Organization Quest

Tonight: Getting Ready to Go Back to School

 

Tomorrow starts a new quarter at school.  I'm taking Rendering, which turns out to be Grown-Up Speak for coloring, the only

subject at which I excelled in kindergarten, so you can imagine my excitement. 

When I went to kindergarten, I got my very own pencil box.  It ended up holding not only pencils but erasers and gum and lunch money and stickers and broken crayons and little twigs I especially liked that I found on the playground, which is more or less what ends up in my current pencil box by the end of the quarter. 

These days I like to empty out my box and go through supplies before a new term.  I weed out the dirty, the dried-up and the worn-away, and stash or toss the curious little whats-its that have accumulated. 

I sharpen all my pencils, try out all the pens to make sure the ink still flows, wash out the box itself and wipe down everything going back in.  I do the same thing for the items in the portfolio I carry--the triangles and templates, paper and drafting brush.  Next quarter I'll be taking AutoCad and suspect a laptop will take the place of many of the manual drafting supplies I currently carry with me.  For now I enjoy my before-quarter cleaning ritual, which both serves to clear my mind and prime me for the challenges to come. 

Time for a Treat: Aisling D'Art's Clutter Journal

  
 

One of the strongest motivations for getting organized, I think, is a yearning for beauty: the way the light hits gleaming hardwood floors or gem-colored bottles on a window ledge;  how a sheaf of scrapbook paper or box of watercolor pencils neatly arranged by color arouses one's creativity. Order invites expansion, enjoyment, and relaxation. It makes it easier to assess, reflect, experiment, and play, whether at the drawing board, in the kitchen, or in the garden. 

When I need a little beauty to kick-start my motivation, I love to look at home-made art journals.  You can imagine my delight when I discovered the wonderful Clutter Journal by artist and teacher Aisling D’Art.

The Clutter Journal is a mixed media extravaganza:  part collage, part traditional journal, Aisling combines found objects (found, no doubt, in the decluttering process) with writing, drawing, painting, rubber stamping, torn images and pasted text from magazines. 

Filled with quotes from such disparate icons as organizing luminary Karen Kingston, financial wiz Suze Orman,and humorist Quentin Crisp, the Clutter Journal is at once hilarious and heartbreaking. It offers a visually compelling record of one woman's organizing odessey during a time of great personal upheaval.  

All images used with permission, copyright by Aisling D'Art.

 

 

"Clean Enough": Finding the Sweet Spot

This morning I was delighted to read the following comment from reader Patricia Balinski, which is just too good to keep buried with a post I wrote last February ("Why I Can't Fly with the Flylady"), and so I'll quote it in its entirety below: 

In reviewing the preview of Flylady's book, I thought of the many New Year resolutions begun in earnest and fallen to the wayside within hours, days, maybe even a week of making them. Like yourself, a daily regime of chores, whether done until completion or broken up because of side-tracking to do something else within the room, can not be done without frustration of having to do the same thing so repeatedly, day in and day out. At 23, I willingly accepted the wisdom of two women in my life. Thereby, reducing stress and possibly adding years to my life. They were: "Saying you have to clean or do mandatory cleaning routines is true to you now; that is, until something else in your life takes precedent." And, "Let your house be clean enough to be healthy; yet, dirty enough to be happy." Now at 68 1/2, I reduce clutter by redistributing loved treasures to various family members. Still can see them, but they have to clean it. I spend minimal time several times a week to spit polish "hot areas" and use the extra time to volunteer my services where and when I find the most enjoyment. Finally, when the time comes to sweep angel dust under a cloud, I know my children will remember the happy times they had in growing up and not having to live each day in a "white-glove inspection house".

This is exactly what I needed to read this morning. 

One of the things I've been thinking about lately is how the Quest somehow got away from me, or rather, that at times it has taken me away from what I had intended to be my focus:  making room for the important things in life. It's the "subtitle" I chose over any number I considered when starting the Quest, because I wanted to keep the thought front and center--the reason, above all others, why bother trying to be organized at all.

