Tangled -- And Not in a Good Way

I came back from the beach with one of my necklaces in knots. I'd packed it in a pouch, a method that's worked just fine on previous trips, but was a disaster this time around. After two unsuccessful (but brief) de-tangling sessions, I set it aside, knowing I'd have to work at this a little bit at a time, and in the meantime, I'd need to choose a different necklace.

I can't do much about my packing fiasco now, but I can make sure it doesn't happen again. This morning, I searched online for packing tips for jewelry, and came across this great blog, which I thought I'd share today so perhaps I can save someone else from making the same mistake I did.

Here are a few of Travel Fashion Girl's Traveling With Jewelry: 10 DIY Packing Tips and Tricks by STYLE:

For the I know I put it somewhere organizer
(I used decorated toilet paper rolls to store my electronics chargers -- inside the cardboard).

For the cram and jammer
(works for rings and earrings, but not for necklaces with fine chains)

For the I need to see it personal style
(I think I prefer her pill box idea, though).

The one I wish I'd tried.

All photos in this blog courtesy of Pinterest, via Travel Fashion Girl.

(I know what my next Pinterest board is going to be).

See you tomorrow for 3 Keys Thursday...unless I'm still untangling my necklace.

Photo: DodgertonSkillhause via Morguefile

Organization Extra: 14 Habits

Photo: pippalou via Morguefile

This summer, in preparation for a class I'm teaching in the fall, I'm re-reading some of my favorite books on success (Mindset, Outliers), along with some other fun books I've discovered that tackle topics like perfectionism and procrastination.

When it comes to books on success, those of us who came of professional age in the last two decades of the 20th century think immediately of Stephen Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Successful People. With his private and public victories and focus on putting the most important things first, Covey reminded a generation of overachievers not to forget what really mattered, and, consequently, what truly defined success.

And so it I couldn't help but think of Covey as I read Sarah Klein's "14 Habits of Ultra-Organized People," primarily because her title was so reminiscent of Covey's. Klein's article describes what I've dubbed the "Type A" organizer: the logical, naturally organized person who rarely struggles with the concept and execution of "a place for everything and everything in its place."

If you, like me, are not one of those people, Klein's article is still worth a read. With twice as many points to cover, she gives less space to each, but still manages to cover them all in a way that makes sense, particularly to a generation raised on sound bites instead of self-help books. What I like best is that she discusses the why behind organization, as well as giving consideration to concepts like perfectionism, optimism and taking things one step at a time.

And, whether your organizational style is Type A, drop and run, cram and jam or I know I put it somewhere, letting go of perfectionism, seizing hold of optimism and taking things one step at a time is a pretty effective recipe for successful organizing.

3 Keys Thursday: 3 Key Ideas for the I Need to See it Personal Style

DodgertonSkillhause via Morguefile

Last Thursday, I posted my final Throwback Thursday post. The truth is, I've run out of relevant posts to fill that slot, so today, I'm starting a new feature: 3 Keys Thursday. Inspired by last week's improvement of my I need to see it bathroom drawer, (and because I'm an I need to see it person myself), I'm leading off with 3 Keys for those with the I need to see it personal style.

Recycled Drawer Organizer
urbangirl.com

• Subdivide drawers. As a rule, I need to see it  people do best when our stuff is visible, but we can't leave every element of our lives on display. That's just creepy. Drawer organizers (store-bought or homemade) enable us to put typical storage spaces to use by rendering the contents of drawers and other closed-off spaces visible as soon as we open them. Multi-drawer units can be further de-mystified by labeling the outside of the drawer with the general contents of the inside (e.g. "paper products"). This is the one strategy that helps me tame the fear that out of sight really is out of mind.

• Lay it all out. Anyone who doubts that I need to see it   is my preferred personal style should watch me pack for a trip. If I don't lay it out (and that means practically everything except toiletries), it doesn't make it into the suitcase. I can tell when I'm close to finishing my packing because one by one, all of the piles begin to disappear. I'm much less worried about forgetting things if I see the big picture as I plan.

