Organization Quest

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

A Birthday For The Quest, Along With Some Changes

In the last week or so, I've missed two birthdays:  a friend's and one of my niece's.  And then I missed the Quest's birthday, too, which was actually last Thursday.  This is what happens when you come back from vacation.  I know I should re-seal the kitchen sink and organize my junk drawer, but all I feel like doing is trolling scrapbooking sites, quite as if I don't have a growing list of To-Do's that just aren't getting done. 

But you know, it's kind of nice to kick back with a tall glass of ice tea and plan a few layouts, in-between doling out treat and tummy rubs to the kittens.  When life starts to feel like a joyless trudge through endless responsibilities, it's time to crack out the scrabble board, grab a leash or the phone, dig out the rollerblades, the fishing gear, the croquet set, the watercolors or embroidery floss, and let yourself have a little fun, if just for a little while. 

I'm gonna take my own advice and allow for a little more fun to slip into my life. I think a some R & R is just the ticket for reconnecting to so many things--whether work or dreams,  goals or plans--with a  renewed sense of purpose and vigor.  And so, for a while at least, I'm going to be cutting back a bit on my posts, aiming for 3-5 posts a week rather than my (pre-vacation) usual of 6-7. I still have a list of, oh, 732 topics to address here on the Quest.  It might just take me a little longer to get to them all.

This One Is For Lorenzo

Tonight a dear friend contacted me, to let me know that her beloved dog is in hospice care and not expected to live much longer.

Having gone through the heartbreaking process of caring for our Mau-Mau, which included twice-daily subcutaneous fluids in the last year of his 19-year old life, I feel deeply for my friend and for her husband, also a friend. 

Sometimes, I'm amazed at how much emotion the heart can hold; how much love, how much tenderness and joy, and also how much sadness.  Nothing is harder than to see a loved one ailing--whether the beloved is human or fish or fowl, reptile or mammal.  Going through the grief process last year, I indeed understood anew the meaning of the term "broken hearted."   "Amazing how much a heart can hurt and not stop beating," is what I wrote Lori tonight.

At some point, I'll address here in the Quest the topic of researching options and making decisions in preparation for the inevitable--and yes, heartbreaking--transition our  "fur babies" make from being a daily source of love and joy in this world, to a cherished memory, and, I fervently hope, a companion in the next. But tonight I'm taking a break from making plans and lists, toting up to-do's and finishing chores.  Instead I'll say a prayer for my friends and their beloved Lorenzo.  I think, too, I'll nuzzle my two boys who never knew Mau-Mau, but whose soft fur and tender kitten breath and silly antics enabled me to move through my grief so I might dare to love so openly, so shamelessly, and so hopefully, once again.

Cleaning the Basement: Gina's Back and on the Quest, with a "Before" Picture!

If you've been following the Quest for a while, you may remember Gina from the series I ran in September on pack rats.  For those of you new to the Quest, Gina isn't a pack rat; it's her husband, Matt, who's got a bit of the P-R thing going on, not that I'm one to throw stones here.  Anyway. In the original post, I mentioned Matt was adorable, and this is what I mean:  he actually arranged for a professional organizer to help Gina purge-and-organize the home office!  "Matt doesn't  get the organizing thing," Gina wrote me, "but he loves me enough to let me go for it!"  

In the meantime, Gina sent me this "before" picture of her basement.  Maybe the mask threw me off, but at first I thought she was wearing a hazardous-waste jacket.  I've since realized the bright stripes are from the camera flash. As for the mask, I'm not sure if it was needed for health reasons or if its purpose was to protect the innocent. In any case, I can't wait for the "after" photos, as well as the before-and-after pix of the home office makeover.  Rock on, Gina! 

Hope For Pack Rats

Last week, we met fellow Organization Quester Marie, whose main struggle is how to find the time to organize between working two jobs and raising kids. 

This week, I'd like to introduce another Quester:  Gina.  Gina has a life a lot of people would like:  she has three cute-as-can-be kids, a highly-skilled job where she is well-liked and respected, a house in the country, and an adorable, fire-fighter husband. At times when Gina throws herself in creating the order she longs for, however, it does rather seem that Matt's adorable quotient is in adverse proportion to the sheer quantity of his stuff.  Matt, you see, is a pack rat.

The whole issue of hoarding is one I have neatly side-stepped since starting this blog.  I have, however, had perhaps a dozen conversations which all start when an acquaintance seeks me out and says: "My husband/wife/girlfriend/boyfriend/son/daughter/roommate is such PACK RAT!  You have NO IDEA what it's like trying to organize with a PACK RAT in the house!"  At which point I usually manage to stutter:  "Wow, yes,  oh boy, sounds terrible!" And before they can ask how an organized person like me would deal with a pack rat, I turn tail and get the hell out of there. 

Because you see fellow Questers, I am a pack rat; I guarantee that anyone who has ever lived with me has suffered.  I have no doubt that a dozen or so family members, former roommates, and ex-boyfriends would eagerly explain just how terrible it was to live with my newspapers, magazines, catalogs, clothes, shoes, belts, scarves, books, files, make-up, albums, CDs, tapes both audio and video, containers, cooking gear, linens, and knick-knacks, to say nothing of the boxes upon boxes of old bills and receipts, pamphlets, user manuals, junk mail, school assignments, advertisements, flyers, recipes, to-do lists, and journal entries.  In spite of this, for years I had a hard time actually admitting I was a pack rat; it seemed so . . . . unseamly.  When forced into into a (cluttered) corner, I might concede I had a problem, but I'd also point out that it wasn't as if I was a child-beating, crack-dealing, knife-wielding cannibal specializing in the organs of toddlers.  So I'm a bit of a receipt-keeper, I'd say. So what?

