True Confessions Wednesday -- Weak spots and Cracks

True confession #30: There are both weak spots and cracks in my organizational systems.

After more than a decade of reading about organization, formulating my Organizing by STYLE philosophy, and putting that philosophy to work, I've repaired all the gaping holes in my organizational system. I can't say my house is clutter-free, or that my system is perfect, but it has definitely improved.

Still, I am left with weak spots and cracks. A weak spot is (by my definition) something that kind of works but isn't really a long-term solution. Sometimes, the weakness is easily identifiable (wrong container, wrong spot, wrong size) but, until the weak spot becomes a tear or a crack, or until I find a replacement container/spot/accommodation, it'll due.

Cracks are bigger, more time sensitive, and more prone to actually giving way. Like a stack of papers that could topple over at any moment, cracks are systems that could fall apart without warning. The sooner they are addressed, the better.

I hope it's obvious that what I'm talking about here isn't literal weak spots or cracks, but rather flaws and problem spots that need to be addressed. Sometimes, a trail of clutter leads us to them or sometimes they self-destruct under the weight of a responsibility they weren't designed to handle.

Take my mail counter, for example. Regular readers know it was a weak spot (and sometimes a crack) for years as I tried one inadequate solution after another. Its conspicuous location made it a source of not just clutter but embarrassment as well until, eventually, I found the right tools and created a system that works.

Last weekend, I attacked another weak spot -- my bedroom closet. The floor was littered with boxes that held out-of-season shoes that had no other home. The hanging rods worked but, upon closer inspection, when was the last time I'd worn anything hanging on the rod that was least accessible?

Hmm.

AnnaliseArt via Pixabay

Long story short, the clothes are in a donation pile, the rod has been removed and a small, cheap shelf unit (thank you, Target) now sits where the clothes were hanging, providing a home for all those formerly homeless shoes. Nearly every pair of shoes I own is now visible or in a clearly labeled box (an I need to see it victory!). There's one remaining bin of casual sandals that's in limbo. If they get worn this season, they'll earn a spot on a shelf. If not, they'll go into the donation box, too.

Why did I go so long accepting the fact that I was unable to see the floor of my closet? It was a weak spot. Workable enough to suffice (I could access everything -- kinda), it didn't require my immediate attention. But, once it got my immediate attention, it inspired me to tackle other clutter in my bedroom as well -- mostly because, as with most organizing projects, things got worse before they got better. Now, not only does the closet look better, so do a few other spaces in the room.

Weak spots often hide in plain sight. That pile of clothes that's been on the chair for so long, you no longer see it. The stack of papers that has made itself at home on the dining room table. The almost-right container in the sort of right location that holds things you don't know where to put.

Organizing is a dynamic process that needs to be flexible enough to adjust to the constant flow of "stuff" into and out of our homes. As life changes, our systems have to change, too, but, if we know what our styles are and how they work, those changes are more of a pivot than an all-out makeover. If we tackle the weak spots while they're still just that, we can save ourselves the headache of repairing a crack that has given way.

And, perhaps best of all, we can create beautiful, coveted clear space in the process.

True Confessions Wednesday: Something Old

True Confession #26: Sometimes, it pays to be a packrat.

On Monday night, (day 41 of self-imposed exile, for those of you keeping score at home), I pulled the lid off my signature scent (a fancy way of saying my only bottle of perfume) and the nozzle came off with it. Securely wedged inside, it wouldn't budge, leaving me with a nearly full bottle and no way to spray it. It was late, so I went to bed, saddened at the thought of wasting all of that perfume.

The next morning, I got up and took another look. Nope -- no miracles. Still inextricably wedged inside. I twisted the little strip of gold that remained at the top of the perfume bottle and the spray mechanism came loose.

Okay, good. I wouldn't have to waste the perfume. But where was I going to pour it? My mom used to have one of those vanity trays with the glass bottles for various fragrances, but those were long gone.

Wait.

I pulled open the top drawer of my dresser and there it was.

The old bottle.

There was only whisper of liquid left, but the most important part remained. I quickly pulled off the lid (gently this time), unscrewed the spray mechanism and, I'm embarrassed to say, got ready to pour.

