3 Keys (from last) Thursday: When Clutter Tells a Tale

 So, last week, my Thursday post focused how clutter can sometimes signal that we're overwhelmed. Didn't see it?

That's because I posted it on the wrong blog. No, the irony is not lost on me and now, the post isn't lost either. Here's last week's 3 Keys Thursday...on Monday.

P.S. The mail counter looks much better. 

 We all have them. Those clutter clues that tell us that we -- or our organizational systems -- are overwhelmed. Sometimes, we know already, and the clutter clues are validation for -- or contributors to-- our stress. Other times, we think we've got it all together until we see that clutter catcher spot in our homes that tells us that no, we do not. At least not right now.

For me, it's my mail counter. Those who've read Know Thyself know the saga of the mail counter, as well as how long it took me to conquer it. But, when life overwhelms me, my mail counter begins to reveal my drop and run organizational style in a very accurate and annoying fashion.

This week is one of those weeks. End of semester tasks have left me with a singular focus, and I've slipped into dropping the mail and running back to the tasks that are time sensitive. I knew I was doing this but, when I came into the house after running an errand the other day and was greeted by a pile in a space that was once clear. that put the exclamation point on how much things have been falling by the wayside (including this blog post, which was supposed to be finished and posted yesterday).

Is this happening at your house? If so, here are three questions to ask yourself when clutter pulls you up short like a flashing neon sign.

Is this a temporary issue, or do I need to rethink the organization in this space? When we go through busy patches, life changes, or difficult times, clutter is often our companion. As frustrated as I am by the current state of my mail counter, I know there's a light at the end of this tunnel. When I get there, I can sort the accumulated pile and restore order. For now, my sorting method focuses on two priorities: making sure everyone gets his/her own mail and making sure the bills go where they need to so they get paid. If your answer is different, though, consider the next two questions.

Are these items homeless, or do they need new homes? Often, clutter accumulates when we don't know where to put things, so we put them down instead of away (drop and run), we cram them into an existing space that may already be overstuffed (cram and jam), or we put them where there's room instead of where they belong (I know I put it somewhere). In those last two scenarios, the clutter is often behind closed doors or hidden in a drawer, but those of us with drop and run organizational styles are more obvious. If I'm honest, my drop and run organizational style has led to a few things that aren't mail landing on the mail counter. Most have homes, and I need to put them there, but one large item needs to be downsized so it doesn't take up so much space. Still, all of this is validation for my conclusion that this is a temporary situation, not a sign I need to do an organizational overhaul. Different situation at your house? Sort the clutter into two piles: what belongs here and what doesn't. Put the things that belong back and concentrate on finding real homes for the rest.

Do I need a new container, or time to restore this one? Sometimes, the pretty container or the one we had on hand doesn't do the trick and it needs to be replaced by something more efficient. That might mean picking something larger, or something with drawers that allow us to corral the clutter in a way that makes sense to us. Try emptying the container onto a table and sorting from bottom (where the older items are) to top. If this sorting process leaves you with a pile that fits back into the container (without overflowing), your work is done (if you want it to be). If not, consider what you need (think styles) to keep this space under control.

We all have times where clutter wins the organization battle. But, by being honest with ourselves and using our styles to create long-term solutions, we can win the war.

It's a process. 

Throwback Thursday: It's a Process

Though this blog has been going since 2015, my organization posts started out my Porch Swing Chronicles blog. It was only when I found myself writing about organization a lot that I decided those posts deserved their own space.

And here we are.

The post below ran in June 2013. I don't like household chores any more now than I did then, and I still use little tricks to restore order, especially when life gets hectic.

I'm not a big fan of household chores. I do what I need to do to keep things running, but I tend to put straightening things up near the bottom of the list. Consequently, I tend to tidy in spurts, and in sneaky little ways.