It's time to reclaim the Quest for its original goal and purpose.  The intended goal was never perfection but communion, a leavening of spirit by making it easier, not harder, to get through the day.  "Clean enough to be healthy, yet dirty enough to be happy," as Patricia's mentor so wisely put it.  Now that's a resolution to live by!

Back on Board with the New Year!

Happy New Year, everyone!

All right, so it's been, let's see . . . .let's just call it a while. The Short Version of What Happened is:  I went back to school.  Remember the Back to School series I wrote in September?  In doing so, I pulled out old textbooks, notes, projects, and binders to photograph in order to illustrate the concepts, and in the process I began, in the manner of packrats everywhere, to re-read and look through everything, which is when it struck me:  wow, I really loved studying design.  And:  I wish I was the one going back to school, which led in turn to: why, exactly, wasn't I in school?

I did recall withdrawing from one of my courses that last quarter, after the instructor told me, in front of the class, that I was "unteachable."  What I couldn't remember is why I would believe him.

Other people may have control over any number of things in our lives--from our salaries to when we are able to catch a bus on a particular corner--but they don't get to decide our character. My former instructor had indeed been unable to teach me.  But that didn't mean I couldn't learn.

What I love about January is the renewed hope and promise of a fresh start the new year brings.  No matter what your goals, the focus of new year resolutions is in the present and the in future. All transgressions are in the past--instructive, perhaps, but ultimately irrelevant. 

The New Year is carte blanche to reflect, hope, plan, and prioritize.  What do you want for yourself this year?  Dream big! Dare to defy the limitations you place on yourself and those others place on you.  It's a new year, a new decade.  Take a few minutes this weekend and ask yourself:  who do you want to be, what do you want to do, how do you want to live in the years to come? Decide on one tiny step towards that goal--whether it's replacing chips with celery for a snack, doing a load of laundry every day until you get caught up, making a point to work in a walk a few days a week, or looking into getting your GED, Associate's, Bachelors, Master's, or Ph.D.  The first step in getting what you want is realizing that you want it. 

PS I took the same class--perspective drawing--this quarter with a different professor.

I got an A.

 

Fighting the All-or-Nothing Approach

I once had a co-worker tell me that, while not suicidal, she couldn't wait to die.  "I just think it will be a really interesting experience," she explained, while I groped for a suitable reply. 

It was one of those conversations that you know, while you're having it, your brain is running through a quantity of cells in order to burn the moment in your long-term memory. When I'm 90, I may not remember what I had for breakfast, but by golly, I'll still be trying to figure out if the aforementioned colleague was a nitwit or really was a genius after all.

More recently, I had a conversation with a different co-worker, this one an unambiguous genius, that's given me plenty of food for thought.  I admitted that I've been down for the count on the Organization front.  "It's Just Too Hard," I said, quite as if going through a box of old papers or folding the laundry on a regular basis was akin to training for an Iron Man event.  At high altitude. In, like, July. 

Somehow, my organization efforts stalled out this fall due to what I call the "but first" syndrome: I need to organize my papers, but first I need to get a new file cabinet, but before I do that I have to decide where it goes, but first I need to clear some space, which would mean going through some papers. . . And just like that, I've painted myself into a neat,  little,impossible corner.

I tried explaining this to Emily, but she wasn't buying it. "Sounds like you have an all-or-nothing thing going on," she said.  In one sentence, she described exactly, precisely what's been going on, and why I've been stuck in organizational slo-mo for the last month or more. 

The All-or-Nothing Approach is offspring to that productivity killer, Perfectionism.  Does it really matter if I find exactly the same type of label for my spice jars that I used the last time I made new labels a couple years ago?  Must I really use the same font--or re-do all the labels as my punishment? Because that's what it feels like at times, punishment. What's the point of that? 

So this week's mantra for me  is: something's better than nothing.  "A little" is just fine; it creates a foundation on which progress builds, one step at a time. 

Photo by Alpay Ulku

Avoiding Binder System Failure

 
Above: a volume of materials can quickly accumulate and get out of control.