Yeah, there was an easier way. I swapped the mechanisms and returned the old bottle to the drawer, exceedingly happy about a very simple thing.

When I saved that bottle, I had no really good reason. A faint aroma still lingered, so I tucked it in my dresser drawer as a sort of glass sachet.

Yeah. No good reason to keep it and pretty much every professional organizer on the planet would tell me to toss it. But I kept it because I wanted to and now I'm really glad I did.

Sometimes, we save things for a good reason. Other times, we just want to. We can't keep everything we've ever owned but, despite the fact that something borrowed should always be returned, something old doesn't always need to end up in the trash. (When it comes to something blue, I'll let you decide).

Has an all-but-empty perfume bottle led me to contradict Let it Go! (The L in STYLE)? Quite the opposite, actually. Let it Go! has always been about letting go of things on your own terms. If something has meaning or use and you have room for it, keep it. If its time has passed or it's not worth the space it will take up, perhaps it is time for it to exit your home, whether via donation, yard sale or -- dare I say it? -- the trash.

Now that I think of it, I'm not sure why I tucked that old bottle back in the drawer. Habit, I guess. Perhaps it's time to go back upstairs and apply my own rules. Its usefulness has passed (it consists of a non-working mechanism atop an all-but-empty bottle of perfume) and, if no further fragrance lingers, there's really no reason to keep it. And getting rid of something old makes way for something new or, perhaps even better, yields clear space.

But that's another post.

True Confessions Wednesday: I Love Stuff

True Confession #17: I’m a little bit I love stuff.

When I introduce the styles at meetings and conferences and/or when people take the styles quiz, almost inevitably, someone asks if they can be all of them. My response is that, while it seems that way at first, for most of us, one predominant personal style and one predominant organizational style emerge.

That doesn’t mean, however, that traces of other styles don’t linger, influencing the way we do things. The I love to be busy style is a great example. Many people don’t love to be busy, but have had busyness thrust upon them by the multiple roles they play. For them, successful organizing and planning might very well mean taking strategies for the I love to be busy personal style into account, making it almost a secondary style choice.

Though my primary styles are I need to see it (personal) and drop and run (organizational), I can feel my I love stuff tendencies arise when I’m decluttering a space. I can be ruthless about many things, but I keep arguably more than my fair share of sentimental mementos. It’s not the thing I want as much as what it evokes— memories of times and places past. While I’ve gotten a lot better at getting rid of things I was saving only because I should save them, there are plenty of extras that survive the purge. 

Another time I can feel my I love stuff tendencies rising up and clamoring to be heard is when I wander through the aisles at The Container Store or even my local Target. I want it all! Okay, maybe not all of it, but I’m intrigued by the sheer variety and quantity of organizers that are available. Again, I’ve made progress in that I only take home what I truly think I will use, but my basement is a testament to the fact that it hasn’t always been that way, and that I should always “shop” there before heading out to buy new things.

When I think about it, the connection between my primary I need to see it personal style and my secondary I love stuff tendencies is clear. It’s visual. The same part of me that responds to visual cues is emotionally cued by certain objects and drawn in by the visual appeal of pretty things. Knowing this, I can be more analytical about the choices I make, whether it’s deciding what to keep and what to toss or when to buy and when to pass. 

In the end, which style prevails? For me, my I need to see it style steers the ship and runs the show. It’s more consistent than the I love stuff tendencies that draw me to a souvenir or a pretty organizer and, when pressed into service, my primary personal style helps me to organize sustainably. In the end, my prevailing style and its first runner-up work together so that I’m organized in a way that consistently works for me, but things look pretty in the process. 

Reflections on a Love of Stationery

CongerDesign via Pixabay

When I was a little girl, I used to go to the five and ten with my mom. My mom didn’t drive, so we’d walk downtown — or at least that’s how I remember it. Though I loved walking up and down all the aisles to see everything this amazing store had to offer, the stationery aisles were always my favorite. If memory serves, that was where I found my flowered binder in fourth grade, splurging on pink looseleaf paper to put inside it.

