From So-So to Spectacular

Dodgerton Skillhause via Morguefile

Yesterday's post left me with a lingering question:

What other storage habits do I need to reconsider? 

Unless you've recently moved, renovated or redecorated, you probably haven't updated your organizational set-up recently. Like the squeaky wheel, organizational systems typically get attention only when they aren't working.

Still, as my flag storage plan reminded me, we sometimes settle for "good enough" when one small change could make a big difference. And, we sometimes don't even know we're doing it.

Often, the first sign that we need to make a change is that things aren't getting retrieved or put away in a timely manner. While we often point to ourselves (or someone else in the house) as the problem, there's often a deeper issue at work. Three simple questions can be the key to turning so-so systems into storage solutions.

• Is the system easy to use? An overly complicated storage system is sometimes as bad as none at all. When putting things away is difficult, we choose the path of least resistance, putting things down instead of away (drop and run organizers), putting them wherever there is space (I know I put it somewhere organizers) or stuffing them somewhere (cram and jammers). When we do this, we exacerbate the problem, creating a retrieval issue. Drop and run organizers must retrace their steps and dig through piles. I know I put it somewhere organizers race around frantically trying to remember which safe place they put the necessary item in and cram and jammers attempt to retrieve things from overstuffed spaces, hoping the thing they're searching for won't be crumpled, torn or broken when they find it. In the process, we waste time, frustrate ourselves and often create chaos. Often, however, it's this process that reveals the answer to the questions behind this problem: what's stopping me from using this system and how can I fix that?

• Is it in the right place? Similarly, if we have to climb ladders, move piles or take a cupboard apart to find something we use with any degree of frequency, it's in the wrong place. While it makes sense to store things we use only occasionally in out-of-the-way locations (especially when space is an issue), the things we use more often need to be easier to access. Store it where it's used, store frequently used items in easy-to-access places and store similar items together.

• Do I like it? Although this might not affect how well the system works, it can affect how likely we are to use it. If it's fantabulously functional (a worn accordion file with just the right number of labeled sections, for example), we might not care how it looks, especially if we tuck it away in a drawer or closet. But, if you're taking your system from so-so to spectacular, the aesthetics of containers and systems are worth considering.

In the best of all possible circumstances, a simple change in location makes a big difference, as it did for my garden flags. Other times, some shopping, sorting and re-organizing is required, but if these steps create a more efficient system, the time to put it all together is time well spent. Not only will it reduce your clutter, as sorting often does, but it will also save you time.

Best of all, you'll be too busy taking pride in your new system to have time to point the finger of blame at anyone, including yourself.

Alexas Fotos via Pixabay

Wrangling Time

Pixabay

I have several spots in my home that have posed organizational challenges, requiring more than one attempt at a plan to stay under control. Eventually, though, I've found workable (if not perfect) strategies and containers for these spots, rendering myself the master of the space. How do I know I've reached a near-permanent solution? Setbacks (a fact of life) are easily rectified in a reasonable amount of time.

Wrangling time, however, is more of a challenge. Time is less messy to manage, but it's more mercurial, shrinking and expanding according to seasons, health and the needs of other people who are important to us. Because of this, our time management systems need to be flexible, too, especially if we're still working to find that near-perfect system.

Whether we're organizing things or time, the tools we use should be just that: tools. And, since time constraints change from day to day and from season to season, it only makes sense that we might need to change our tools to match our shifting time frames.

There's much to be said for celebrating the things we DO accomplish
instead of focusing on the things we don't.

This week, I dusted off a tool I started using back in February, then set aside in favor of more traditional lists and plans. As May slid into June, whose days dissipated like so many puffs of smoke, lists just weren't working for me. I was drowning in tasks and appointments and I felt the need to see what I was accomplishing.

Never underestimate the power of the right tool in the right hands.

Not only did I begin to see what I was doing with my time, but I also found it easier to focus on what I needed to do. I bought a new calendar -- one more in keeping with the current rhythm of my days--one that didn't allow me to co-mingle endless lists with daily deadlines. I found the courage to cull all of the half-finished lists on my desk and to re-think my day-to-day planning strategy. New lists materialized in a less haphazard fashion and I revamped my dormant tickler file to match my current needs.

My new calendar, which
I just realized, matches
my daily "did it" sheet.

Admittedly, novelty is part of the success of this plan, but the nice thing about novelty is that, when it comes to organizing, we can make that happen any time. Buy a new tool, try a new strategy -- or dust off an old one that worked but somehow got set aside.

Life changes. And so our strategies sometimes need to change, too. If a system is working, use it, celebrate it and leave it alone. But, if it's not? Troubleshoot. Find the unmet need at the root of your frustration and use it to guide you to a solution.

More on that tomorrow.

3 Keys Thursday: Tax Time

Dodgerton Skillhause via Morguefile

I spent hours on Saturday organizing my notes and receipts for taxes. While my Type A organizer friends are already getting their refund checks, I'm still dragging my feet, finding plenty of other things that are more exciting than getting my tax paperwork together.

In some ways, though, it wasn't really that bad. Having learned my lesson after the disaster that was tax planning 2013, I came up with a system that I (mostly) use which minimized the amount of time I had to spend tracking things down. I only ran into trouble when -- you guessed it -- my system was incomplete or I'd put off doing something that could now no longer be avoided.

How did your tax system work this year? If it needs a few tweaks, consider these three tips.

• Be true to your styles. You knew I was going to say that, didn't you? Whether it's file folders, an accordion folder, an app or shoe boxes labeled by category, pick something easy to use. Otherwise, the system will break down long before you need to sit down and pull everything together. 

• Categorize. Again, whether it's file folders, an accordion folder or shoe boxes labeled by category, keeping things separated by category all year long makes it much easier to summarize   things in an organized, manageable fashion. Even if you cram and jam everything into shoe boxes, using separate shoe boxes makes the eventual sorting process much easier.

• Print it out. PayPal's monthly statements made my record-keeping so much easier. The one change I will make for next year is printing them out sooner -- monthly or quarterly -- so they're already in my files when I need them. Printing as you go also saves you from unexpected problems -- like the receipt that I could no longer produce because an email issue earlier this year resulted in the loss of a block of emails that included that receipt.

Cohdra via Morguefile

I'm happy to report that the system I developed in response to the marathon tax paperwork session of 2013 is working well, and that Saturday's session wasn't nearly as painful as I expected it to be. With a few tweaks, 2016 will be even better.