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. 

If I Label the Refrigerator Shelves, Am I Crossing a Line?

Photo: W. Carter via Wikimedia Commons

In my mind's eye, there is a map for the inside of the refrigerator. Beverages go in one spot, leftovers in other, meat in a third. That is, to my way of thinking, why refrigerator manufacturers create separate compartments.

In my family's mind's eye, it's all a haphazard game. As long as the food gets into the fridge, they are satisfied.

Don't get me wrong -- I'm grateful that the food makes it into the refrigerator. I'm less grateful, however, when I end up throwing away once lunch-worthy leftovers because they got shoved to the back behind the applesauce which, by the way, belongs on a different shelf.

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you know that my house is by no means perfect. I am an organizational work-in-progress and my house has multiple hot spots -- places where clutter gathers to have a little party at my expense. I respect other people's right to organize differently than I do, but when my husband's I know I put it somewhere style meets my I need to see it style in the refrigerator, I spend a lot of time muttering under my breath and searching for solutions.

Last week, after I neatly re-stacked the leftovers and replaced the cut fruit on its shelf (the one where it belongs, not the one where it was), I seriously contemplated getting out the label maker and labeling the shelves. There's a good chance, after all, that what's in my mind's eye is different from what's in my family's mind's eye. I see shelves filled with food that can be categorized for easy retrieval. They see a large rectangular space that keeps things cold.

Photo: Morguefile

As I type this, I'm still considering my labeled shelves idea. The only thing holding me back is the ever-changing nature of refrigerator contents. The shelf that works for leftovers stored in stackable plastic containers might not work for the leftover pizza. Cut fruit needs more storage space in the summer than it does in the winter when we have less of it. Will constantly changing labels that are likely to be ignored cause more annoyance or amusement?

For now, I'm opting to leave well enough alone.

But the next time I throw away perfectly serviceable cold chicken, I just might change my mind.

Trash or Treasure?

Do you have anything you just can't part with? It's okay--you can be honest. I'm not going to make you get rid of it.

For me, two things come to mind immediately, both articles of clothing. The first is a ratty old Bucknell sweatshirt, and, when I say ratty, I'm not exaggerating. The sleeves are torn and shredded at the wrists -- yes, both of them -- and there are holes under both arms. When I put it on yesterday at the end of a long day (because it remains one of the softest, most comfortable and most comforting pieces of clothing that I own), it inspired this blog post.

What do you think the odds are that I'm getting rid of it now?

The second thing is a silky, turtleneck maxi dress that belonged to my grandmother. It lives in a box at the back of my daughter's closet, where I know it will stay, because getting rid of it would feel too much like getting rid of a piece of my grandmother. I don't know why this dress is the one I've chosen to hang on to, but I know that it's not going anywhere anytime soon.

Getting organized doesn't mean getting rid of everything; rather, it's about striking a balance between the things that are important enough to keep and the things that simply take up space. While we certainly can't keep everything that comes into our possession, there's no harm in a little strategic collecting.

The point is to keep it strategic. If things you'll never use again are encroaching into your storage space, or, worse yet, your living space, it may be time to reassess. Are you keeping these things because they have value -- financial or emotional -- or simply out of habit?

How easily we find the line between trash and treasure will vary by style; those with an I love stuff  personal style will most likely find it harder than those with the l love to be busy personal style. As long as we can find a place for each of our belongings, whether it's a place of honor in a collection or a place for safekeeping at the back of a closet, there's no need to get rid of things we love. 

If, on the other hand, you're feeling overrun, and the time has come to clear things out and dispose of the items that are no longer must haves, consider whether or not they might have value to someone else. While no one will want my ratty Bucknell sweatshirt or my grandmother's vintage 1970s maxi dress, the collection of fleece blankets that's threatening to overtake a corner of our family room might be very valuable to a homeless shelter, women's center or pet shelter. 

Just one piece of advice: no fair passing it along to a family member unless they love it as much as you do. 

How about you? What are your must haves, and what are you keeping simply out of habit?

Organizational Extra: Getting Kids Organized

Photo: Jessica Gale via Morguefile

As I write this, the detritus of a rapidly dwindling semester surrounds me, with a fine layer of book launch panic sitting on top like a layer of gooey frosting. Meanwhile, my teenage daughter is celebrating her first Saturday off from work by cleaning her room.

Since the big kid in this equation (that would be me) has given up on doing anything more strenuous that treading water in the organizational pool, today seemed like a good day to focus on organization for kids, especially with the holidays coming. The impending influx of material goods is often a big motivator for sorting and taking advantage of the Three Rs that make up the L (Let it Go!) in STYLE.

Though I rarely watch HGTV these days, a show that was on when my daughter was small (Mission: Organization) was a large part of the inspiration for the way I view organizing. Regardless of what is -- or isn't -- on the air, their website remains a great resource, so I wasn't surprised to find that their article, "Get Your Kids Organized at All Ages" offered some great ideas, packaged into an age-by-age  format.

So, while I sit down in my definitely not organized workspace with a large portion of humble pie, enjoy some tips from the experts, whose offices most likely look better than mine does today.

Organizational Extra: Getting Organized at Work

pixabay.com

Whether you work from home or out of the home, it's easier to be efficient when you're organized. Or, so I hear. Right now, I'm in the middle of numerous projects, and if things go on this way much longer....let's just say I'm looking forward to having time to implement these tips from Rice University.

Admittedly, some of them are a little Type A, but many of them are good, especially if you can find a way to style-ize them.

Personally, I'm in favor of anything that makes work easier.

Enjoy your weekend.

Organization Extra: FlyLady

flylady.net

In one of my earlier posts, I shared that I did a lot of reading before coming up with my own notions of what makes a good, realistic organizational system. One of the sites I enjoyed was FlyLady, who encourages baby steps:

"Our FlyLady system is all about establishing little habits that string together into simple routines to help your day run on automatic pilot."

The site has lots of great ideas, and although I'd choose different starting points, we agree on some things. February's focus, for example, was de-cluttering in fifteen minute increments (an extended Give it Five!)

FlyLady's motto is "Make it fun, it will get done!" While getting organized is not always "fun" for those who've struggled with it for a long time, I agree with FlyLady on the importance of a positive attitude. We can't allow ourselves to give up or to believe that we're somehow inferior because binders and file cabinets don't solve our problems and leave our surfaces clutter-free. Organizing is a process. Taking one step at a time, using our styles as a map, we'll arrive at our destination: organizational systems that allow us to get organized and stay that way.