Sometime about a month or two into the school year/new job/new project, something happens and the binder that was such a joy to set up and organize degenerates into a bloated, unholy mess.  Right when you need to be organized the most--say, a week before midterms or before a big presentation at work--your system completely breaks down.  What the heck?!??

It's one thing to set up a binder and get it organized; keepingit organized is altogether a different matter.  In my experience, the cause of a BSF (Binder System Failure) almost always comes down to one thing: lack of an adequate archiving.

Here's the key thing to understand:  your current school or project binder is not intended to be the final destination for paperwork. It's role is not be your archive but to be your aide.  It's a place to gather relevant notes and data for what you're currently working on or studying.  This means that once a particular phase of a project has passed, once a particular assignment or paper has been completed, or once you've been tested on certain material, the assorted paperwork you collected for it needs to be reviewed and either tossed or filed for future reference. 

"Wait a minute!" I can just hear legions (well, maybe more like dozens; okay,  more like one or two) of you saying.  "I can't throw those notes/that quiz/the feedback from the team away!  I'm going to need that stuff later!"  But archiving material doesn't mean making it inaccessible; it just means it's put away, which in turn makes it more accessible, in that it's easier to find.

As I mentioned in the recent post on taking notes, when I was going to design school, I developed the habit of typing my notes on a laptop and printing them out that evening, in order to review then and highlight the main points. I'd then punch the notes and any other handouts or materials I'd received that day, and put everything in my binder according by type (i.e. quizzes-with-quizzes, notes-with-notes, etc.) with the most recent material on top.  Once I completed a paper, a project or other assignment, or once I took a quiz or test, I removed the associated materials from my binder and put it in a file, simple as that.  If I found I needed the materials again for related projects or for finals, they were easy to find and I just put them back in the binder as needed.

Sometimes you start out with one binder and realize there's no way you're going to be able to keep to just one: the project is too big and there are too many current and relevant documents to fit in.  You can either get another binder and move over some of the material in the first to the second, i.e. if you have one binder for all of your projects or classes, you might choose to get a second binder and split things up.  Alternatively, you could keep your binder intact and start a new binder afresh for a second phase of a project or for use after midterms.  You'll find that with whatever method you choose, the time you spend organizing your binder actually works as a kind of mini-review and will help keep you prepared, up-to-date, and current on the subject at hand.

Above: my file of archived class notes, tidy and closed.

How To: Create The Perfect Binder

Compared to taking notes, setting up a binder is pretty straightforward.  And yet: look around any classroom--or boardroom--and what do you see?  Spiral notebooks.  Pads.  Composition books.  All of which are fine if you're eight years-old and need something to doodle on.  Once you move on to middle school, folks, it's time for an upgrade. 

In very little time you can create a binder for work or for school that will go the distance in keeping you prepared, on track, up-to-date, and organized--all for less than ten bucks.  Sure, you can find fancy materials--and I admit, I love fancy materials--but it still comes down to four components: binder, paper, dividers, and pockets.  Let's take a closer look at each:

The Binder

It's no secret I'm a huge fan of Levenger's Circa, which combines the portability of a notebook with the expandability of a binder, but plain old binders are what got me through college and grad school. As far as I'm concerned, you can't go wrong with the buck-ninety-nine plastic standby, although the amazing MO Signature Binder, right, offered in cool colors and tricked out with metal-finished edges and finger pulls  is tough to resist.

The Paper

Plain old college-ruled paper does just fine, but fun options include graph, colored, pre-printed (i.e. to-do lists and project planners) and annotation ruled.

The Dividers

Dividers aren't an option, but are every bit as essential as paper and the binder itself.  Dividers--along with pockets which we'll discuss next--are what gives binders functionality over plain old pads or composition books.  Specifically,  dividers enable you to categorized and organizeinformation according to type, subject, project, or date.  You can get dividers with pre-printed tabs or make them easily yourself. 

The Pockets

Like dividers, the essential functionality of binder pockets is often overlooked.  Why, I don't know.  Where else are you going to slip in tests, quizzes, client information, hand-outs, marketing materials, timelines, and reports?  Pockets can be zippered and gusseted to store everything from stamps to pens.  They can be cut on a bias for easy access to materials. Report covers are actually a kind of pocket that enables you to add documents without defacing them with hole punches.