Barker Creek Giraffe file folders
urbangirl.com

• Employ striking visuals. If color-coding is key, pattern-coding is even better. Even my file cabinet, which is mostly archival storage, contains multi-colored file folders. I assign a hanging folder color to each of my classes, and, when possible, match the inside folders to the color for that class, and use that option to tag all the files for that class on my Mac. Even better are the distinctive, patterned file folders that tell me which pile of papers is inside the folder before I even open it up. Lately, I've gotten really lucky, scoring 3 packs of patterned folders in the dollar bins at Target. This concept can be extended to desk bins, storage bins, or any other container.

If you have an I need to see it personal style what are the key ideas you swear by? Share in the comments below! 

For printable information sheets about containers and the styles, 

click on the CHARTS tab at the top of this page.

The Saga of an I Need to See It Drawer

Last week, I opened my perfectly arranged I need to see it bathroom drawer and realized it was no longer so perfect. The addition, subtraction and replacement of necessary items had, over time, begun to erode my I need to see it organizational system.

Fortunately, the drawer was designed for Easy Upkeep, and so I had it back in shape in fifteen minutes, using just a few simple strategies:

• Remove layers. Layers are the enemy of I need to see it organizing for one simple reason: the top layers obscure everything below. So much for seeing it. Excavating and getting things back down to a single layer restores visibility. Most of the upper layers were new additions to the drawer, and could be managed using one of the strategies below.

• Consolidate duplicates. I didn't need a nearly full bottle of nail polish remover and one that had just a tiny bit left. After first checking the ingredients to ensure I wouldn't trigger an unpleasant chemical reaction, I combined the two and recycled the empty bottle.

• Store extras elsewhere. I also had more of some things than I needed and new items waiting to take the place of old ones that weren't yet empty. I had homes for all of these; I just needed to put them there -- and out of prime real estate -- until I needed them.

• Unpack/re-store/label. It can be a little challenging to store things in their original containers due to anything from the configuration of the packaging to the configuration of the drawer divider to the amount and shape of the space available. If the packaging works, great. If not, take it apart and store it in a more convenient fashion, then label the new container (if it's not see-through) so you remember what's inside.

In the end, the differences were subtle, and, truth be told, I ended up with top and bottom layers on the left. But, since the bottom container (where the unpackaged/repackaged razors are hiding) is visible, labeled, and less frequently accessed than the upper items, I'm living with it for now, as I consider where else that top layer can go. 

The bottom line? I consider my fifteen minutes well spent. Every time I open the drawer, I can see everything in it and access exactly the item I need in mere seconds. For an I need to see it organizer, that's as close to organizational perfection as it gets.

Organization Extra: Clutter Reduction = Happiness

barnesandnoble.com

Last spring, right around the time the semester ended, I made a trip to the library to drop off donations. Time to read was still around the corner, blockaded by papers and finals that needed to be graded, but sending an author to the library and expecting her to leave empty-handed is like sending a two-year-old to a candy store with the same expectation.

So, I went in search of books that might make worthy contributions to next semester's classes, and emerged with Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project. Not only am I using it next semester, but I also enjoyed every chapter.

Today's Organization Extra, "10 Tips to Beat Clutter in Less Than 5 Minutes," is from Gretchen's Happiness Project Blog, one of many goals she set and achieved in conjunction with the writing of the book.

And who knows? These tips might actually yield that rare commodity: time to read a good book.

Throwback Thursday: Never Listless

This post first appeared on The Porch Swing Chronicles in November 2014.

I've written before about to-do lists: writing them, using them, conquering them. I've read about them, too -- how to do them, how not to do them, how long/short/organized/detailed they should be. To categorize or not to categorize. Short and simple or long and comprehensive. Day-by-day or one big jumble.

And I keep changing my mind.

To-do lists are a necessary evil. We need them to keep track of the details of our lives, but if we're not careful, they can take over. Living by the list leaves little time for the things that refresh and sustain us. After all, when's the last time you wrote "take a nap" or "curl up with a book" on a to-do list?

My to-do lists vary. When I was working full-time, they were scrawled on scraps of paper and separated by home tasks and work tasks. When I first retired, I kept a master list and culled items from it to add to the daily schedule. These days, I do a little bit of both.

