A Few of My Favorite Tools

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Maybe it was the tax paperwork (which you'll read about tomorrow) or maybe it was the weather, but I was in an organizing mood last weekend. I've always enjoyed organizing, but since I've started using style-based strategies, I like it even more. I know which tools work for me, and I'm quick to say "thanks, but no thanks" to those who suggest strategies that sound great but don't work for me (binders and file cabinets, anyone?).

In addition, I surround myself with tools that I know will work. Here are a few of my favorites.

• A label maker. Sure, you can hand print, but not only are printed labels easier to read, they also make everything look neat and uniform.
• Accordion folders. These formed the basis for my tax paperwork and came in handy for storing old presentations I uncovered while cleaning the basement. They work well for corralling not only papers, but index cards, receipts and small notes -- and there's no need to punch holes or worry about things falling out the sides.
• Topless bins. What other kinds of bins would a drop and run organizer use? My favorite find was file bins that allow me to see the (often color-coded) files they house, helping me transfer the concept of filing papers to an I need to see it-friendly method. Open containers make it as easy to put things away -- where they belong -- as it is to put them down -- where they don't belong.

How about you? What are your favorite organizing tools?

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?

Throwback Thursday: Organization Inspiration

Today's post originally ran in August 2013, when I was just getting serious about writing about the ideas I'd shared with my students.

More than a decade ago, my sister introduced me to a show on HGTV called Mission: Organization. On this show, professional organizers worked with families to bring order to chaos. The best organizers not only restored order, but also helped the families develop systems that continued to work even after the professional was gone. Best of all, these pros never made the homeowners feel as though there was something wrong with them because their living space looked (and perhaps was) disorganized.

I first saw this on Mission: Organization.
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Every time I watched the show, I felt the urge to go organize something in my own home. Bitten by the organization bug, I moved beyond HGTV and started reading books and I began to wonder about my students who struggled with organization. What if someone taught them now, while they were still in elementary school, that they weren’t inherently flawed just because organization didn’t come naturally? Better yet, what if someone helped them to assess the skills they already possessed so that they could learn to view them as the basis of a personalized organizational system?

My experience with kids had made it clear to me that they needed something else. Something personalized. Something with a sense of humor. Something fun.

We started talking about styles with crazy names and playing with different organizers -- things besides binders and pocket folders. We identified personal and organizational styles, experimented with containers and organizational tools and shared successes. Simply switching from one tool to another brought everything into focus for a few of my students. The transformation was not only amazing, but energizing. My students were getting excited – about organization! – and developing confidence in their ability to get themselves together. 

When I found this video on The Smead Organomics Facebook page, I was reminded of these lessons, and each child's need to organize in his or her own way. Some kids are traditional organizers and will be just fine -- many will even thrive -- with binders and pocket folders. Others will look a mess when handed these tools, but when given the opportunity to use something else, their world will come into focus, and their papers will follow.

I'm disappointed that Smead didn't feature any boys in this video. The products featured in this clip -- especially accordion folders -- have proven very popular with boys as well as girls, and when they are available in a colors outside the realm of pastels, they make great alternatives to binders -- for both genders.

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As you tackle those back-to-school purchases, help your child consider his (or her) options. If traditional tools aren't required, explore a few different choices, especially if your child has struggled with disorganization. Sometimes the right tool is the difference between disorganized futility and organized confidence. And please -- share your stories of success (or frustration) by commenting below.

Happy shopping!