Here are two examples of good, functional binders using different materials

Example 1: New binder suitable for school or for work using Levenger's Circa system

I pulled together this binder for a friend who's going off to college for the first time.  Using Levenger's Circa system, I selected extra-larges rings (1-1/2") for maximum capacity. For fun and for easy identification, I used five different colors of paper, which I separated with dividers.  Each section contains a couple Project Planners, so he can map out the actions needed for projects and papers.  I also included several small To Do pages to capture tasks and reminders like reading assignments and test preparation.  While typed notes,  syllabbi, handouts and quizzes  can be punched and added to the binder using a Circa punch, I  included a pocket for convenience. 

While the above notebook was created for a college student in mind, it's equally functional for a business professional.  The sections can be used for different clients, projects, or responsibilities, or they can sub-divide a large project into manageable chunks, while the To Do and Project Planners are useful for any professional.

Example 2: Classic (and much used) school binder with index tabs tied to the Table of Contents

 

 Okay, this binder has seen better days.  But by golly, it was functional and proved to be a great resource ever after.  The colored table of contents and tabs made it easy to find information. While I just punched handouts,  notes, and quizzes, I used report covers for assignments to keep them pristine.

Above: assignment in report cover.

 
Above: my beloved, beat-up drafting binder.

 

How To: Take Notes For Maximum Efficiency

Few things in life are as simple in concept and yet surprisingly difficult in practice as taking good notes.  Taking meeting or lecture notes (opposed to reading notes) is especially tricky, because information isn't necessarily presented in a linear fashion.  Speakers interrupt themselves and get interrupted; they backtrack, mumble, forget their point, slur their words, drone on about inconsequential details and skip key information. At least, that's the way it was when I taught, if my student evaluations are to be believed. 

Anyway.  It's the unanticipated twists and turns of a meeting or lecture that makes such notes challenging to take.  Over time I developed two methods that have worked for me, depending on the situation.  One involves taking notes on a laptop; the other uses a longhand approach.

Why and When to Use a Laptop

As a student, this is the method I much prefer.  Why?  In my experience, college lectures cover so much ground at such a fast clip that I simply can't keep up if I'm taking notes longhand.

I also find that it helps me stay engaged in a subject if I keep moving in some way.  Taking notes using a laptop allows me that movement in a value-added way that mere doodling  doesn't.

Details

• Either use one file for a particular course or start a new file for every class in the course.  Some people find it useful to have just one file, as this is a simpler approach and keeps everything in one spot.  Just scroll to the end of the doc and type in the day's date for each new entry.  I personally prefer to start a new document for each class session.  This way, if the file gets deleted or corrupted, I don't lose everything, which has happened before.
• As with the longhand approach that we'll cover next, don't worry about spelling, grammar, writing in complete sentences, or duplicating information. The goal is to capture key concepts, ideas, vocabulary, movements, figures, due dates, and test and project information.
• Use breaks in the lecture--whether in the form of sideline discussions and anecdotes, silences, or when the prof is writing on the board--to underline, bold, or capitalize important information,  which will make it easy to spot when you review your notes later on.
• As soon as possible after class--preferably the same day, read through your notes.  Some people prefer to "clean up" their notes at this point, completing sentences, adding commentary, and deleting unimportant information.  Personally, I don't bother with any of that.  Instead, I print out the notes as-is and read through them, highlighter in hand.  I highlight anything I deem important.  When subsequently reading my notes, the only things I read are the highlighted parts. 

Above: notes I took during my recent stab at design school.

Taking Notes Longhand

As handy as it is to take notes on a laptop,it isn't always possible or even advisable.  While (I like to think) my constant tap-tap-tapping during lectures in a large hall went (largely) unnoticed, I can't imagine doing so during a team meeting or during a one-on-one with my boss at work. 

A further advantage of taking notes longhand is that it requires little set up and low-tech (read: low-cost) materials. 

