours of activities not only doesn't make sense, but is also guaranteed make me feel overwhelmed. Remembering small, simple steps like Give it Five! and Don't put it down, put it away! helps me keep moving forward without creating more to do as I go.

And, since feeling overwhelmed can be, well, overwhelming, I'm including a bonus tip this week.

 

Ask for help/delegate. I thought of these strategies while I was in the shower and had nothing to write with (white soap on a white shower shell is pretty much invisible and the conditioner was uncooperative). Luckily, my husband was in the kitchen and I called out to him to "write this down!" which he did without asking a single question. And, the thing is, he'd do more stuff, too, but he can't read my mind. I have to ask.

Even if your personal style is I love to be busy, there are times when the busyness can get overwhelming. When this happens, it's time to take stock, trust yourself and your styles and do the things you know work for you, even if they seem counterproductive (or even wrong) to someone else. We need our styles most when we feel overwhelmed because they create the map that works best for us whether it's a direct route, a well-traveled route or a winding dirt road that only we can navigate.

Size Matters

 My husband and I purchased our "starter home" -- a small, white brick Cape Cod a block away from the local high school -- more than 30 years ago.

We still live there.

Once, when my daughter was small, we tried to find a new house. There were lots of possibilities but, in the end, nothing better than where we already were. So, we made some additions, did some renovations and stayed put. A few years ago, we added a sunroom.

It's safe to say we're not going anywhere.

Although additional storage was part of the ongoing evolution of our house, we still seem to have more stuff than space. Part of that is truly a space problem, but part of it is a stuff problem.

Case in point: my office. "Office" is a rather generous description for what's actually an enclosed side patio with no closet space. We added a countertop (usually cluttered, in part because there's not enough storage space) and two kitchen cabinet units (four cupboards in all) that have been overstuffed almost since they were installed. I've been telling my husband that I'm out of space for years now.

But a recent deep dive into the cupboards uncovered quite a few things that were no longer earning their keep, and a few that could be moved to other spots in the house where similar items were stored. I'm still mid-project, but the cabinets are no longer full, leaving me with the hope that, with the proper planning and organization, I have enough room for everything that needs to live in my office.

That said, this isn't always how the story ends. Several months ago, we finally replaced the shed that we purchased only a few years after we bought the house. The replacement is a little more than twice as long as the one we had, with additional storage bonuses like a loft and shelves. It's not (yet) full and, when organized, would probably have even more available space (but I am not the keeper of the shed). Not only does it look much nicer than its predecessor, but there's finally room for my husband to get to what he needs without taking out half the contents of the shed. In this case, upsizing was necessary; the old shed was sufficient for the few tools we had as new homeowners, but we quickly outgrew the original building. No matter how well organized it was, it barely contained what needed to live there.

It's easy to imagine that if we just had a bigger house, more closets, a usable basement (or attic) or more storage in general that all of our organization problems would be solved. While it's basic geometry that a certain amount of space is necessary to contain a certain amount of stuff, what we contain and how we contain it matters too. Our new shed, with its bountiful space doesn't have to be well-organized (yet) because it has more space than we actually need. 

My office cabinets are another matter. Keeping that small space organized involves making decisions about not just what stays and what goes, but also about what goes where and how to best utilize every inch of available space. I'm not complaining. I wasn't fond of geometry, but I do love Tetris; fortunately, a good organizing puzzle resembles the latter as much as the former.

I'm having a lot of fun solving this latest organizing puzzle and taking not-so-secret pleasure in getting rid of stuff I no longer need. I'm hoping that, in the end, my office will feel less cramped, thanks to the combination of weeding, tossing, and re-configuring. And who knows? I might just have enough space after all.

Just don't tell my husband. 

Me Vs. The Pile

 Over the past few weeks, I’ve been chipping away at a re-organization of my office, a task that was kicked off by my trying to find a home for a single discovered object. As I write this, I’ve created enough clear space to make me feel as though I’ve made progress, but the remaining piles remind me there’s still work to be done.

One pile in particular silently rebukes me every time I walk into the room, and rightfully so. It has mostly been gathering dust, as well as having things added to it in order to consolidate everything that still needs to be sorted. I looked at it this morning, winced, and said aloud, “This pile overwhelms me.” 

 

And then I had a thought. But what if it didn’t?

 

That sounds silly, I know. I can’t possibly take a pile from overwhelming to approachable just because I want to.

 

Or can I?

This is where the “T” in STYLE comes in: take small steps. I don’t have to do it all at once. 