My magazine-a-day campaign is a perfect example of one of those sneaky little tricks. The magazines were (once again) taking up more than their fair share of space, so it was time to take action. The action I chose to take was hardly efficient (get rid of one magazine a day for a week), but it worked. In retrospect, I realized that I used the basic behavioral principle of pairing a pleasurable task (reading the magazines) with a necessary one (reducing the clutter). When it comes to theories, behaviorism isn't one of my favorites, but I have to admit that, in this case, it worked. By the end of the week, I'd gotten rid of eight magazines -- painlessly -- and jump-started the desire to keep going. I'm aiming slightly lower this week (reading all those magazines took a bite out of my book-reading time), but hoping that going deeper into the pile will mean uncovering outdated issues I can toss without reading.

www.freepsdfile.com

A woman in one of the organizing classed I taught has an even better system -- her junk mail never makes it into the house. She picks up the mail and sorts it in her garage, dumping the junk before she even walks into the house. Lacking a garage, I've never been able to adopt that strategy, but am working to adapt it instead, sorting the mail immediately instead of dropping it onto to a pile and moving on to the next thing on my list. Because I am, by nature, a drop and run kinda girl, this is more challenging than it sounds.

This drop and run organizational style often leads to more than just magazines and mail piling up, and has served as -- ahem -- inspiration for another one of my pick-up tricks. Since much of the clutter in my house tends to accumulate on my dining room table, which is centrally located on the first floor of my house, I use a simple strategy of picking up one thing and putting it away each time I pass the table. Simple. Easy. Immediate reinforcement.

Oops. There's that sneaky behaviorism again.

While adopting the Nike slogan ("Just do it!") would probably make things happen a whole lot faster, my silly little methods end up making an unpleasant task more pleasant, whether it's a pick-up pass, or setting a goal of putting away/disposing of a certain number of items in a day. I'm sure my naturally organized friends -- the ones I've affectionately dubbed "Type A Organizers" -- are shaking their heads at my silliness as they sip their iced beverages in their spotless homes, but the rest of you -- the ones, like me, who struggle to keep up with the clutter that seems to be an inevitable part of life -- know just what I mean.

Please, join me in the games. And if they work at your house too, please let me know by commenting below or contacting me on Facebook. I'd love to hear about them.

Organizing FAQs: Why Don't Traditional Tools Work for Me?

 

For years, I tried to make things like binders and file cabinets work for me, and they did -- sort of. They were great containers for keeping the things they held organized. The trouble was, they held only a small portion of my papers. Somewhere between deciding a paper was worth saving and getting it into the binder or file cabinet, the system broke down.

Part of the issue was time, but a bigger part of the issue was that I was afraid to put actionable papers out of sight. So, they sat on my desk, sometimes piled neatly, sometimes not. Before I knew it, they were clutter -- no more accessible to me than they would have been between the covers of a binder or in the drawers of a file cabinet.

I never really took control of my paper clutter until I stopped using the tools I was "supposed" to use and started using the ones that made more sense to my I need to see it personal style and my drop and run organizational style. I needed a system that made it just as easy to put something where it belonged as it was to put it where it didn't and that allowed me to see the papers that reminded me of the things I needed to do. Any tool that lacked either one of those attributes was the pathway to clutter. Afraid I'll forget to do it if I put it away? Okay, I'll leave it out. Too much work to access the place where it belongs? Okay, I'll leave it out. 

So often, we choose standard tools -- things like binders and file cabinets -- and assume they're the answer to our organizational issues. We hope against hope that the container will do the job, but it never does. It's a container, after all -- it just sits there unless we do something with it -- it can't do the de-cluttering for us. 

But the longer it sits there not working, the more it seems to taunt us, and the more hopeless we feel. By looking at what we do naturally, and taking that into consideration instead of allowing ourselves to be shamed by an inanimate object, we can choose tools that work with us instead of working against us -- or not at all.

It's so much fun to be living in a time where so many organizational possibilities exist, whether in the form of containers that aren't our mothers' organizers or in beautiful pieces that we choose to use in unique ways. When a tool doesn't work for us, it provides us with an opportunity to be creative -- to do things our way instead of the way it's always been done, and to make our spaces into havens that are, if not clutter-free, at least functionally organized, allowing us to quickly find what we need when we need and to enjoy the spaces in which we spend our time.

So, go ahead. Toss that useless inanimate object and replace it with something that matches your space, your personality, and your styles.

 Need some help? Check out Know Thyself: The Imperfectionist's Guide to Sorting Your Stuff. :-)

Then & Now: Do You Love to be Busy?