Details:

• I favor paper with an  "annotation margin." This is  column on the left side of the page which is used to indicate the subject or call out important information concerning teams, projects, or due dates.
• Develop your own "shorthand" of symbols and abbreviations.  While this is also helpful when taking notes on a computer, it's especially important when taking notes longhand.  Some of my favorite abbreviations include:  w = with, w/o = without, imp = important, mem = memorize, ? = question, dd = due date, and bec = because. 
• As with taking notes on a computer, don't worry about misspellings, grammar, etc. But do go over your notes when finished to both review and to clarify any ambiguities,  which I've found happens more often when I'm handwriting notes. You may combine this step with highlighting any important information.
• It's also helpful--especially on the job but also in school--to create a to-do list based on your notes.  You may also want to note any important dates on your calendar.

Above: annotation-margin paper with subjects noted in the margin. 

Whatever method you use, the three most important things regarding notes aren't in taking them, but in reviewing them:

1. Review your notes as soon as possible after the meeting, lecture, or class;
2. Highlight the important information for quick subsequent reviews; and
3. Review the highlighted information immediately before the next meeting or class.

Using Organizing Skills To Succeed In School And On The Job

All right, enough summertime slacking.  Now that Labor Day has passed, it's Officially Fall, and a Back to School series is in order.

In another life, when I taught Freshman Comp and Business English at a state university, I was surprised that many students didn't know how to study; apparently no one had ever showed them. They had, at best, a shaky grasp on things like preparing for class, taking and organizing notes, creating binders, archiving information, planning projects, and developing a study schedule.  Without sufficient study skills, it's easy to get overwhelmed. 

Studying is synonymous with organizing--it's about organizing information for comprehension and retention, and then communicating one's understanding of a subject (i.e. in a paper, a test, or a presentation) to someone else. 

These skills, in turn, have a direct application in the workplace, where one needs to learn and retain new information, take notes in meetings, research options, communicate ideas, propose and plan projects, develop schedules, present findings, and archive information. 

Happily, information is one of the few things that's actually kind of fun to organize--once you learn a few basic skills.  So this weekend I pulled out some old notebooks, binders, archives, and study materials, took some pictures and wrote some notes myself, in order to share a few strategies to make this the best school year ever--even if you're not in school!

New Topic on the Quest: Medical Records

Today I saw a new doctor and had a blood draw, which doesn't sound nearly as traumatic as it should.  As I told the tech as she prepped my arm:  I'm both a barfer and a fainter and if we're lucky I'll do both.  She thought I was joking until she saw I'd pulled the wastepaper basket up close to be within hurling distance.  I always feel a little bad for the tech who gets me, but on the other hand, the other techs always look so pleased that at least I know I've made someone else's day.

As it turns out, I neither barfed nor fainted, thanks to the tech who has to be, like, the best blood-taker ever.  She gets top billing on my Gratitude List for at least a month.

The experience did get me thinking about medical records: prepping for doctor's appointments in terms of pulling together paperwork, keeping track of bills and insurance information, and accounting for tax purposes and flex-spending reimbursement.  Being in the process of changing doctors, I've realized how very useful it is to have certain information--providers names and numbers, previous diagnoses and test data--on hand, but there are other important components involved organizing medical-related records.

Many unhappy surprises could no doubt be prevented by ensuring that policy coverage and restrictions are understood.  Of course, keeping on top of insurance invoices is vitally important, as  billing codes can be erroneous, a fact that drove home when my insurance initially refused to pay for (several thousand dollar's worth of) services after my physician was wrongly identified as a "masseuse."  "That's a rub down," I said helpfully during one of the many calls I made to correct the matter.  "I think maybe you meant shake down instead."  Communication with the billing department pretty much took a turn for the worse after that, but in the end a code was assigned that accurately reflected the services provided, and my portion of the bill was adjusted accordingly. 

It's a drag to have to be on top of things all the time, but staying on top of medical records and invoices is a clear case where the potential benefits far outweigh the interim (and admittedly time-consuming) effort.