 

I just have to start.

 

A favorite organizing game (yes, I play little games with myself to get stuff done) is to choose a set number of items to be dispensed with. “Dispensed with” means they can’t just be moved from one pile to another. I can do that, but those items don’t “count.” Once I’ve removed the designated number of items – sometimes it’s 3, sometimes it’s 5, sometimes it’s a single item every time I walk past the pile – I can walk away. 

 

Or, I can set a timer. Give it five is one of my favorites. When the timer goes off (after 5 minutes), I can walk away.

 

The thing is, most of the time, I don’t walk away. I keep going after the timer goes off or after I’ve met my designated number of items because what’s overwhelming isn’t the items themselves, but the pile.

 

Wait. Isn’t that the same thing?

 

Sort of. But almost always, taken one item at a time, the pile is less intimidating. And, I can choose which items I dispense with. Today, for example, I uncovered a piece of mail – an advertisement – that I’d kept for no reason I can recall. That was an easy one. It went directly to the trash where it needs no further attention.

 

Another of my favorite tricks for dispensing with piles is flipping the pile over and starting at the bottom. (I can’t take credit for this one – I learned it from an HGTV show). The bottom is typically where the oldest items live and the oldest items are often the easiest to make a decision about.

 

In January, I wrote about a project I couldn’t get started on. In that case, I was dealing with a bigger, more abstract task and I needed to decide which “pile,” if you will, to start with. 

 

The thing is, when it comes to organization, both the projects and the piles can feel overwhelming. And, when we feel overwhelmed, we often get stuck. Projects gather dust, piles remain untouched, and we feel frustrated. 

 

Whether it’s a project or a pile, finding the small step that works for you is key. Small steps provide us with a way in, give us momentum, and reduce the size of the task. Even better, they can reduce the feeling of being overwhelmed that can loom even larger than the task itself. Once we puncture that balloon, the job gets easier.

 

While it might seem silly for me to pick up a single item every time I walk past a pile, it feels manageable. It’s a small challenge that tests my creativity – which item can I find the right home for? – and helps me feel as though I’m making progress.

 

At least as long as I don’t add anything to the pile in the meantime.

 

Wouldn’t it be easier just to bite the bullet and sort the pile all at once? Maybe. But that doesn’t seem to be the case with some piles – at least not for me. If it were, I’d certainly have a lot less clutter to deal with.

 

I love to organize – I find it fun – but I know most people don’t feel the same way. If you don’t share my love for this particular pursuit, that’s okay.

 

But it’s all the more reason to make a game out of it. Especially when the piles start silently rebuking you.

A Plethora of Planners

 Maybe you've donated to a number of organizations, and you've gotten them in the mail. Maybe they were 75% off after the new year, and you couldn't resist a bargain. Or maybe you have an I love stuff personal style and just had to bring all the pretty planners home with you.

No matter the cause, you somehow seem to have acquired a plethora of planners and calendars.

Well, have no fear. There's more than one way to press a planner into service.

There's the traditional use, of course -- keeping track of appointments. If you use just one planner and/or calendar, that might still leave you with a small pile of extras. You could:

Use one to keep track of your progress. Perhaps you set a goal to drink more water, take more steps, or read more books. Jotting down your accomplishment of the day in the designated box can help you stay on track. Better yet, it can help you see the big picture (and your successes) on days when things aren't going so well.

Use one to log time spent on your favorite hobby. When it comes to my writing, this has become so important that I don't wait to see if I have an extra planner on hand. I buy one for this purpose. The one I use now is from the dollar store and gives me space to log my time as well as jot a few notes to myself: what I did, and where I want to start in my next session, for example. 

Planning a long-term project. One of my friends gave me a beautiful planner that I use to plan writing projects. While the daily (favorite hobby) planner focuses on the day-to-day and keeps me accountable, this larger planner with tons of open space and BIG blocks lets me do the global planning. When I can give each chapter, character, or concept a full-page spread of its own, I feel less constrained and better able to brainstorm.

Categorized lists. Cross out the month and replace them with a category. I used the monthly layout at the front of my goals planner to keep and track a running list of books I've read, organizing projects I want to do, and 22 things I want to focus on in 2022. (I also used one page to list all the good things in 2021). The page devoted to organizing projects is both a work-in-progress (I add to it as new projects pop up) and a way to keep track (I put a date in the corresponding box every time I work on a project). Because each project gets its own box, I can see the big picture without trying to cram everything onto one list. Depending on your styles, this might not matter to you but, as someone with an I need to see it personal style, once I started doing this, I wondered why it took me so long to try this approach.