Later in elementary school, I discovered the stationery store about eight blocks away from the five and ten — one big place that put single aisles of school supplies to shame. I could literally buy paper by the pound, a concept I'd never before imagined. I could mix and match by color, size and texture.

These days, I indulge my love of office supplies in the stationery aisles at Target and office supply stores. Though I've outgrown my affinity for pink looseleaf paper, as a writer, I'm particular about the pens and notebooks I use. My collection of notebooks, folders, sticky notes, pens and the like probably rivals what I found in those stationery aisles so many years ago. 

There are some loves we never outgrow.

About a decade ago, when I was teaching organizing by STYLE to my elementary school students, I brought a bit of my love of office supplies to my fifth graders. Each month, I offered a school supply giveaway, with one winner in each fifth grade classroom. This gave my students an opportunity to experiment with different organizational tools, but I got a payoff, too -- it was a lot of fun to watch my students get as excited about school supplies as I had at their age.  

These days, organizational supplies have moved far beyond binders and pink looseleaf, which is a boon to all of us who organize differently. In most areas, five and tens are long gone, replaced by dollar stores, office supply stores and, of course, Target and WalMart. Much as I enjoy my weekly trips to Target and my time spent wandering the stationery aisles there, it's not quite the same as meandering through the five and ten.

Finding the "just right" tool for each of our organizational needs can be a challenge but, for me, sometimes it's still as much fun as walking up and down the aisles of the five and ten.

STYLE Strengths

As someone who teaches psychology, I've long been interested in finding a link between Organizing by STYLE and empirical evidence -- something research-based that serves as some sort of proof of the validity of this approach. I know it works, and I've had others tell me it works for them, but finding something more solid than that had consistently eluded me.

Until I started researching and teaching positive psychology. This semester, as I was discussing strengths assessments with my students, the connection suddenly became crystal clear.

When we use our personal and organizational styles as the foundation for our organizational systems, we are engaging in a strengths-based approach. Instead of trying to take on someone else's systems -- the ones that work for their strengths -- we're building on our own.

In addition, strengths-based approaches advise us to make our strong suits even stronger. This may go against conventional wisdom, which often tells us to shore up our weaknesses, but there is definitely a certain logic to it. If we're already good at something, why live on a plateau? Why not work to take the things we're good at to the next level?

Organizing by STYLE does just that. Step by step, letter by letter, organizing by STYLE helps us to build a workable system on the foundation of things we're already good at, even if those things are dropping and running, cramming and jamming and needing to see things.

Hey, if it's not broken, why fix it?

Just a Little Bit Better

Wednesday is my two-post day -- the day I post both here and at the Porch Swing Chronicles. Technically, it's a three-post day, if you count my STYLE Savvy post at CatholicMom.com, but, since that post has an earlier deadline, I'm less likely to feel the posting crunch there. 

Some Wednesdays, I get one--or both--posts done ahead of time. Through a wonderful confluence of time and creativity, I not only figure out what I want to write about before Wednesday rolls around, but I manage to write the post and set it to publish automatically.

Today is not one of those Wednesdays. Today, I'm writing both posts from scratch on Wednesday, grateful that I'm tackling them while it's still morning. And, as I was thinking through the possibilities, another sort of confluence occurred.

A theme. 

So today, I thought it might be fun to try something. Although my post here and my post over at the Porch Swing Chronicles have different content, they have the same title. I hope, if you have a minute, you'll take the time to read both of them.

'Tis the season for piles -- at least at my house. Some piles are good (piles of presents), some not so good (piles of papers to grade). Augmented by the duties of the season, my lists are longer and more diverse than usual, too. The day-to-day responsibilities haven't decreased, but the duties of the season keep piling up, giving me the feeling I'm on a treadmill of productivity: always moving but going nowhere fast.

It's easy to get overwhelmed and self-critical. 

While I have no magical solution to a quick dispensation of the pile-up, I do have one strategy that helps me keep my sanity.

Each day, I try to make things just a little bit better. 

It's not a good short-term strategy, in that the piles diminish slowly, and some stacks overstay their welcome by days, or even weeks. But, then again, losing my mind over a little clutter isn't a good strategy either. 