 As a testimonial of sorts to this week's post, it's coming a day late because I was traveling yesterday and didn't get a chance to put a post together. 

Then:

From the beginning, I've identified myself as an I need to see it/drop and run person. Walk into my workspace, and within fifteen seconds, both of these will be evident. In my world, any organizational system without a visual component is doomed by the double whammy of two styles that feed one another.

And while I encourage those taking my styles quiz to claim one predominant personal style and one predominant organizational style, many of us have traits of the other styles as well. For me, the style that lurks in the background, arguably creating the biggest problem of all, is the I love to be busy personal style.

Like many I love to be busy people, I have different bags for different activities, allowing me to grab what I need and go where I'm going. Many of these bags have subsections so that things that go wherever I go (car keys, wallet, phone) can be dropped into their respective subsections -- usually the same one every time -- so I can find what I need when I need it. Keeping all of my necessary materials together in one place (and separate from those for other activities) is key to managing my busyness.

Early on in the process of naming these styles, I love to be busy was called I like to be busy; the name change came about as a way of keeping style names consistent. But you know what? I don't love to be busy. And, the older I get, the more question whether or not I even like to be busy. Sure, I love (word choice intentional) having a wide variety of interests and activities -- that much is true. But lately, I've been craving a break from the busyness -- a life with a little less busy and a little more balance.

kaboompics via Pixabay

Once upon a time, I did love to be busy, and I took great pride in keeping all the balls in the air as I juggled multiple activities. When I was single and first starting out professionally, busy meant the opposite of lonely -- something that I suspect will be true again when I'm retired for real -- but for many of us in the process of raising families, busy means tired. Overwhelmed. In need of balance.

If you truly love to be busy, more power to you. Keep the organizational systems for your activities simple and separate and ready to go at a moment's notice. Revel in your ability to juggle, spin plates and keep track of everything.

But if you, like me, are finding that your verb is changing, or maybe you even have a love-hate relationship with busyness, maybe it's time to consider re-organizing your time just as you would your stuff. Just as we take a look at our possessions and decide what to keep and what to get rid of, so should we take a look at our calendars and find ways to let go of the clutter. Maybe we should consider using the idea of one in/one out not just with purchases (getting rid of something old when you buy something new), but with activities as well. Or even putting dates with ourselves into our calendars so we're not left without time to take care of ourselves.

pixabay.com

Organizing is a balancing act. With possessions, we balance stuff with space. With activities, we balance stuff with time. Our society seems to think that busier is better, but is it?

If too much stuff can tip the scales into disorganization, might it be true that too many activities can tip the scales into exhaustion?

How busy do you really want to be?

Now: 

I'll start out by answering that final question: not as busy as I used to want to be. It's interesting; my daughter has just started her first "real-world" job and finds herself in the head space I found myself in my twenties -- trying to stay busy enough in the hours outside of work to feel both productive and connected. 

I think the pandemic has changed all of our perspectives on busyness. As life showed down in some ways and sped up in others, we took stock of just how busy we wanted to be. As we move away from the fear that gripped us two years ago, how busy do we really want to be?

3 Keys Thursday: 3 Keys to Making Lists Work for You

Last September, I found the perfect planner. While I must admit I judged a book by its cover (I bought it because it's pretty), I grew to love it for what was inside.

Despite the fact that I've never been a fan of undated planners, this one turned out to be perfect.What makes it so special? It not only incorporates my lists, it revolves around them. 

As someone of a certain age with an I need to see it personal style, writing things down has gone from necessity to survival skill. With space on the left side of each page for scheduled events and space on the right for my daily priorities and to-do list, this planner truly lets me see my whole day on one page. As a result, I've curtailed my here a list, there a list, everywhere a scribbled list system and, best of all, put everything in one place where I can see it.

If you, too, are a list-maker (is there anyone who isn't?), here are three keys for making those lists work for you.

Give it a home. As described above, this can be a game changer. Making it a habit to put your list in the same place every time -- whether it's a planner, a notebook, a whiteboard or some other tool -- makes it more likely that you'll keep track of everything rather than scrambling to find a random scrap of paper.

