Then and Now: Styles and Transitions

 As I (along with many of you) transition into the school year (or prepare to do so), this post from August 2019 seemed like a good reminder of how our styles can be the light at the end of a very cluttered tunnel.

Then:

Right now, I'm transitioning into the school year. It's the first week of school so, by some standards, I've already transitioned. But, as any teacher knows, it takes the first few weeks to get back into the swing of things.

This is one of the times when I most appreciate my tried-and-true, style-based systems. Engrossed as I am in planning and printing, I've allowed piles to form on heretofore clear surfaces (which is definitely not part of the plan). I know, though, that the missing ingredient here is not organization, but time.

When time is short, our styles elbow their way to the forefront, reminding our fledgling habits who's calling the shots. But, if we have style-based systems in place, we can placate our styles and redirect them by using the plans we've set up with them in mind.

If you're thinking this sounds a little like pacifying small children or, worse yet, herding cats, you're not far off. For many of us, our styles have been running the show for so long with few expectations or limitations that it's very, very easy to fall into old habits. This is especially true when time is short or we're transitioning from one season to another. Now, as I transition from summer to fall, even a casual observer would easily label me I need to see it/drop and run just from the state of my desk, dining room table and family room table. All the new ideas that are blooming and bursting are great; the fact that they litter multiple flat surfaces is not.

But I've been here before. I've learned that as long as I don't lose sight of the big picture, I can take my styles in hand and gently restore order. This week is less chaotic than last week and so, each day, I'm eliminating one hot spot and slowly but surely restoring clear space. Every small victory (today it was the bench in the mudroom) motivates me to keep going until the flat surfaces in my home no longer bear testimony to my tangled web of past, present and future course activities.

GraphicMama-team via Pixabay

And, these days, because I have systems in place that hold my clamoring styles in high regard, reclaiming the spaces is faster and easier than it used to be. These days, the items in the piles have homes and are therefore easily put away in a way that makes sense to me and is, therefore, easy to maintain.

Our styles are, indeed, double-edged swords. They can convince us that we are organizationally hopeless, doomed to living out of piles and retrieving smushed papers from small spaces. Or, they can form the foundation of a system that works.

Because, after all, all our styles really want is a little respect.

Now:

And the payoff for respecting our styles and planning accordingly can be pretty amazing! Two years later, I'm not looking at multiple cluttered surfaces. I've gathered all the things I need for planning and transitioning and given them a home in a specific, portable container. When I'm using its contents, the container (open on the top to match my I need to see it personal style) is beside me, usually in the sunroom. When I'm finished, it goes back to its (newly cleared) spot on a shelf in my office.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I have to say that having more space (adding the new sunroom) and less paper (after lots of experience with online teaching) has played a role in this, but the process of creating syllabi and refining assignments still creates a lot of clutter,  even when most of the final product ends up online. This is especially true for someone with an I need to see it personal style and a drop and run organizational style. Finding the tools that work for my styles has made an enormous difference in how much school-related clutter takes over my house in the days leading up to the new semester. Less clutter means less stress in a time of transition.

Score one for styles.