1. Dove into the Steven Covey movement hook, line and sinker. This was probably my most successful venture into organization. I was a teacher, life was on a pretty regular schedule, and I fully believed in the Seven Habits.
2. Organized Christmas. I followed this plan for over 10 years. I truly believed in it, and maybe when you are a young mom and have a lot of other responsibilities, it is a great way to keep your head above water during the holidays.
3. The Fly Lady. Homecleaning in less than a minute! Not really, but housecleaning ideas and in an organized fashion so that you are not overwhelmed by the tasks that need attention over time.
4. Read scores of magazine articles on organization. Any magazine that had a headline on organization I probably bought it.
5. Read scores of books on organization. This hasn't stopped. I am currently reading The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo.
There are many other things I have done, taking workshops, taking long weekends at a hotel to plan my semester, or school year, or new year..., read blogs and chat rooms on organization, and finally came to this conclusion: I am not organized. Even with all the techniques and plans, I am just not wired to be organized. For me it means this: I have to make a conscious effort to check my (written) planner (Erin Condren for me) on a daily basis (usually at night), I have to make myself write down everything pertinent to a event or situation. The only thing that comes naturally to me in the scheme of organization is lesson planning.
Doing all of this made me feel inferior, because I never got quite up to standard. Even though I know where most of my tupperware is, when you open the cabinet, it will spill out onto the floor. Annoying to almost everyone but me, who will just scoop them up and throw them back in. I have learned that if I can find it, within a few minutes of searching, that is all right by me.
For this challenge, having all the gurus of my past in my head, I tackled my work space. I put things in folders and tried to put things in spaces that were close to where I work. My day job has cubicles of stuff behind my desk, my adjunct work has another cubicle behind my desk. I am now collecting items I want to take to my mom's for Thanksgiving, so that has a pile on a table. My desktop has my computer, a clipboard for my blog work, and a catch all for my scissors, pins, clips, etc.
So am I organized? Not according to a perfectionist, but to me, I know when it is time to go to mom's for Thanksgiving that all the things I want to take are upstairs on the table. Gather them up and I am on my way. That's about as good as it is going to get for me, and that suits me just fine.
 |
| You can see my cleaned desk, but I was really wanting you to notice my Breast Cancer Tree! |
Mom Home Guide Home Organization
Lauren Caris Cooks Kitchen Organization
Our Good Life Work Space Organization
Tikkido Blog Organization