A penny (or square) for your thoughts. Or prayer requests. Or anything else you want to get out of your head and onto the page before it floats away. Again, for someone like me with an I need to see it personal style, giving each item its own square keeps things visible in a way that's less overwhelming than a traditional list.

You're probably wondering why this counts as a frequently asked question. You might have guessed (correctly) that I don't have a lot of people asking me what to do with an overabundance of planners. But deciding what to do with an overabundance of anything is an integral part of getting (and staying) organized. Sometimes it's easy. We can look at an item and determine we don't need it or we'll never use/wear it again and we can toss/recycle/donate it accordingly. Or, we can decide we simply don't have the space for something, and decide to give it a new home either through donation or resale.

But a lot of times, it's not so easy. And when something we like and want to keep can honestly be pressed into service in a new and useful way, that can be a win-win. Not only are we getting to keep the thing we like, we're reducing waste by pressing an already manufactured item into service.

There's one final style caveat to consider. If the thing you love is a poor fit for your styles, it might be better off brightening up someone else's space. My primary personal style is I need to see it but, when it comes to stationery items, I definitely have a generous dollop of I love stuff, which makes me more likely to find 1000 excuses to keep all things stationery. But, because planners are an excellent I need to see it tool, it makes sense for me to hang on to them and press them into service in a new way if the planning space is generous enough. Those little year-on-a-page and pocket-sized planners? Not keepers.

So, if you've been staring down that pile of planners and calendars taking up space in your kitchen or office, take a moment and look at them through the lenses of your styles. What abstract ideas or looming projects can they help you organize? How can they help you keep track of your successes and your small steps? What thoughts, dreams, goals and ideas might benefit from being corralled into a collection of 365+ squares separated into 12 months or categories?

And, if the answer is, "they can't," then perhaps the best home for them is the recycling bin. With a clear conscience.

I Love to Be Busy?

  When I was younger, I loved being busy. In high school, I filled the lion's share of my free time with music and theatre, not just because those activities gave me the opportunity to perform, but also because that's where my people were -- friends who shared my interests. 

In college, I stayed busy, too. At first, it was to win a bet. A high school friend bet me that I'd come home frequently; I countered by saying I'd stay at school (four hours away from home) until Thanksgiving.

I won the bet. This time, it was mostly music that kept me occupied and helped me adjust to being far from home in a brand-new place. 

As a single young adult, I continued to look for ways to fill my time. Although I loved living alone and having both a space and a schedule I could call my own, it could get lonely at times. When I discovered a little theatre an hour from my apartment, busyness became a way of life once more.

A few years later, marriage, and then parenthood, kept me busy in new ways. By the time COVID brought up-close-and-personal activities like theatre to a screeching halt, my work responsibilities also shifted, moving out of the classroom and onto the computer, creating a whole new kind of busyness.

You’re probably thinking that I love to be busy is my primary personal style but, actually, it isn’t. It is, in fact, my least dominant of the three personal styles, partly because the others just describe me better and partly because I no longer love to be busy. These days, my idea of a perfect weekend is no appointments and no commitments – a far cry from what I wanted back when I was a single twenty-something. 

When I talk about personal and organizational styles, I’m often asked if someone can embody more than one of them -– or even all of them. My answer has always been that while it’s possible to have traits of different styles, one style tends to stand out and lead the way. And, from a “getting organized” perspective, it’s worthwhile to identify that dominant style so we can use it to identify workable strategies and press them into service.

Now, after examining and writing about personal and organizational styles for more than fifteen years, I’d add another layer to that response. While I stand by my original answer, I’d add that different styles can become dominant in different seasons of our lives. Though my current predominant personal style is I need to see it, I think I might have had a different answer back when I was in my twenties, seeking busyness and considering it a worthwhile challenge to shoehorn as much as possible into an already full schedule. Interestingly, my organizational style (drop and run) has, for better or for worse, changed very little in that same time period.

The collision of styles (whichever ones they are) with one another and with life in general has an impact. Even though I no longer identify with an I love to be busy style, some of those traits linger and, when busyness takes over, the resulting lack of time sends my drop and run organizational style into overdrive. The combination – or collision – of these circumstances with my I need to see it style, along with the exhaustion that comes with excessive busyness, can drown my organizational systems at a time when I need them the most. 

