In the end, sorting the basket (where this project began) was the tip of the iceberg. I knew I didn't want to put things back into the basket when I was finished because that would just start the cycle all over again. As someone with an I need to see it personal style, I knew that once the reading material landed in the bottom of the basket, I was unlikely to pay any further attention to it, especially as I continued to pile new material on top of the old stuff, obscuring it from view. Things would look organized, but they wouldn't actually be organized; instead, they'd just be neatly piled and hidden from view, which made them more likely to be ignored than enjoyed.
In order to get to Easy Upkeep, I needed a home for the clippings that made them easy to access and a home for the magazines that kept them visible and easily accessible. Why didn't the clippings need to be visible? Because they are reference materials that can be archived.
These may sound like random rules but they are at the heart of organizing by STYLE. As someone with an I need to see it personal style, I know that I need to keep active items (magazines to be read) where I can see them. Archived items (clippings and other reference materials) can be kept out of sight, but need a consistent, organized home so they can go from unseen to seen quickly and easily.
Huh?
Despite my personal style, I can't leave everything where I can see it -- that would be chaos. Consequently, I need to be selective about what truly stays visible, what gets placed into eye-catching homes and what can be put away (but kept color-coded, labeled, or similarly organized) until I really need it.
Truly visible? Anything used frequently or that needs to be attended to immediately. "Frequently" is tough to define, but includes anything used daily. Items used less often are a judgment call, but most likely fall into the second category....stored in an I need to see it fashion. Things that need to be referenced, but aren't used often can actually go out of sight, but need to take my styles into account so they can be easily put away and easily accessed. My clippings ended up in a dedicated bin with lid, stored in labeled, color-coded file folders. Why a bin and not a file cabinet? Because it's easier to lift the lid and drop the clippings in, which suits my drop and run organizational style.
I have to say that very few of my organizing projects get this complicated but, when it comes to reading material, I have a lot of it. And, as someone whose professional home base is her home, I set out to create a system that made it easy to access leisure reading, work reading and the myriad items that live on the line between the two categories.
One last note. Every bin/container/shelf/piece of furniture that houses my reading material has a little room for me to add new items, but not so much space that things can get out of control. This means that, in order for the system to keep working, I need to stay on top of the contents and get rid of outdated material and things that no longer interest me.
This domino project is almost finished and I'm happy to say that I haven't resorted to tossing random and/or homeless items back into the basket. Though it was a challenge to find consistent, logical homes for everything from clippings to books I want to read, I no longer have the feeling that magazines I stashed somewhere "safe" are lying in wait. They've all been brought out into the light and dealt with -- some made the cut, some did not -- and it felt good to let a lot of them go. Finally, because I have a system that makes sense to me, I know just where to find the ones I want when I need them.
It was a long, circuitous path, but I think I've arrived at Easy upkeep, and I like the view.
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