3 Keys Thursday: The Key Concept Behind the Styles

Dodgerton Skillhause via Morguefile

Maybe you're a newcomer to this blog, and you're just beginning to figure out your primary styles. Or, maybe you've been reading for a while and are in the process of putting your styles to work for you. Or, perhaps you've made it all the way to Easy Upkeep and you're wondering why some days, the upkeep isn't so easy.

So today, let's cut to the chase and take a look at the governing principle behind each organizational style, and what that means in terms of creating -- and maintaining -- a plan.

• I need to see it organizers are afraid to put things away. To us, out of sight truly is out of mind, and things get lost or remain undone. The solution: Work visibility into every organizational plan. Color-code, label, use clear containers -- anything that keeps things away but in sight.

• I know I put it somewhere organizers love to put things away. They crave clutter-free surfaces and safe places -- so much so that they'll put things out of sight at any cost just so they look organized. The solution: Logical homes. Put it away, but put it away right. Put it where it makes sense, not just where there's space, and manage that fear that you won't remember which safe place you chose by using memory joggers like labels and color-coding.

• Cram and jam organizers vacillate between leaving things out and putting things away. "Away" is simple for the cram and jammer -- everything goes in one place until nothing else can possibly fit. The solution: The right container for the right job. Work on moving from one catch-all container to dedicated containers based on topic or item. The system can stay the same -- all of the things pertaining to one project or topic can go into one container -- but give yourself room to grow so things don't get wrinkled, crumpled and torn. Clear containers might also help.

Regardless of style, the bottom line is the same: make life easy by choosing containers and systems that work with your default style. By using what comes naturally as an asset rather than a liability, you can create a plan that reduces clutter and stress. Best of all, it's easier to keep up with because you and your styles are on the same team.

For more on containers and the organizational styles, click on Charts at the top of this page.

Can I Have More than One Style?

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When I first share the styles quiz, I frequently get the question, "Can I be all of them?"

The answer is yes...and no.

While it's possible to have elements of each of the styles, most of us end up with one predominant personal style and one predominant organizational style. These styles lead the way for organizational systems that play to our strengths.

So, does that mean we should ignore the elements of the other styles that pervade our personalities? 

Absolutely not. While our predominant styles form the foundation of our organizational systems, the traits that are true to other styles broaden the range of tools (especially containers) that work for us. Combining the tool options that work for our primary styles with those tha work from other styles allows us more choices and helps us to infuse creativity into our organizational plans. 

For example, my predominant personal style is I need to see it. I also identify with both of the other personal styles, loving both stuff and busyness. While the tools I choose need to work with my I need to see it style, I might also choose some of the fun, unique containers favored by those with an I love stuff style -- but they still have to work with my need to see things. No matter how pretty, cool or unique the container, if it doesn't work with my primary style, it will be an obstacle rather than a tool.

My predominant organizational style, on the other hand, is drop and run. Focusing on this style helps me to rein in my I know I put it somewhere tendencies. And, since I often drop and run because I'm busy, I can use the strategies that work for the I love to be busy style to enhance my drop and run systems.

Confused? Here's the simple version. Use your primary styles -- one personal style and one organizational style --as the foundation of your organizational system. Then, use your tendencies from the other styles to build on that foundation, adding variety and creativity while staying true to what works.

Oh -- and don't forget to have fun.

3 Keys Thursday: 3 of My Favorite Packing Tools

Dodgerton Skillhause via Morguefile

Sometime last summer, I bought a notepad out of a dollar bin somewhere. It's a packing checklist, with the phrase "I Love to Travel but I Hate to Pack" at the top of the page.

That about sums it up.

Packing is one of those things that inspires both my procrastination and my perfectionism. I need to find just the right combinations and just the right bags. In addition, I'm always afraid I'll forget something, so I either start tossing things into a bin a week ahead of time or I wait until the last minute. There's rarely an in-between.

Having the right tools is a big help. Here are three of my favorites:

• A checklist. My little notepad is a bigger help than I expected it to be. I've always made lists, but they've been more the random, don't-forget-to-bring-this variety. A checklist not only makes sure the real stuff gets on the list, but it also sparks ideas for other things that need to make the list as well.
• Zip lock bags. The quart and gallon sizes can corral everything from snacks and first aid supplies to toiletries and dirty clothes. If we're going to be gone for more than a weekend, I typically pack a box of quart bags and stash a few extra gallon bags in with any food we pack.
• Small pouches with zippers or drawstrings. I use these mostly for cosmetics, but I also

• 

  Bags with a distinctive design make it easy to find
  what you're looking for in a full suitcase.
  mythirtyone.com

  house my chargers, electronics and all the family medicines in zip-top canvas pouches with waterproof linings. When I'm packing, the bags themselves serve as reminders because each item or group of items travels in the same pouch every time. Perhaps my favorite small pouch use is re-purposing the drawstring bags that linens sometimes come in to use as shoe bags. Bags that hold queen size sheets are the perfect size for one pair of my shoes, keeping the shoes from getting smushed on the bottom of my bag and, at the same time, protecting my clothes from getting dirty. If you prefer to pack your shoes in a separate bag, using these bags keeps shoes neat and unscuffed when you travel.