 

The good news is that having identified the strategies that work for my primary styles has enabled me to put strategies into place that help me recover. When the flood of (now undesirable) busyness passes, I can easily find my footing. Once I’m relieved of the time shortage that triggered the downfall of tidiness, I can take small steps to restore order, putting wayward stuff away in its previously assigned locations, restoring both order and sanity in the process. It might not all happen all at once, but thanks to the fact that I have style-based systems in place, it will happen.

Eventually.

If you feel as though you’re on the cusp of a style change, ask yourself if it’s connected to a reason (a temporary circumstance) or a season (a shift in lifestyle). Then, consider taking the opportunity to consider the organizational implications of a different style. Investigating different styles and their related strategies can give us fresh ideas that breathe new life into our organizational systems, which can spark new ideas that help us individualize our organizational processes. 

Organization is a life skill, so it only makes sense that the way we approach it is likely to change over time. Staying true to what works for you, regardless of the label you put on it, and staying open to new ideas can provide the keys that unlock organizational successes that help us to navigate life’s twists, turns, and seasons.

Organizing to Go

 Organization can often be a frustrating game of trial and error. We all have those spaces in our house that refuse to cooperate, no matter which tools we try. But, every once in a while, we happen upon a tool that’s just right.

At our house we still use the old envelope system for budgeting — setting aside predetermined amounts of cash for groceries, books, clothing, etc. We adopted this method years ago to get our credit cards under control, and it stuck.

In this system, I’m the keeper of the cash. And, if we go somewhere where we need cash from multiple envelopes/categories, it can be a challenge to keep all the envelopes straight in an efficient manner. Sure, I can tuck a stack of envelopes into my bag – that part is easy – but by the end of a day of multiple transactions, what started out as an organized system has often become a crumpled pile of envelopes. 

 

Enter Poshmark and my Kate Spade card holders. 

 

The first one I found was the black and white polka dotted print – the one that matches both my planner and the bag I use for school – so it quickly became a “must have.” Then, I discovered that this cute little tool came in two other patterns – one floral, and one striped – both brightly colored. 

 

Eventually, I ended up with all three of them. 

 

At first, I didn’t really know what I was going to use them for (I just thought they were cute). But now that I’ve been using them for a while, I’ve assigned each little cardholder its own category so I can tell at a glance which “purse” I need. Since they’re all small enough to tuck away as well as being brightly colored enough that I can find them easily in a purse or tote bag, they work well under almost any circumstances.

 

While these cute and useful card holders don’t solve an organizational problem in my home, they’re great examples of the qualities of a good organizational tool: well-suited to their purpose, fun to use, attractive, and true to the style of the user (in my case, it’s my I need to see it personal style). All these attributes are key to finding solutions for any organizational challenge. And, while “cute” isn’t essential, it can be motivating; we’re often more likely to use a tool that’s attractive.

But do you want to know the best part? They truly put the fun in functional, and I smile every time I use them, which tells me they’re just right for me.

If you know, you know. 

Geralt via Pixabay

 For more than a decade, I've had the privilege of writing a column for CatholicMom.com called "STYLE Savvy." Many of the posts that appear here appear there as well and Barb, my fearless (and incredibly patient) editor did such a lovely job bringing this one to life that I'm sending you directly to it instead of reprinting it here. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing (and researching) it.

Throwback Thursday: Christmas Organizing

 If organizing is about balancing what comes in with what goes out, the holiday season can make us feel doomed from the start. No sooner have we finished giving thanks for all that we have than we start to acquire more. Gifts. Decorations. Food for future feasts.

If you have more storage space than you need, congratulations - this is probably not an issue for you. But if you, like me, feel maxed out when it comes to places to put things on a regular, run-of-the-mill weekday, all of these Christmas acquisitions can feel overwhelming.

At our house, the Christmas decorations are stored in the crawlspace off the master bedroom. This means that as I begin to pull out Christmas decorations and all the trimmings and trappings, they inevitably invade the space in my house that should, arguably, be the most tranquil. I wish I could tell you that I have a wonderful solution for coping with these interloping, festive, baubles but the truth is that it comes down to the same thing it does during the rest of the year: making sure our styles lead the way.

Take small steps. In order to minimize the amount of space that all these Christmas goodies take up in our bedroom, I take decorations out a few at a time. I have a red basket that I use to store the decorations I like to start with each year and that’s the first thing that I take out. Once I put up the decorations in that basket, I can use it to store anything that I’ve replaced during the decorating process (which also makes putting things away easier when I “un-decorate” in January). When I put the basket back in the crawlspace after putting out those first few things, I can take out a few more decorations. Decorating the house slowly makes it a little more festive each day.

