Organization: Mission Impossible/Giveaway

When Mike and I were working together, we always prided ourselves on how the systems in our store were organized to facilitate as good a flow as possible. We pushed the staff constantly to document details and to prioritize every action taken in the office. Creating a well-oiled machine was the goal.



Ice Fog #1
Water Soluble Oils on Wrapped Canvas

And, while the store runs fairly smoothly, considering the volume of work and customers, it never has become that well-oiled machine we strove to make. Not everyone is naturally inclined to being organized and it is not a trait that can be forced upon an individual. 

String of Spring
Watercolor Pencil on
Strathmore 120#

The sad part of this is that I am not an organized person. Not naturally. Despite decades of trying to become instinctively tidy and timely, it just won’t come. Things are stuffed in drawers, never to be found again. I’m chronically 5-15 minutes late. Projects are never ending. I get so many things going at the same time that everything becomes jumbled and nothing is ever really finished.

I’ve done the list-thing, over and over again, to no avail. I’ve scribbled them and lost them. I’ve started pocket calendars repeatedly and promptly ignored them. I’ve created grids with weekly outlines that get buried under all the other papers I generate. As for the dry-erase board, the last entry I have on it is from before Thanksgiving. Of 2008.

The problem I’ve always had with lists and schedules is that they only work as long as nothing happens that disrupts them. You know: kids, parents, pets, illness, weather, etc. And while the spouse may be unbelievably supportive of your many endeavors, it’s impossible to determine, in advance, how much time you’ll need or want with him/her.

And disruption is not the only challenge. There is also the tendency to underestimate the amount of time any particular project may take. Something that might take your teenager 15 minutes on the computer will probably take you 2 hours. If you’re lucky. I’ve been cleaning my basement for the last 3 winters. I keep finding more things that need to be tossed, repackaged, donated, and cleaned. And we’ve only been in this house 7 years!

At this point in my life, though, I’m not sweating it anymore. It’ll get done when it gets done. I may not be any better organized than I’ve ever been, but I’ve gotten much better at prioritizing.


Ice Fog #2

When I was growing up, our house always had to be immaculate. Now, I tend to think my house is a disaster, but I’ve realized, when apologizing to service people for the mess, it’s really not that bad. There’s no vermin (with the exception of an occasional field mouse), there are clean dishes and linens, and the health department hasn’t shut me down. And, in the recent past, I hold onto this thought my mother expressed: “I wish we had spent less time cleaning and more time playing.”

String of Spring Detail

I’ll still make lists. I have to, otherwise, I’d spend most of my days scratching my head and muttering to myself, “What the heck was I doing/looking for/coming in here for?”

But the key element to what I need to get done, above and beyond the basics, is easy: Is it something I and my family and friends going to enjoy?

It’s no contest between lunch with the girlfriends and finishing organizing the basement. Or dusting the house versus dinner with my parents and husband. And definitely no conflict between spending time with the kids or staying late at work.

I like this new form of organization much better. It’s a much more natural system for me.

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Unfortunately, once again, the response to the giveaway has fallen flat. I do thank Carol & Joan for their wonderful responses. Right now, it's between these 2 lovely ladies.

In the hopes of gaining more responses, the giveaway for the Gift Tag for a Great Day will be continued through Monday, March 7th.

For those without your own blog, you can email me at bronsonhillarts@gmail.com or become a follower and leave a comment to participate.

And, even if you're not interested in the Gift Tag, it'd be nice to hear some uplifting messages about the good things in your life! So, show us that you're a fellow fan of life and join us on the Hill!