3 Keys Thursday: 3 Key Questions for that Maybe Moment

Almost three years ago, I declared the upcoming year my Year of No. Like many people, I have a tendency to take on too much (can you identify, I love to be busy friends?) I was determined to develop the habit of stepping back and taking a moment to think before I committed.

The other day, a new kind of writing project came my way. As you can imagine, I have a weak spot for writing-related projects, but I also have a substantial pile of writing projects in progress. 

Do I need another one?

If you, too, have found yourself in this situation, here are three questions that might help with the decision-making process.

Do I have to do it? There are plenty of things I'd say no to if I could, but they're necessary to keep our household running or required by my employer. These are things that make the list, whether it's the year of no or not. Several examples spring readily to mind, but I shall refrain from naming them on the grounds that they'll make me look bad.

Does it make me happy or serve a purpose that matters to me? It's rare that I actually have an empty space on my calendar that's begging to be filled but if an opportunity arises that excites me, does good, or advances a cause or goal that matters to me, I'll probably say yes and make room one way or another. A perfect example of this arose around the same time I established my Year of No, kicking it off spectacularly by auditioning for a scripted show for the first time in almost two decades. The gains were more than worth the losses, especially since the former included friendships that continued far beyond the last curtain call.

Am I doing this because I want to or because someone else wants me to? This is the hardest one. There were times that the "no" that protected my time made someone else unhappy, or even angry. The line between self-care and selfish can feel precariously thin but, in the end, since the time expenditure is mine, so, too, is the final decision -- and any fallout that arises.

Learning to step back and create a maybe moment between the request and the assent has helped to ensure that I'm spending my time on the things I want to spend time on, even if I do still overcommit more often than I ought to. And, when I say no, more often than not what I feel is relief, not regret.

As for that writing project, I've decided not to decide -- yet. I need to do more research on just how complicated and time consuming it will be, and whether or not it's a good fit for me and vice versa. Only then will I know if it's something I want to pursue. So, I'm taking my time, and pondering my three questions, and making sure my answer is the right one for me.

The Whys of Organization

Organization is, indeed, a process -- a dynamic approach that allows us to live in harmony with our things, instead of just focusing on putting things away. Each of us has different reasons for wanting to be organized -- the "why" behind our desire to strengthen both our skills and our systems. 

Our "why" becomes the momentum that drives the process; whether we organize to find things when we need them, to enjoy the sense of mastery a clear space brings with it, or to create a sense of peace around us, our "why" shapes our systems and plays a role in our styles. What an organizational system based on our whys and our styles lacks in perfection, it makes up for in efficiency because we have fit it into our lives instead of the other way around.

When I was writing Know Thyself, I asked some friends about their whys, and I thought it would be fun to share some of them here. 

Can you identify? Or is your why something completely different?

A Week of Organization

jackmac34 via Pixabay

Regular readers know I'm a big fan of taking small steps. But, when clutter encroaches, small steps don't seem like enough.

How about one small step every day? Try out the organizational acrostic below to make a little bit of progress in a lot of spaces over the course of a week, whether you've got five minutes, fifteen minutes or an hour. 

Magazine Monday. Grab a pile of magazines or catalogs (let the amount of time you have dictate the size of the pile you start out with). Toss or recycle the ones you no longer want. Find a home for any you want to keep. The bonus round: Stop subscriptions to anything you tossed out unread.

Toss it Tuesday. Find a surface that's supposed to be clear (but isn't) and sort things into two piles: keep or get rid of. Decide what to do with the things you no longer want (throw away, recycle, give away, consign). Save the rest for tomorrow. The bonus round: Actually deliver the giveaways and consignables to their destination.

What do I do with this Wednesday. Return to yesterday's "keep" pile and find a home for everything in it. The bonus round: As you put things away, pick up anything else you see that goes in the same place(s).

Think it through Thursday. Find a spot in your house that needs an organizational upgrade. What do you like about the system you have now? What needs improvement? With your preferred styles and container styles in mind, can you think of a better solution? The bonus round: Give a new container a test run to see if it solves the problem.

File it Friday. Dig into that "to be filed" pile and make some progress. More paperless than paper-heavy? Take a look at your inbox and see what needs to be filed -- or deleted -- there. The bonus round: Choose one file folder and sort through it, getting rid of outdated paperwork.

Stylin' Saturday. Take a space from practical organization to pretty organization. Add a dash of color or a pattern like plaid or paisley, or replace a worn or boring container with one that makes you smile every time you use it. The bonus round: Use colored boxes or file folders inside a drawer to jazz it up and make it easier to find what you're looking for.

Siesta Sunday. Take a break! You've earned it. 

Two Tools for Every Style

Pixabay

When it comes to Organizing by STYLE, individuality is key. We identify our styles and use them to create organizational systems that fit and are, therefore, sustainable.

But even though our systems work best when they're individualized, the same tool often works for many styles. Here are two tools that can be personalized to fit every style.

Lists. 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 and as a plan of attack for those with an I love to be busy personal style. Whether they're on brightly colored paper, tucked into a planner, written backwards (things I accomplished today) or forward (things I need to do tomorrow), lists are one of the most adaptable organizational tools ever.

Containers. Choosing containers that match our styles increases 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. I know I put it somewhere organizers can use clear bins to reveal the safe hiding places for their prized items and those with a drop and run organizational style are more likely to put things where they belong if they simply forgo the lid and go for one-step containing. 

Finding tools that work and adapting them to our styles leads to habits and systems that work because they've arisen out of what comes naturally. And, once we learn to use those tools consistently, we're on the path to easy upkeep.