Store presents according to your style. I need to see it or I know I put it somewhere organizational style? Don’t put everything in plain brown boxes! That’s a sure recipe for digging through the same container over and over again. Instead, consider the type of storage that works best for you during the rest of the year. If you’re trying to keep things covert, maybe do stick to the plain brown cartons that the gifts arrive in, but put a brightly colored sticky note on the outside of each one to signify whose presents are in which box. No need for covert operations? Use clear storage bins so you can see what you have. Cram and jam organizational style? Stick to one large container for storage, but consider subdividing it so you don't have a pile-up inside.

One in- one out. Opportunities abound to practice this! As you buy new decorations (or put them away), replace anything that’s become tired and worn (or a safety hazard). In addition, anything that doesn't make the cut this year probably won't next year either. Toss it, donate it, or recycle it now to create space. Cool stuff under the tree? Consider what you can do without now that you have all those fun, new things. 

The Christmas season brings wonder, joy, and stuff. We can't control all the stuff but, if we keep our styles in mind, we can keep some of it neatly under wraps.

qimono via Pixabay

Giving Up

 Getting organized can be a challenge, in part because being organized isn't just a matter of having a tidy workspace. At its best, organization is a complex concept that involves deciding where to put things and where to find things, as well as having an internal sense that we're on top of everything important.

Quite a concept. No wonder it's a process.

Knowing what to keep and what to get rid of is at the heart of organizing. It's what gives us that lovely, peaceful (albeit often fleeting) sense of having it all together. While what you keep is ultimately up to you, there are some universal guidelines about what to get rid of. Here are three of them, along with some first steps for getting them under control. 

Physical clutter. Okay, this one's obvious. De-cluttering is clearly a part of organizing, right? While this process is much more complex than simply throwing out anything that's in our path, it's something we can accomplish step by step. 

• The Fix: Pick a pile, any pile. Set a timer for ten minutes. Sort, toss, put away, add to a donation bin -- whatever is called for -- until the timer goes off. Then, stop, or reset the timer. Your choice.

Mental clutter. This kind of clutter is less obvious, but perhaps more annoying. We can walk away from physical clutter, but mental clutter travels with us wherever we go. 

• The Fix: Do a brain dump. Make a list -- or several. If you want headings (to do, to buy, to call, etc.), add them to the top of the page (or buy a cute notepad that does this for you. But just one -- see #1). While getting everything out of your head won't do the tasks for you, it will reduce the cognitive load of carrying them around in your head until you can check them off.

A bad habit. This can be anything that disrupts our peace, whether it's organizing-related or not. Maybe it's an unchecked style habit: the drop and run habit that leads to piles, the cram and jam plan that's destined to leave things rumpled or crumpled, or the knee-jerk I know I put it somewhere response of putting things "away" in any available space that leaves us ransacking the house to find a single piece of paper. Or, maybe it's something entirely different like biting our nails, drinking too much coffee, or eating too much chocolate -- the habits that are fun in the moment, but guilt-inducing (or worse) in the long run.

• The Fix: Take small steps, and celebrate their completion. Maybe it's stopping yourself mid-drop, putting something in a drawer instead of dumping it into an overstuffed bin, or thinking about where something really belongs before you put it into any random, available space. Or, perhaps it's going a whole day without indulging in a habit that we'd rather do away with. Remembering that it's not an all-or-nothing proposition is key to success here -- so often we give up because we don't succeed immediately, forgetting that change takes time.

While the physical and visible aspects of organization are the most obvious, their hidden benefits -- like confidence and peace of mind -- can be just as important. And sometimes, seeking them out can remind us of why we're doing all this work in the first place.

Trying Something New

 This week, I'm auditioning a new planner. I've been using the same attractive (expensive) undated planner for more than four years. Unfortunately, this planner has become difficult to find. I still have one or two that are unopened and ready to be pressed into service, but eventually I'm going to need to make a change, so I decided that I might as well start now while I have Plan A at the ready if Plan B proves catastrophic.

Yes, I know that sounds a bit dramatic, but the reason I've been using the same planner for so long, despite its price tag, is that it works. While its style drew me in (it's cute), its function kept me hooked. And, in time management, as in organizing, when I find a tool that works, I don't look back. 

