You Say "Stack" Like it's a Bad Thing

olluszka via Pixabay

I have reached the point in the semester where pretty much every time I show up to teach a class, I collect a pile of papers to be graded. As I barrel into the home stretch of the semester, continuing to aim for balance, all of these papers need temporary homes -- safe places where I won't forget about them or, worse yet, lose a piece of work on which one of my students spent hours. Since I do most of my work at home, that means these safe places intersect with our living spaces.

I'm happy to report that this semester, things look a little more organized. As an I need to see it person, I still have piles, but they're organized piles. Thanks to a new work table in our family room, I can keep my works in progress in neat stacks (one for each class) in a location somewhere besides my dining room table. Colored folders separate one class from another, and a bright pink folder holds items of immediate concern.

Clearly, this is a temporary solution, one that lasts only as long as my family's patience.

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you know that I often say, "it's a process," and that is absolutely true here. As the papers are graded and the piles diminish, the rubrics, notes and other plans and notes to myself will need a home besides the work table. A new set of file bins in the family room -- one that keeps things off the table, somewhat out of sight, but not completely out of mind -- will help me keep things accessible. Even better, it'll keep things off the dining room table and the living room furniture, two spots that have, in the past, become victims of the end-of-semester deluge.

What sounds like a simple solution arose only after multiple semesters of trial and error, with an almost embarrassing amount of time wasted on dropping and running combined with traditional methods that don't work for my styles. Committing to systems that fit my styles means that things are, for now at least, rarely out of sight, but slowly, I am finding ways to keep things visible but still tidy.

While organization is a valuable payoff here, perhaps even more important is the peace of mind that comes with a system that actually lets me keep track of things. Getting to this point was not easy or quick, but the more I listen to my styles and stop trying to do things the way I'm "supposed to," the more useful and efficient the whole system becomes.

It's a wonderful feeling to walk through my living room without being visually accosted by papers and projects in progress, and it's nice to be able to actually eat at the dining room table. Taking the time to think about what works and personalizing my system accordingly has been well worth the time it took to get here.