Much as I love these tools, I don't think they'll cure my procrastination, but they definitely take the edge off my perfectionism by keeping my suitcase neat and organized.

What are your favorite packing tools?

I'm traveling today, so today, I'm digging into the archives for your reading pleasure :-)

Since this blog has been running for over a year now, I thought I'd go back to the very beginning and revisit the styles quiz.

If you've joined me recently and haven't yet taken the quiz, now's a good time to check it out. Determining your styles will make the posts here much more useful.

If, on the other hand, you've been with me from the beginning, it might be time to reassess. The first time many people take the quiz, they come up a little bit of everything. Now that you've been trying some things out, can you narrow your styles to one predominant personal style and one main organizational style?

If you're secure in your styles and looking for something else to read on the topic of organization, you can find additional choices in my STYLE Savvy posts at CatholicMom.com, where I post every Wednesday.

Happy reading! See you tomorrow for 3 Keys Thursday.

Personal and Organizational Styles Quiz

Mark each item below as true or false.

1. You participate in so many activities that you have something to do nearly every night.
2. The only way you remember to bring things with you is if you leave them out where you're likely to trip over them.
3. Your closets are filled with things you no longer use and/or clothes you no longer wear, but can’t get rid of. 
4. Your house looks neat, yet you have trouble finding what you need when you need it.
5. Your papers -- even the important ones -- are often wrinkled and/or torn.
6. The flat surfaces in your home tell the story of the activities you've done and the places you've been in the last few days.
7. When given a pocket folder or three-ring binder, you may tuck your papers inside, but you don't usually put them in the pockets or the rings. 
8. You can often find lost items by retracing your steps.
9. You often feel bored when you have unscheduled time.
10. You have more stuff than room to store it.
11. You usually put things away, but often forget where you put them.
12. You often forget things if you don't write them down.  
13. Your bookshelves house:

a. anything and everything, as long as it fits.

b. overlapping sets of “collections.”

c. books in various stages of completion, stacked so that the titles are visible.

d. sports gear, sheet music or art supplies, but no books. 

e. piles of items, with a telltale trail from the door to the bookcase.

All finished? Now let's compare your answers to the key below. Every "true" is a clue:

• Item #1 is true for I love to be busy.
• Item #2 is true for I need to see it.
• Item #3 is true for I love stuff.
• Item #4 is true for I know I put it somewhere.
• Item #5 is true for cram and jam.
• Item #6 is true for drop and run.
• Item #7 is true for cram and jam.
• Item #8 is true for drop and run.
• Item #9 is true for I love to be busy.
• Item #10 is true for I love stuff.
• Item # 11 is true for I need to see it and I know I put it somewhere.
• Item #12: I need to see it organizers are likely to do this.
• Item #13a: Cram and jam or I know I put it somewhere; 13b: I love stuff; 13c: I need to see it; 13d: I love to be busy; 13e: Drop and run

How'd you do? Do the quiz answers match your predictions and observations? For most people, clear patterns will emerge, and the answers will come as no surprise; what they've noticed about the way they organize matches their answers on the quiz.

Some people are “a little bit of this and a little bit of that.” At this point in the process, that's to be expected. Further observation, discussion and exploration will help you to determine predominant styles. And some people really are a mix of styles, but this can be a benefit.  An overlap can mean more strategies to work with! 

The most important thing to keep in mind right now is that there are no right or wrong answers on the quiz and that these styles are not personal or organizational flaws. Up to this point, the styles have been stumbling blocks. Moving forward, the goal will be to help you see your natural tendencies as assets rather than liabilities so you can use them as a blueprint for developing a workable, sustainable plan based on what comes naturally. 

For more on the personal styles, click here. For more on the organizational styles, click here.

3 Keys Thursday: 3 Keys to Finding the Right Home for Homeless Items

Dodgerton Skillhause via Morguefile

When things start to pile up around my house, it's usually for one of two reasons; either I don't have time to keep up with the influx or the things that have made their way into my house haven't yet been assigned a home. Right now, the least attractive spot in my house holds a stack of mail no one has found time to sort through and a few accumulated gifts and "not sure what to do with this" items that got unearthed when I was rearranging the back room. The mail will be easy enough -- I have a system for that.