Each day's list contains two kinds of items: time sensitive tasks and preparations for the season. Intermediate deadlines are sprinkled in, too, as the day's schedule permits, so I can tackle them before they become time sensitive. 

Photo ivoxis via Pixabay

In some ways, this is akin to burning the candle at both ends; on one end, I have the "do it now" things and on the other the end the planning pieces that will make Christmas special and fun, or, perhaps, set up my break between semesters to be both productive and relaxing. Some days, I feel as though I'm standing in the middle of the candle, trying to avoid the flames closing in from both sides, but most days, tackling both kinds of tasks minimizes the panic of the lengthy holiday to do list and gives me a sense of accomplishment as I check a variety of tasks off my list. 

Would I love to see my house pile-free? Absolutely. But, unless a magic wand materializes, I'm going to have to settle for baby steps, reminding myself of what I say here so often.

It's a process. 

A Place for Everything, An Item for Every Drawer

Now this would be a cool
addition to my office!
Photo: Pixabay

In my office, I have two unassigned drawers -- that is to say that they currently serve as "home" to no specific items. One has served several purposes, but, because of my I need to see it style, none of those plans have stuck. Right now, it holds some writing projects and some "miscellaneous files" (always bad news from an organizational perspective), but I wouldn't call the space well-utilized.

The other is drawer is a small one, the lone, empty drawer in a three-drawer unit. Its companions hold, among other things, FitBit wristbands and toilet paper tubes decorated with washi tape and pressed into service as cord storage. Unlike my drawer-in-limbo, it's an organizational coup -- easy to use and in keeping with my styles, I can find what I'm looking for in under five seconds. Because these small drawers have clear, labeled fronts, I can not only glimpse the contents, but I also know what's inside even before I open them -- the labels remove all the mystery.

As an I need to see it person, I need this, ahem, transparency. That's why my wonderful, large drawer with projects and miscellany is a drawer in limbo in a room that still has piles that need sorting. I could take a page out of the I know I put it somewhere handbook and transfer the stacks from my counter (which looks much better this week, I must say) to the drawer. Unfortunately, that would simply hide the problem, rather than solving it; my counter would look better, but I wouldn't be any more organized. Worse yet, those papers could sit in that drawer, hidden from sight, for years before I paid attention to them again, which means that I'm taking a significant risk if I put anything important or time sensitive in that wonderful, practically empty space.

Meanwhile, in another spot in the office, a rolling bin has been pressed into service as file storage for my active class files. Previously, it collected dust as the official storage place for all of my notes on organization, but, when I needed a place (besides the chair in the living room) to keep my class files, I rethought the plan. I moved the organization files -- which I don't need to access on a daily basis -- to the family room to create space in my office for the files I touch every day.

What, you may ask, is the purpose of all of these stories?

Balance.

Balance between overstuffed and just right = room to grow (my empty/unassigned drawers).

Balance between my I need to see it personal style and my drop and run organizational style = a "just right" container that allows me to put things away (instead of down) in a place where they're visually accessible.

Balance between the easy answer and the one that makes sense = time + patience + trial + error.

Pixabay

It's amazing how easily we fall into -- and stay stuck in -- habits that don't work. Getting organized and staying organized means constantly reassessing what goes where and whether or not the storage we choose is the best choice. It means finding what works and replicating it so that eventually, everything has a home that's as easy to use as the default surface we choose when we're too exhausted to put things where they belong.

Needless to say, it's a process.

And sometimes, empty drawers share space with homeless piles.

3 Keys Thursday: 3 Keys to Overcoming Motivational Obstacles Unique to Your Styles

Dodgerton Skillhause via Morguefile

I've been writing about Organizing by STYLE for over a decade, so you'd think I'd have discovered the link between my styles and motivation long ago. Not true. In reality, it took me until last weekend to make the connection.

Thankfully, the solution was an easy one; merely listing my accomplishments at the end of the day took them from invisible to visible, satisfying my I need to see it personal style and salvaging my motivation (and my pride).

Yesterday, I wrote about the motivation issues that may arise naturally from our personal and organizational styles, so today, I'd like to share three keys to bringing motivation back.