3 Keys Thursday: 3 Small Steps to Brighten Your Surroundings

Most of us have been spending a lot more time at home, which can give us plenty of time to identify places in our homes that would benefit from a bit of our attention. Unfortunately, seeing them doesn't always give us the energy and/or motivation to do anything about them.

Want to take a small step toward organization? Here are three ideas to get you started.

One container upgrade. Is there a container that's not earning its keep? One that works or has seen better days? Treat yourself to something new with the same features. Brightening up the space can pay organizing and decorating dividends.

One space that needs work. If you're like me, you don't have to look far to find an area that could benefit from some improvement. Once you've identified the area, take a moment and look around again. What's working in a similar space, or to store similar items? Can you import an idea that's working into a space that isn't?

Help a family member identify a solution that works with their styles. Now, while we're all close together for long periods of time, other people's dilemmas can bother us more than usual. If they bother the other person too, perhaps together, you can brainstorm some ideas that might work with their styles. This has the potential to be a win-win, especially if the space is bothering you, too. 

Having time on our hands or being in the right place at the right time can be beneficial to our organizing efforts, but it's not a promise of success. Taking small steps can yield big payoffs, and the sense of accomplishment that results might even nudge us on to other projects as well.

True Confessions Wednesday: End-of-Month Transitions

True Confession #46: I struggle with the transition from one month to the next.

I can hardly believe the end of October is almost upon us! At school, in particular, this gets my attention because this year, fall semester ends on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. It's been a challenging semester on many levels and compacting it has been one of those challenges. 

As someone with an I need to see it personal style, it's the flip of the calendar page that gets me. Yes, I am aware of how ridiculous that sounds coming from a full-grown woman but, somehow, a week that is split between one month and the next contributes to my losing track of time in a way I can't really explain.

Luckily, this month will not provide the same challenge since the last week in October had the courtesy to fill an entire row of block on my calendar page. But, since other months are less cooperative, I've come up with a few tips that help to keep the shock of "you mean that's next week?" at bay. They're not foolproof, but their consistent use has kept me from missing many important events and appointments.

Look ahead. Preparing for a transition makes it easier, and the simplest way for me to do this is to make it a habit to flip from one month to the next far enough ahead of time to wrap my brain around the wraparound of this month into next. Ten days to two weeks ahead of time is usually sufficient.

Create a sign post. Always meaning to look ahead but still getting caught by surprise? Jot important first-week-of-the-next-month tasks or appointments on a small, square sticky note and attach it to a calendar square in the last week of the month.

Do a weekly check-in. My family just loves this (yes, that's sarcasm), but it helps us to make sure that we align our calendars and don't miss appointments (plus my husband is better at the whole next-week-is-a-new-month thing than I am). When my daughter was growing up, we had our "calendar meeting" at dinner on Friday, but you can pencil in any time that works for your family. Once this becomes a habit, it's something you can accomplish in less than ten minutes.

Investing a little time in your calendar can make things run more smoothly every day of the month, even when the next one sneaks up on you.

Then & Now Meets 3 Keys Thursday: Scrapping the Schedule

Because I've been posting here for more than five years, I sometimes dig into my archives for material. Lots of times, I aim for the same time of year to see how similar my posts are during a particular season. 

As I scrolled through posts from October 2016, I had to laugh when I stumbled on the post below, entitled "The Thursday Post that was Supposed to be a Wednesday Post" -- right after I'd posted yesterday's post just before 5:30 on a Thursday evening.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Then:

On Tuesday, I made a decision that made no sense from a time management perspective. In the midst of grading papers and exams, posting midsemester warning grades and preparing for a long-awaited trip to see my daughter, I decided to carve out a chunk of time to visit with a friend.

There were plenty of other things I could have been doing (writing this blog post, for example). There were plenty of other things I should have been doing (see the first paragraph of this post), and, when I got home, there were plenty of other things that remained to be done. And you know what?

I have no regrets.

As I type this Wednesday post a little after midnight (making it one of two Thursday posts), it promises to be a late night. I've finished grading most of the papers I needed to grade, but a few still remain. A Wednesday post on another blog has also been shifted to Thursday.

But I had a great day. I got to spend uninterrupted time with a friend I see face-to-face only a few times a year. We got to laugh and commiserate and enjoy each other's company. And the food at the restaurant was pretty good, too.

Pexels via Pixabay

I realize that this is a strange post for a blog about organization. My very structured, practical husband told me (more than once) how surprised he was that I opted to meet with my friend when I had so much to do, and I'm pretty sure most professional organizers and productivity experts would have advised against it.

But I'm not a professional organizer or productivity expert -- something that's abundantly clear if you read this blog on a regular basis. If organizing by STYLE means embracing the styles that come naturally, then managing time by STYLE means embracing our priorities and planning accordingly. For me, that means making sure to spend time with the people who matter to me, even when it means posting a blog later than usual or making a late night even later. 

The good feelings that are created when we do things that matter to us linger.  There will always be blogs to write and papers to grade, but my friend won't always be in town.

And I hope I'm never so grown up that I forget that people are more important than papers.

Now:

Dodgerton Skillhause via Morguefile

Since it's Thursday, I thought I'd stick with my usual "3 Keys Thursday" theme. Inspired by the post above, 
here are three things I think are worth abandoning the schedule for:

• Friends and family (some things never change);
• An excellent opportunity (especially one that can't be rescheduled) and
• Sleep. (Never underestimate the power of a good nap).

What would you add?