It's those odds and ends that create clutter. But, when there's time to tackle them, there are a few guidelines that can help to keep them from getting stashed in a drawer or turning up someplace new.

Here are three keys for finding a home for all the "somethings" that gather on flat surfaces. In general, all three of these work together; it's not an either/or proposition.

• Put it where there's room. While that may sound ridiculous to many of you, cram and jam organizers need constant reminders of this. If you have to fold it more than once, smush it, crush it or otherwise mash it into submission to fit it into your container of choice, choose another container. Not only will this save you from ruining an otherwise perfectly good item, it'll save you from endless sorting sessions as you attempt to get to the bottom of what feels like a bottomless container full of crammed and jammed, crushed and smushed, mashed-into-submission stuff.

If cram and jammers need to be reminded that there has to be sufficient storage space for that item they're holding, I know I put it somewhere organizers need to be reminded that the first tip doesn't say wherever there's room. When seeking a home for a homeless item, it's also important to...

• Put it where you use it. Depending on the item and the space constraints in your home, this could mean in the same room where it's used, or in the drawer or cupboard closest to the exact spot where you'll use it. But, my I know I put it somewhere friends, it does not mean to drop it into any drawer that happens to have the right amount of space in it. That strategy may work in the moment, but it's guaranteed to lead to a frustrating search for the item you put in a "safe place" when you were in a hurry to clear off the counter. Plan now, save time later. 

Still not sure where it should go?

• Put it where there are other things like it. That way, even if you don't remember where you put it, you're likely to find it when you need it.

While the old adage "a place for everything and everything in its place" can be tricky to pull off, assigning things homes that make sense based on their use and your styles can take you one step closer to making the adage come true.

When the Upkeep isn't Quite so Easy

I've written a lot of posts that focus on how to get to the E in STYLE. Building on successes. Honoring styles. Choosing containers and building systems.

So, what happens when you get to the E?

If you've made it that far, you might have found that not all upkeep is created equal. When the styles and the containers and the system and the location all come together, things work well -- most of the time -- and upkeep is easy.

But then, life intervenes. We get busy. Things come in faster than we can keep up with them, seasons change, holidays arrive. It's easier to put things down than away, and items that were homeless or in the wrong container are suddenly everywhere except where they're supposed to be.

This is not the time to throw in the towel. Instead, it's time to return to what works -- the containers by style, the locations that make sense and the systems that combine knowledge with practice.

Think of the crazy busy times as an opportunity to asssess what you've been doing. When you finally manage to eke out a few minutes to restore order, what gets put away quickly and easily? Those systems are working.

Photo: Morguefile

On the other hand, what do you end up holding in your hand, trying to decide where it belongs, or setting beside the container it's supposed to go into rather than putting it inside? Something in that upkeep is not easy. Perhaps the container is wrong. Maybe the location is off. What would make it easy for you to put that item in your hand where it belongs?

It would be wonderful if we could get to the E and achieve organizational perfection, but life is mean to move forward and systems need to adapt to the changes. Whether you're adding to your family, downsizing or just trying to keep up with the day-to-day, organization needs to be dynamic, adjusting to the life it's meant to organize.

And that's when the upkeep gets easy.

3 Keys Thursday: 3 Things to Remember about Organizig by STYLE

Dodgerton Skillhause via Morguefile

Since I started using this process and sharing it in classes and via blog posts, I've become a lot more organized, and a lot more sure of what works and what doesn't -- at least for me.

But there are still days when I look around and wonder if this pile or that stack will ever find a permanent home.

No matter your styles, here are a few things to keep in mind about this philosophy.

Remember that it's a process. Organizing takes time, and complete and total organization is not a realistic goal. There will always be some spot somewhere that's not quite right, and you may always be questing for the just right container that will take you once step closer to that elusive perfect solution. But imperfect is still workable and perfectly capable of instilling some order.

Celebrate successes. There's a reason S is the first letter of the STYLE acronym. Our successes -- the tools we use, the routines we develop -- are the foundations of our organizational systems, and the first step on the road to Easy upkeep. When you find something that works, stick with it and see where else you can duplicate it. Find a container you love? Buy several and use them to solve multiple organizational dilemmas. That's one way to build a habit.

You can't make someone else love your style -- or adopt it. Organizing by STYLE is based on the idea that we each organize best when we work with what comes naturally. While I'd love to make my husband a little less I know I put it somewhere and he'd love to make me a lot less I need to see it, that's not the way it works. The best we can hope for is a better understanding and a healthy respect for one another's default styles.

Meanwhile, enjoy your successes. They're the reminder that order is possible.