Last Saturday morning, I woke up with a to-do list that could fill a notebook -- or at least it felt that way. Typically, I shy away from writing down every single thing I need to do (especially on days like that) because halfway through the process, I grow weary and depressed from the mere act of considering everything I need to do.

Unfortunately, the alternative is keeping it all in my head (and running the risk of forgetting to do things) and so some days, like last Saturday, I succumb. I dump all of my to-dos (or at least the ones that occur to me at the moment) onto paper and then take stock.

This time, it wasn't the sheer quantity of what I needed to do that threatened to send me back to bed; in terms of length, the list was reasonable. But the amount of space each item took up on the page in no way corresponded to the amount of time each thing would take.

Today is Monday, and I'm still working on that Saturday list. The funny thing is, that's not a bad thing because I sort of suspected it would happen.

Yesterday afternoon, I approached my list with trepidation. I'd written it on Saturday, then started my day, filling it with both on-the-list and off-the-list (routine) items. And a lovely thing happened.

I did most of the things on the list. And the act of checking them off was very fulfilling indeed.

No matter how we do to-do lists, one thing is true in nearly every case. Dumping tasks onto the page frees us from the responsibility of carrying them around, trying to keep track of them. That's what the list is for. And if we make the list, plot out the day and then go about our business, we sometimes find that the list has taken care of itself and we get to check things off.

Not all lists are created equal, however. Some days, I grip my list in my sweaty fist all day long lest I forget to complete something that's on it. And grocery lists? I never leave home without them -- at least not when I know I'm bound for the grocery store.

Slowly, I've come to realize that to-do lists must be fluid. We can't simply make one list and be done with it, and the sooner we make peace with that idea, the more useful (and less stressful) our lists become. In the end, there's really only one thing that's true about all to-do lists.

It's fun crossing things off of them.

Finishing Up with STYLE

Photo: cohdra via Morguefile

Okay, 'fess up. When I told you last week that the final element of Easy Upkeep is looping back to the STYLE process, did you try it out? Or, have you gotten lost in the details and completely forgotten what the STYLE process even is? (That's okay -- I can identify). In case you need a refresher, here it is again:

Start with successes.

Take small steps.

Yes, it has a home!

Let it go.

Easy upkeep

The good news is that going through the steps in this process as you troubleshoot should be much  easier now than it was before. Knowing your styles and having the right tools — those details that are so easy to get lost in — makes this process go faster as we move from letter to letter in a focused, knowledgeable fashion. 

Once you know your styles and your preferred tools and methods, a cursory examination of a spot that's not quite right is enough, in most cases, to reveal what you need to change, making STYLE look something like this as we approach our own organizational challenges:

Start with successes (What can I keep exactly as it is?)

Take small steps (How can I just make a small dent here?) 

Yes, it has a home! (What's here, but belongs somewhere else?)

Let it go (Do I really need all of this?)

Easy upkeep (What will make this space both functional and attractive?)

My house is still a work-in-progress, and it always will be. But when I look at the areas that need improvement through an I need to see it/drop and run lens, it's much easier to brainstorm solutions and create a space I want to spend time in. 

amazon.com

• I know better than to store things in cardboard boxes with lids because that works at cross-purposes to my I need to see it style.
• I've learned that it's a waste of time to store frequently used items in out-of-the way places. Not only is that a basic organizational no-no, it also works against my I need to see it style, and so, if it's too much trouble to retrieve, I'll just leave it out -- not a good plan.
• I know that if I want to maintain order, I need to make it as easy to put things away as it is to put them down. Why? Because my predominant organizational style is drop and run.
• I know that attractive containers not only beautify a space, but unique, attractive containers help me to remember what goes where. Once again, I need to see it at work. Visual cues help me to keep track of where things belong.

chateauandbungalow.com

Bottom line? Knowing my styles allows me to achieve success, even if I can only do things one baby step at a time (which means some places in my house remain a work-in-progress). Getting rid of the excess and finding homes for my things reduce clutter and increase efficiency. And setting up a system that works with my styles allows for easy upkeep, because I'm working with my natural tendencies, not against them, or trying to make a plan that works for someone else work for me.

How's your upkeep going? Share your successes and frustrations in the comments below.