The new planner is much cheaper and, while cute, it lacks the same panache embodied by my tried-and-true tool. Both planners have that lovely new planner smell and essentially the same layout, which is the only reason I'm giving the understudy a chance. The main difference between the two tools is that the new one has a two page per day spread, with the second (right-hand) page providing ample space for a long to-do list. 

To be honest, I can't decide if this is a good thing or a bad thing. One of the things I like about my current planner is that it helps me fight the urge to attempt doing everything in a single day -- there simply isn't enough room on the page to write it all down. But, since the first (left-hand) page has the same layout I'm used to, I'm hoping the added page will be an advantage. That extra list-formatted space offers a lot of possibilities and I'm looking forward to exploring them.

I've actually had the new planner for a while and have been trying to decide on the best time to give it a try. As we enter the season of lists (Thankgiving, Christmas shopping, Christmas decorating, Christmas baking, Christmas to-dos...), it seemed like a good time to break out the Post-it flags and see what this new contender can do.

Change can be hard, even when it’s as small as trying a new tool. But change can also lead to growth and new perspectives, and perhaps even a solution we like better than the one we’ve been using. 

For now, this planner is auditioning, but has not yet been cast in a permanent role. Stay tuned. I'm sure I’ll have a lot more to say after I’ve seen what she can do.

Photo: Amazon.com

When Styles Collide

 My personal style is I need to see it. Two telltale signs of this style include color coding and piles that serve as reminders, fighting the “out of sight, out of mind” fear that plagues those of us with this particular style.

Acknowledging my personal style and pressing it into service typically works well for me -- at least when I lean toward its tidier manifestations. Different colored file folders and paper clips, for example, help me identify a particular set of papers at a glance. Leaving myself a note on the doorknob or placing a package beside the back door increases the likelihood that I’ll leave the house with everything I need.

But, when my I need to see it personal style meets my drop and run organizational style, things can quickly get out of hand. Lately, I've found that the collision of these two styles has become both stress-inducing and clutter-producing. When piles meant to serve as reminders accumulate, it seems that no matter where I look, there is a stack of something calling out for my attention. 

To add to the pile-up, I have what one might call an optimistic idea of how long things will take (translation: almost everything takes longer than I think it will). This means that the pile I leave out on Sunday evening and expect to take care of on Monday often sits around until Wednesday -- or (worse yet) the next Wednesday. The longer it takes me to get to the items in the piles, the more stressed out I become, and the more annoying those piles become – not only to me, but to those I live with as well.

Does this mean it's time to give up and succumb to a Type A organizing plan? Should I reconsider those file cabinets I relegated to the basement?

I think not.

The thing is that, when the plan works, it's great. Piles shrink, revealing clear space, which gives me a tremendous sense of accomplishment and motivation. This usually happens when my I need to see it personal style triumphs over – or at least reins in -- my drop and run organizational style. 

But, when it doesn't work -- when my drop and run style runs rampant with no particular plan for depleting the piles it creates -- it's almost as bad as having no system at all. Piles grow, linger, and leave me feeling overwhelmed. 

All these observations have led me to an obvious conclusion: I need to tweak my system, while keeping my styles at the helm. One of the best ways to do that is to establish guidelines for where clutter can and cannot accumulate.

• Designated no-clutter zones. Nothing gets set down here. Period. No matter how much my drop and run style protests. 
• Designated low-clutter zones. These spots can harbor piles on a short-term basis, but need to be dealt with frequently so the clear days outnumber the clutter days. This humors my drop and run style, while still keeping it in check.
• Limit piles. I’m not ready to do away with my piles and stacks because they do help me keep track of things, but I need to limit them to things I can realistically accomplish within the next two days. Everything else gets put away and added to a list, which I can keep with the pile or in my planner. Then, when it’s their turn, those reminder items can be strategically placed.

I’m hopeful that these guidelines will help keep things under control, but adjustments are to be expected. 

Your organizational style may require different guidelines. Cram and jammers might want to live by the rule that once you have to squish the contents of the container you're using in order to fit something else into it, it's time to sort it, replace it, or get another container to keep it company. Those who embrace the I know I put it somewhere organizational style may find their guideline easily boiled down to one question: sure, it fits here, but does it belong here?

 

I’d love to conclude by saying that staying organized is as simple as setting a few guidelines. But the truth is, once these organizational styles collide with their personal style counterparts, it’s a whole new ball game -- one with a set of rules that has to honor the needs of both teams. Reminding ourselves that it’s a process (a.k.a. these things take time) can empower us to take those first small steps to get the ball rolling.