Listing. While these serve as proof of accomplishment for the I need to see it personal style, they serve as item locators for those with the I know I put it somewhere organizational style. Being unable to find something you've stored "in a safe place" is a real motivation killer. Cheat sheets bring order and a system to the sometimes haphazard organization of the  I know I put it somewhere organizer.

Chunking. A popular strategy for saving time (run all the errands that are in geographic proximity at the same time) and memory (chunk bits of information into related groups (think of phone numbers) to get more information into short term memory), chunking can work as a motivator, too. The I love to be busy person can actually see progress when he or she breaks organizational tasks into bite-sized pieces that can realistically be accomplished between meetings, appointments and practices. The drop and run organizer can save time digging through piles if each pile ("chunk") contains one category of items. It may take a little creative dropping, getting into the habit of putting all the items for one activity in the same spot, but it's the beginning of a system.

Containing. Choosing containers that match our styles increase our motivation to put things away instead of down, and to use the organizational systems we set up. Cram and jammers whose containers are large and/or flexible are less likely be defeated by crumpled, ripped or broken items. I love stuff folks protect their collections by containing them in ways that keep them safe and out of harm's way.

It's hard not to get discouraged when our styles don't match those of our Type A organizer friends, but remember that consistency is key, no matter your styles. Finding tools that work and using those tools consistently leads to habits and systems that work because they've arisen out of what comes naturally. Celebrating small successes and using tools whose form, function and style are a good fit for you keeps motivation high and the piles of stuff low.

Even better? It feels a lot less like work.

Growing Up with STYLE

Pixabay

Last spring, my high school senior announced that she was looking forward to going through stuff and getting rid of things this summer. Specifically, she'd set her sights on the playroom/man cave/family room and her bedroom, but the basement was also in her sights.

Music to a mother's ears. Especially a mother who writes about organization.

Last Friday night--the beginning of the first weekend in August, less than three weeks before she leaves for college--she told me she was in the mood to sort.

You don't have to ask me twice.

Several sorting sessions and many piles later, the closet looked better than it has in years. Our give away pile had grown, as had our trash pile. There's still work to do, but some small goals, like emptying out the storage ottoman and making space in the closet for a crate of albums, have been accomplished.

One of the really cool--and somewhat surprising--things about this is that my daughter was a die-hard I love stuff kid. As a matter of face, she still is.

Although her style hasn't changed, she's become a lot more discriminating about the "stuff" that makes the cut. Her definition of "treasure" has narrowed over the years, but true to form, she (still) prefers donating things to throwing them away.

Why am I telling this story?

Simple. Chances are, you have someone in your house whose style differs from yours. That style  might even drive you a little crazy. But honoring people's styles and helping them to work with those styles can help them to become more discriminating about the tools they choose, and how they choose to use them. Even better, your respect for their styles and organizing choices helps them to feel more self-confident about their own ability to organize and can empower them to advocate for themselves.

With time and practice, organizing gets easier, especially if we work with what comes naturally instead of trying to conform to what works for someone else. And, before you know it, you have a kiddo who can organize a book bag, a school desk and a locker...and maybe even her own room.

At least once in a while.

Pixabay

Organization Extra: Would You Like Rings with that Organizational Tool?

Italian leather binders from thisnext.com

I'm not a big family history buff. My only brush with Ancestry.com or anything of its ilk came when my daughter had to do a family history project for school and I passed off the research to my husband, who's more interested in this sort of thing. I enjoyed seeing all the photos, but had little interest in the family tree, maybe because I knew starting a project like this could suck me into one more thing that ate away at my already minuscule tidbits of discretionary time.

Although today's Organization Extra is about keeping track of family history documents, I liked it because it speaks to the greater issue of style. When I taught Organizing by STYLE to elementary school kids, even they, at their young organizational age, had strong preferences for binders vs. folders, for many of the same reasons described in this piece.

How about you? Are you a binder person, a folder person, or, like many of my former students, and aficionado of the accordion file?

