I’m basically an organized person, but lately I’ve been suffering from the “too many hats” syndrome. No, I’m not about to give up anything, and I’m not complaining about my many projects and activities. But I am definitely about to get more organized! My home office, which was a spare bedroom with two closets, is so stacked and cluttered that I can no longer ignore it. So I’m going to tackle it this week. I plan to move some books that aren’t doing anything more than collecting dust and make more room for my project binders. That will allow me to remove the stack of project binders that is on my work table and to use it again for things like photos and cards and albums. (No, I don’t “scrap”, much to the chagrin of my youngest daughter who is a published scrapbook artist.) Then I’m going to clean the shelves of my “working desk” so I don’t have to move stuff each time I want to pay bills or write a letter. I’m going to leave my computer desk alone because, let’s face it, this is as organized as it is going to get! And last, but most daunting, I’m going to clean up the frames, photos, slides, and negatives that are loosely filed and stacked in three different areas around the room. Have to do something very creative with those! Just haven’t thought of what that will be, yet.
I’m sure you didn’t need to know any of that. Probably didn’t want to know. But it leads me to consider how diverse people are with regard to organizing. We all have “stuff”- papers, keepsakes, books, artwork, tools, etc. that we need, or at least think we need. But each of us deals with it in a different way. I’ve known hundreds of people over the years and with few exceptions we all seem to fit into four categories of organization:
1. The clean freak. Everything is not only in its place, but it shines. You could eat off their floor, if you felt comfortable enough to sit down in the first place. These people frighten me because a. they obviously have way too much free time, and b. they know by looking at my unkempt self that I am not one of them. Please don’t hurt me!
2. The casual organizer. Everything is in its place, but if it’s a little dusty they’ll clean it later when they actually use it. They’re too busy to worry about it. This is my category. I absolutely HATE to misplace something because it’s just such a waste of my time to search the house for it. Clutter bothers me because clutter leads to piles, which leads to something at the bottom of the pile that I can neither recall nor find. However, dust and dirty windows don’t even slow me down. Floors? I think I have a mop somewhere.
3. The overwhelmed collector. There used to be a place for everything, but now there are too many things and not enough places! These people save so much and buy so much and need so much they end up drowning in it. Their mantra is “I know it’s here somewhere!” Life sort of stalls around them as they look for things and procrastinate about projects.
4. The unorganized slob. There was never a place for anything! It just sort of ended up where it was used, dropped, or forgotten. I hate to be sexist, but slobs are usually men. Of course type 2 and type 4 don’t usually get along, so the few women slobs I’ve known haven’t stayed in my life for very long. I visited one once and my children asked if she was moving. That was their only experience with such chaos!
I’m sure someone is thinking they are a combination of two categories, but the truth is you’re probably just sliding from one to the other. That’s how I feel this week. Sliding toward number 3. Have to stop before it’s too late, and get organized again! later…