Keep it short. As much as I love lists, I find it overwhelming when they get too long. That's part of the reason I love the fact that my planner leaves room for only three priorities each day, and has a finite number of lines below those three main things for my daily list. If you prefer a master list to a daily list, have at it -- but consider subdividing and conquering on a daily basis so that you don't need to take a nap after you read all you have to do. You can highlight items, star them, box things off, or transfer a handful (that's five) of items onto a daily list. Bonus of that last one? You get to check the same thing off twice.

List by style. As someone with an I need to see it personal style, I'm not one to tuck lists into my purse.  Though I'm improving when it comes to writing things down on random scraps of paper, I'm not above using a brightly colored sticky note to jot down something I must not forget. Choose the listing tools that work best for you. If that means splurging on a pretty notepad (or planner) or a big, fat, Sharpie marker, it's money well spent if it helps you keep track of things. Consider it an investment in your sanity.

And some days, it pays to list in reverse. If you get to the end of a day feeling as though you've accomplished nothing, take a few minutes to create a backwards to-do list, writing down everything you can think of that you've done that day. Often, these kinds of lists leave us pleasantly surprised. 

Lists, like any other organizing tool, should make life easier for us. How can you make your list work for you?

Throwback Thursday: The Seasonal Switchover

 

Although this post from October 2015 was about switching from summer to fall, it's applicable to any seasonal switchover (and I've edited it accordingly). As I type this on a raw, rainy April day when I'm thinking of ditching the thin sweatshirt I'm wearing for a heavier version, it feels like a particularly good choice.

At my house, it's that time of year when some of the clothes (and shoes) that are easily accessible are for the wrong season. Meanwhile, a growing (and still slightly disheveled) portion of my accessible clothing works for spring, which I keep hoping is just around the corner. I spent a little time on my closet a couple of weeks ago because I needed to make space for some new clothes, but otherwise, the seasonal conversion has yet to take place. Yes, I know it's April, but there's nothing worse than switching everything around only to hit a stretch of weather where I end up dragging out the things I just put away.

I've yet to discover a way to do the seasonal switchover in a way that makes the process fun. Fortunately, creating a good set-up for the coming season by putting things away in a style-savvy manner at least makes it all less dreadful.

As you pull out one season and put away another, here are a few things to consider.

• Weed if you can. Whether you're moving clothes within one closet or from one closet to another, take some time to consider the usefulness of what you're moving. Hang pieces one at a time in their new space, considering whether or not everything you're putting away (or aside) for the upcoming months is worth keeping. Anything you haven't worn in a while?  Something too big or too small or of sentimental value, but not worth the space it takes up? Get rid of it if you can. If you can't (this means you, l love stuff friends), try hanging it with the hanger facing backwards (or on a different kind or color of hanger). Better yet, don't start the next season with it in your closet. Store it elsewhere and go after it only if you find you need it. 
• Keep like items together (all skirts, all the shirts) or keep sets together (a top with the jacket it goes under), but not both. If you're consistent with your method, retrieval is easier, especially if you find yourself looking for one particular item in a hurry. This benefits all styles, but especially the I know I put it somewhere folks who tend to stash without a plan. 
• Choose the right containers. Do you like see-through bins? Labeled boxes? Both of these work well for I need to see it and I know I put it somewhere styles, while cram and jammers might prefer fabric bins that expand and "create" space. Use what you know works for you, even if it means ditching the hanging rod for some bins and shelves.

• 

  Photo: SeeMann 
  via Morguefile

  Keep it simple. If you're like me, you end up looking for something between seasons, so the easier it is to figure out what's in each container (like with like is a great basis for this), the less confusion you create in the process. Keeping it simple and as accessible as possible works for all styles, but can be especially beneficial for the I love to be busy folks who might end up doing their seasonal switchovers a little at a time, when they can squeeze it in.

Sadly, this is not a project suited to the drop and run folks who just want all of this to be over with as soon as possible. Their payoff comes in choosing the right storage for the "incoming" stuff -- containers and hangers that will make putting things away as easy as dropping them....wherever.

How about you? Any great tips to share when it comes to the inevitable seasonal switchover?