Containers, Styles and Logical Homes: Where Did/Does/Should it Go?

pier1.com

Now that you've got the right stuff, it's time to put it to use in a way that will establish a working system. When it comes to matching containers to your personal and organizational styles, the goal is not only to choose the right containers, but also to develop new habits that make the most of what you do naturally.

Remember my bathroom bins? When we organize by STYLE, we work with our habits, instead of against them. Two simple concepts lie at the heart of working with those habits instead of against them.

photos-public-domain.com

We've already talked about the first one: the concept of a home for every item. A home is where something “lives.” While the containers we've been perfecting for a month are key to establishing home for our items, they're only half the equation.

In order to get from a pile of random containers to an organizational system, we need to master the concept of logical and consistent homes for all of our things. A logical home is one that:

• is close to where the item is most often used;
• is the right size for the item;
• takes into account how often the item needs to be accessed.

This is the reason we store food in the pantry, toys in the playroom and holiday decorations in the attic. It’s also the reason we don’t store a single pair of socks, for example, in an empty kitchen drawer. Too much space is wasted if we dedicate an entire drawer to a pair of socks, and, since we don’t usually get dressed in the kitchen, it makes no sense to store socks there. Location is just as important in storage as it is in real estate. 

Here are a few things to consider as you establish logical homes for your things:

• Store things that are used every day in places that are easy to access. 
• Choose a storage solution (container and location) that makes it as easy to put things away as it is to put them down. 
• Store things where you use them...or drop them...or naturally put them. 
• Store similar items together, and consider storing complementary items (things that go together or are used together) near each other as well. 

I'll have more on each of these next week. For now, take a look at some of those things you put down instead of away at your house and do a little strategizing. Do those items have homes? And if so, are they logical homes? Or, when you consider your personal and organizational styles, do they belong somewhere else?

freepik.com

Throwback Thursday: On Organization, Right-Brained Thinking and Office Supplies

The post below originally ran on January 30, 2013 after I had the honor of speaking to a local writing group about Organizing by STYLE.

Two weeks ago, I had the privilege of speaking to the Lancaster Christian Writers group on the topic of organization. They were a warm and enthusiastic bunch, and I had a wonderful time.

Among the resources I shared was one of the books that had ushered in a paradigm shift for me, Organizing For the Creative Person: Right-Brain Styles for Conquering Clutter, Mastering Time and Reaching Your Goals, by Dorothy Lehmkuhl. Until I read this book, I'd never considered the notion that people who are right brain dominant organize differently than those who are left brain dominant. Silly, really, since I'd been an educator for years, and firmly believed that different kids had different learning styles and that we could maximize what they learned by using those styles to their advantage. Still, I'd never made the leap to different organizational styles.

But, after I read that book, I sure did. I embraced that concept not only personally but professionally, cooking up style names designed to make organizational concepts fun and accessible for kids, and, as it turns out, adults too.

Then last weekend, I came across a nugget of information in a document I'd downloaded quite some time ago. Smead (the office supply company) had created a document called 100 Ideas for Better Organization. I'd been reading it in bits and pieces, but when I arrived at idea #72 last weekend, I stopped short.

There it was again. Right brain organizing.

Turns out that the need to leave things out in plain sight (one of the personal styles I discuss in my classes and presentations) is connected to right brain dominance. According to Idea #72, the right-brain-dominant person is stimulated to thinking and doing by the things they see.

Well, what do you know? My messy desk has more to do with the dominant side of my brain than my need (?) to operate in chaos.

Smead cascading wall organizer

But, as you can imagine, an office supply company doesn't put out a free publication without taking advantage of the opportunity to advertise their product. In this case, however, I was appreciative, because their "hints" and "suggestions" fed into my mission. When I talk to people about organization, there are two things I want them to know by the time they leave:

• you aren't broken or flawed or somehow inferior if you struggle with organization and
• you can turn your styles into assets.

More than halfway through my free download, I discovered that not only was my need to leave things lying out a reflection of my right-brained-ness, but there were office supplies geared to people like me. And you know what that means?

I'm not alone. Better yet, I'm a target market - one who can turn her styles into assets.

Well, that may be the nicest thing an office supply company has ever said to me.