It’s been a while friends. The fullness of my spring schedule deterred me from writing for a bit, but I am happy to squeeze another post in before May washes away. As I ran back and forth between work, practices, and games, I would pass through my dining room and see what is shown in the picture below…a small pile of Karlie’s artwork, with a couple of nicely written essays thrown in for good measure, sitting on the dining room table. Why was I passing them by all these weeks, not putting them in their “homes?” In this case home would mean either her memory box, or the backup memory box, aka, the garbage. One word for that pile…indecision.
Back in my very first blog post, Perfectly Imperfect, I stated that the key to organization was having homes for all items, and making sure that objects were placed back into their homes when not in use. When things are disorganized it generally means they don’t have a place they belong. Often times, when we grow a pile of something it could mean (A) I don’t have the time to get to this right now, but I know I will handle it soon or (B) I’m not sure where to put these things. I don’t have a home for them yet or I don’t know where I’m going to put them. So, I’m just going to let them sit here for God knows how long until I figure it out and can make a decision. Hence, a pile of indecision.
Why I was vacillating for so long over this little pile of papers is beyond me. I must admit, as well, that I did notice the annoyance of uncertainty popping up in other areas of my life. Recently, I couldn’t decide about an interpreting job and whether or not I should accept it. Well, my indecision actually made the decision for me. It was given to someone else while I was being all wishy washy over it. Hindsight says I should have just made the decision and gotten off that pot…well, you know the alternative. Needless to say, had I made the choice I finally arrived at, and responded in time, it would have been a much better outcome. Lesson learned. In my personal life I was was faced with a similar situation. Again, I missed out because I was unable to decide. Perhaps this little pile of papers sitting on my dining room table was trying to alert me to this not so nice trait that had sprung up this past month. By avoiding making decisions, I was letting life happen to me and not making it work for me. My fretting led to immobility, which led to having the choice made without my input, and ultimately, being someone else’s decision. I needed to take back some control.
So, I sat down and went through the pile. What was I putting it off for? Keep some of the cute and original items and throw out the rest. I know the drill. In the realm of organizing, you want your space to be functional and working for you. Go ahead and make those decisions. If you notice piles sprouting up around you, assess what’s going on. Do you not have the time to get to it? Put it in your planner and designate a day to sort it. Are you not sure where to put these items, as they don’t have homes yet? Again, assess. Think about what works best for you in your situation and decide accordingly. If it doesn’t work out, it’s no big deal. You re-evaluate, try something else, and make it work. A basic process that works not only with tackling clutter and small piles of paper, but also with moving the hills and mountains life sometimes presents us with. Glad I finally remembered.
Chaos to Calm 