3 Keys Thursday: 3 of My Favorite Habits

Dodgerton Skillhause via Morguefile

It bears repeating that I don't write this blog from an expert point of view. Consequently, one of the benefits of doing so is that it keeps me honest, consistently spurring me on to bigger and better things, organizationally speaking. 

As I've often said, am work in progress. As such, I find myself working out my own solutions as I write this post and as I continue to look at my house in my life through fresh eyes. Along the way I've tried a variety of solutions to the organizational problems that plague to me. Some have fallen by the wayside, but others have stuck, becoming habits I rely on. Here are three of my favorites.

• Dealing with the mail as it comes in. I used to just dump the mail on the counter when I came into the house. I think this habit began when my daughter was small and I had a miniature human to tend to the minute that I walked in with the mail. Over time, this habit created a major mess, but it remained a really hard habit to break. What finally made the difference (in addition to the beautiful clear space that appeared when I finally decluttered the counter) was finding a solution to the mail counter that worked with my styles. Once I succeeded in doing that, (the solution was switching to an open-top file that simplified the process, and kept things put away, but still visible) it became just as easy to take care of the mail immediately as it had been to put it off. While I certainly can't say that the counter is perfect on a daily basis, it rarely reaches the epic disaster proportions that used to be  a common state of affairs before.
• Making the bed. I credit organizer Marcia Ramsland with this one. When I read in one of her books how big a percentage of the room it takes up, and how the room automatically looks neater just because of this simple act, I was sold. Some days it gets made later than others, but it rarely goes unmade.
• My Big 3. Admittedly, this habit isn't very old, but I can already feel it making a huge difference in changing the way I look at things. Accomplishing my big three gives me permission to relax and stop worrying so much about what I didn't do. 

How about you? What simple habits make your life easier?

Organizing Extra: Ideas from HGTV

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I've been writing about time management a lot here lately. Last Thursday's post in particular, along with the planning that preceded it, nudged me to take a look at my blogging habits. I've done so before, but now, with proof that blogging sometimes overshadows the other writing I want to do, it was time to look at my schedule with an eye toward change.

When I first started this blog, these Saturday posts were a great way to showcase people, places and articles that inspired me. Julie Morgenstern. Marcia Ramsland. A Perfect Mess.

Sometimes, though, as I've often written here, it's time to focus on that L in STYLE and let it go. I've featured all my inspirations, along with quite a few fun finds I made along the way, and that brings the Organization Extra feature of this blog to its natural conclusion.

So, for the moment, at least, I'm stepping away from Saturday posts. I'll try to feature some posts from the archives on the occasional Saturday, and, if I find something new and exciting, I'll make sure to share it. But, for the foreseeable future, I'll be putting up new posts only on Wednesdays and (3 Keys) Thursdays.

Meanwhile, since HGTV got me inspired to walk down this road in the first place, it's only fitting that I conclude this feature with something from them. Over at CatholicMom.com, I've been writing about containers, and this HGTV feature on organizing mistakes to avoid echoes much of what you've read here, and at CatholicMom.com, if you follow my STYLE Savvy posts.

See you Wednesday.

Organization Extra: Expert Assistance from Marcia Ramsland

organizingpro.com/holidays

As I've mentioned before, there are a few organizing experts whose work I particularly like. One of those is Marcia Ramsland, whose book I picked up almost by accident at a local discount store. It was love at first read, particularly when it came to time management concepts.

Though I like all of Marcia's information, one thing I especially remember about her books is that she  devoted chapters to the organizing projects and organizing for holidays. This month, her Facebook page is like the intersection of Christmas Avenue and Organization Street, complete with resources and lots of pretty pictures. And, since they're Facebook posts, it's easy to scroll through even if you have only a few minutes.

Just what I needed. Another excuse to hit Facebook.

3 Keys Thursday: 3 Keys to Effective Time Management

Photo credit: Dodgerton Skillhause

The semester has begun, and I feel as though time is managing me rather than vice versa. As I sit down to write this, for example, it's 11:14 PM -- about 24 hours later than I'm usually finalizing a Three Keys Thursday post, and yet I'm just getting started.

How ironic that the post I planned for today is on time management. Fortunately, two of the three keys are brought to you by people wiser than me.

Zoom in, zoom out. This one was inspired by Marcia Ramsland, who talks about managing time horizontally (from the beginning of the week to the end of the week) and vertically (from the beginning of the day to the end of the day) in her book Simplify Your Life. Doing only vertical time management gives us tunnel vision and creates pressure to get it all done in a small space of time, while managing time only horizontally may leave us planning in generalities and neglecting the step-by-step process necessary to get to the things on the weekly calendar. Balancing the two helps us balance small tasks and big ones.

Pencil it in: Set a time or it won't get done. I first read this in a book by Julie Morgenstern, and it makes a lot of sense. Making lists is a great start, but often, if we don't assign times to things, they don't get done. If something's been lingering on your to-do list, pencil it into your calendar so you can get it off the to-do list.

Make time to manage time. Ironically, it takes time to manage time, especially when you're trying to coordinate multiple schedules. Pausing to take a look at what lies ahead each day (or the day before) and each week gives us a better sense not only of what we have to do, but of time itself.

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Still, despite the best strategies, time management is an imperfect process. Time is a non-renewable resource that often seems to run out much sooner than we'd like, and when it comes to time management, a certain amount of energy is required. When we feel overwhelmed or exhausted, it's hard to look at to-do lists and calendars and weave them together into a pattern that makes sense. At our house, Friday dinners have become our opportunity to talk about what everyone has planned for the upcoming week, and to coordinate our calendars so we all have some idea of what lies ahead. Admittedly, I'm more enthusiastic about this than anyone else in my house; perhaps that's because I'm the one who needs it the most.

Especially this semester.

See you next Thursday. After all, I've got it on my calendar.