Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Steps to Organization

I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned before that I have this huge little thing with organizing. Ok, maybe my clothes are organized by color but I don’t space the hangers exactly 2.5 inches apart (fine, yes that’s only because I have too many clothes but let’s overlook that) so it’s just a little problem.

Anyyyywhoooo

I really like to be organized, I feel very balanced and in-synch when everything is “in its place”. However, being the world that it is and the fact I’m not perfect (I so hope my sisters notice I said that!!!) things can get out of balance and unorganized.

Since the paper clutter issue I’ve been on a quest to really pay attention to my actions and get to the root of the issue. I figure the only way you can solve a problem is to really know the cause and develop a solution from there.

You know the saying “sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me”?

Lies!

Words can be very harmful. I’m talking about these little words “I’ll get to it later”. Don’t look away; you know what I’m talking about…… You bring the mail in; you sit it on the ______ (fill in the blank) and walk away thinking “I’ll sort it out later”. You’re finished with a craft project while the glue gun sits there and you walk away thinking “I’ll put it away later”.

I never realized how much I actually say or think those words, but I’ve since noticed it’s a lot ……… and the cause of my organization issue.

It always starts with that one “I’ll put it away later” item, then another and another and another till it’s this ugly pile (or drawer) of mess that you don’t want to even look at and know will take F.O.R.E.V.E.R to put away.

Now the duh moment.

Why not just put it away to begin with? I know, easier said than done!

At the start of my observation I had a few of those ugly piles (and drawers) around the house that I just couldn’t pretend didn’t exist anymore. They were really starting to taunt me, it wasn’t pretty. The change was when I tackled the piles this time, I actually paid attention to how long it really took me to clean up and put things away.  We are talking hours. Add in the stress of the clutter, the frequent sidetracks and the “I really don’t want to be doing this right now” and it just isn’t worth it.

I’ve decided to change my thinking from “later” to “now” and attempt to put everything away after using it, or bringing it in the house.

Wish me luck! I’ll report back with the results.

4 comments:

Debbie said...

You have described me perfectly with my paper pile mess. I, too, am very organized in other areas. It's just THAT STUPID PAPER collection that is my Waterloo.

With me, most of the stupid papers can be thrown away anyway. Yeesh.

N @ Cheap Like a Birdie said...

Yes! Paper clutter is evil but I'm on a mission to get it under control.

Kenzie said...

I have the same problem! Wouldn't it be nice to have a file cabinet built into your kitchen? My problem is that I hate taking the time to file because the file box is in the closet hall way. My solution was to get a 3 ring binder (a pretty one of course) and add folders into it with pockets. I have 1 folder for bank stuff, 1 for insurance, 1 for Bills, and so on. I store it in the kitchen cabinet and everyday when I get home I spend 2 minutes "filing" and at the end of the month, or 2 or 3 or 4 I take it to the hall closet and put it in the file box, so easy because it's already sorted! Good luck with your paper disaster!

N @ Cheap Like a Birdie said...

Thanks for the cute idea!