That the sheer volume of my stuff adversely affected not just me and my life but those of everyone with whom I have ever lived, I just couldn't face.  But around 18 years ago or so, I did begin to loosen the reins on the horde, starting with a garage sale before taking off to live in europe for a year.  When I returned, I found I wasn't really interested in the furniture I had stored at various relatives' homes, and gave much of it away. 

It's been like that, on and off, on and off; some periods I make astonishing progress; at other times, I backslide. I've made more progress since starting this blog than I have in the past four years combined, and within a week or so I expect to be at a point in which I'll be able to say that the living area in every room has pretty been much cleared.  That's not to say that my closets aren't full-to-bursting and there aren't plenty of boxes I still need to go through, or that my Quest will be, in effect, over; rather, I'm looking forward to a new phase of the Quest in which I'll finally be able to concentrate on improving my stroke now that I'll no longer be drowning. 

Tomorrow I hope to offer some insight into the pack rat phenomenon, and perhaps offers some suggestions on how Gina might help Matt change the relationship he has with stuff that really doesn't serve him, but gets in the way of so many things, not the least of which is a high score on the adorable husband scale.

A Quester In Need . . .

We've all heard the saying, "a friend in need."  Well, Marie is a Quester in need.  She's also my friend; she's a person who has a finely tuned appreciation for red velvet cake, she can make anyone laugh, and she did not hold it against me when I didn't return her cherished square paper punch for months on end, a favor of patience I returned when her nine year old daughter, Kristina, attempted to groom my elderly cat with a hand vac.  In other words, friends indeed.

A few weeks ago, after I sent Marie a link to this blog, Marie wrote back; she was In Trouble.  The particular Trouble in this case is of the great-piles-of-clothes-boxes-bags-and-craft-supplies-sliding-into-unnavigatable-chaos sort.  She sent pictures, which she has given me permission to publish:

              

She seemed to be under the impression this was The Worse Mess Ever; I disagreed, having seen much, much worse messes in my own home, but now's not the time to get all competitive.  Marie needs solutions.  I promised to help scare some up.

Remember:  Clear One Space At A Time

Take the advice of Regina Leeds, professional organizer and author of the New York Times best-seller, One Year to an Organized Life:  clear only one section of a closet or other large space at a time.  This prevents creating even more mess and also works as a motivator.  Lastly, as you clear and organize a space at a time, you are actually creating  space to store more things.  Tidy takes less room.

First Things First: Toss -n- Declutter

Get rid of what you can.  Easier said than done, believe me, I know. Some things are easier to get rid of than others, and so to get your declutter momentum going, start with what you find easy to toss.  My personal list includes duplicates of things you only need one of; clothing that is irrevocably stained or cannot be mended; things that are broken and can't be fixed or that would cost more to fix than to replace; things that hold bad memories; things that I never liked, regretted buying, or never really worked. 

Group Like With Like

Next, group like items together:  linens with linens, make-up with make-up, accessories with accessories, clothes with clothes, craft supplies with craft supplies.  Use a general-to-specific approach:  once you group all your accessories together, separate them out by type--bags, shoes, umbrellas, etc.  Same with craft supplies.  Once you have them corralled togther, further separate by craft or by type.  As I happen to know Marie is an inveterate card maker, that means grouping together stamps, ink pads, paper, punches, adhesives, eyelets and beads, ect., as I did when I organized the craft closet. 

Make The Most Of What You've Got

Specialized containers and customized spaces are great fun, no doubt.  But you don't need to spend a lot of money to get organized.  Start with what you have:  in Marie's case, she has a lot of great containers she can use.  As she de-clutters, groups, and tidies, she will probably be able to store more in the containers she has.

You can also take a look around your house and see what containers you have already have that are being under-utilized or can otherwise be re-purposed.  I love the gift basket I got a couple years ago from my sister; when I was organzing the kitchen stuff a while back, I realized it was the perfect size for coralling the cat food supplies, including paper plates and treats.  Likewise, the wooden gift box that smoked salmon came in is perfect for storing my watercolors, and pastel-colored pots make pretty containers for my bath supplies.  Pretty wastepaper baskets can display rolled towels in the bathroom; galvanized buckets make for a decorative garden tool catch-all.  Almost anything that is hollow can be used for storage.

Think Vertical

Yes, I love my PAX set-up, but good old bracketted shelves work great.  It's amazing what just one, 36" shelf can hold:

• 80 books
• 90-100 CDs
• 8 magazine caddies (which hold 12 magazines each)
• 5 pairs of shoes
• 3 document boxes

Given this, you can imagine how much can be stored with the addition of four or five shelves. 

Don't Sell Short Prime Real Estate

Save the  prime, easy-to-access spaces--whether front-of-the-closet areas, the most convenient file drawers, or your favorite cabinets in the kitchen--for the things you use the most.  Out of the way spaces are great for storing  once-a-year holiday accessories and supplies, and for other things that you don't use all that often. 

In Marie's case, she has lots of great space that isn't being utilized above the clothing rod in her closet--prime space to store occasional-use items.

Enjoy The Process As Well As The Result

One of the things that helps me the most is when I can get myself into the place where tackling a project is actually kind of fun.  It's almost ike a treasure hunt: you never know what you'll find.  I often find things I thought I'd lost (wedding ring, anyone?); it's also fun to re-discover things you've completely forgotten about.  And in these days of hardship for so many, going through one's things is an opportunity to count the blessings of your life, and enables you to share your bounty by giving to others what you no longer need.