Planning with Fractals in Mind – Review, Sort of

I always appreciate discovering lesser-known things – yes, always, at least when it comes to organizing, time management, productivity, and other things that fascinate me. I wish I could remember how I come across some of them, as is the case with the e-book “Clear Mind, Effective Action” by Jim Stone where he talks about his Fractal Planning system. Are you already rolling your eyes or afraid to read more? Talking about fractals and planning systems might sound intimidating or like a non sequitur, yet this is the type of thing I’ve encouraged all of you to do – at least to some degree – use what works from the systems around us and then find ways to adjust for the parts that don’t work as well.

Therefore, let’s talk about his approach, fractals and all. What do you think of when you hear the term fractals? The way he envisions fractals is as “a rough or fragmented geometric shape that can be split into parts, each of which is (at least approximately) a reduced-sized copy of the whole” which he says is how Wikipedia (at the time of writing) defines it. What is critical about fractals in his view is that they surround us and “creative productivity (like most business projects) grew via fractal processes” so a successful planning tool would incorporate fractal awareness into it.

He offers several different ways to envision fractals around us. One of those is a tree, where you take a main branch off a tree and it looks like a smaller tree. If we continue, taking a branch (he refers to this as a sub-branch) off this other (main) branch, this also looks like an even smaller tree. And so on. Sometimes there are some random variations at each step, as with this example of a tree, yet remains an example of a fractal.

$Tree as an example of a fractal we see and take for granted$

Tree as an example of a fractal we see and take for granted

Part of what that means is the versatility for breaking things down into ever and ever smaller parts – the splitting (or fracturing) mentioned above that is still a smaller representation of the bigger picture. Yet, fractal can also be seen as a way to build things up through the branching process. This can be seen with the Koch Snowflake (animated to see the process in one direction) – where you can see how both breaking down as well as building up applies.

Isn’t this what we need when we’re planning our tasks and priorities – the flexibility to approach things from any direction? Sometimes we’re stuck in the forest, unable to see the trees when we’re trying to plan. Other times all we can see are the trees – or to put it another way – we’re busy thinking in the big or small picture view and struggle with aspects that go beyond that view. Or maybe we’re just not clear – it’s somewhere between the two extremes – yet wherever we might be, it’s important to have a planning tool that will support us as we capture our thoughts. And then we can take that planning as far as we need to for maximizing our productivity and minimizing our stress – fractal like in either breaking the steps down or building our plans up.

$Von Koch Curve showing the fractal nature$

Von Koch Curve showing the fractal nature

Essentially the idea of fractal planning comes down to the idea that being aware of the fractal nature – of our plans, our goals, our entire lives – will help us as we’ll work better, becoming more efficient and effective while our stress will decrease. As Jim Stone says, “”If you set it up right, with a planning tool that allows you to break down projects to any level of detail, your plans will just grow naturally from your brain‘s innate desire to break tasks down as you go. That‘s what fractal awareness does for you. It helps you see that your whole life can be represented in the same plan, and you can trust it to grow organically, just like a tree grows (because that‘s how plans grow, too). And don‘t worry. There is no ―right way to break down your life plan or your projects and sub-projects.”

I love the optimism of this – while the skeptic in me wonders how realistic this is for everyone. Oops, even I can slip into the temptation of 1 solution for all of us. This is simply an example of one person’s solution to planning and productivity challenges that were not solved from another system out there (David Allen’s Getting Things Done are evident in places). His approach also assumes you are 1) comfortable with technology and 2) that you sit at a desk the majority of the time – where it’s easy and convenient to be interacting with your list. [Please note that I have no data on his paid online system – and am considering writing another piece that discusses some of the issues I see with this system; this post is about the ideas in his e-book.] Nevertheless, the idea of fractal awareness shifting how we view things intrigues me – without needing to adopt any other piece of his system. Are there any ideas that capture your interest?

Interpreting

What if you tried to organize a space only to realize that it wasn’t working? And you re-organize it and again find it wasn’t working? And again, repeating the steps over and over again. Would you then tell yourself that you’re not good at organizing? Have you ever thought about how you label yourself? The times that we encounter repeated struggles can be daunting and it might lead us to decide our capabilities – and not in a realistic or positive way.

Would you think me less of a professional organizer if you knew that scenario above was from my home and life? Early last month I realized that I needed to divide a category I’d created in my craft closet – that it was creating unnecessary chaos. That opened the door to how several parts were not working – there was clutter collecting again. There had been some great progress with the degree of clutter compared to the past – yet there were still problems.

I’m certainly not proud of the repeated problems I’ve had with the space. It has been extremely frustrating and amazingly overwhelming – some of which I talked about almost 2 years ago in Overwhelmed? ? – and I’m grateful that these recent changes don’t feel overwhelming, though they are frustrating sometimes! My experiences also illustrate that simply having a neat system does not magically make things organized or more importantly stay organized.

How easy it could be to decide that I’m not capable of organizing – consider that in over 10 years that I’ve played with the closet, it’s always broken down. There’s more than a decade of “evidence” that I can’t organize, isn’t there? Yet, it is focused on that closet. If you’ve read my blog for a while you know that there have been other spaces needing re-organizing – that spaces simply stop working sometimes. More signs that organizing isn’t in my skill set, right? Proof, at least if we consider only those examples.

The way we interpret our experiences can have a huge impact on what we do or don’t do. If you tell yourself that you are just no good at organizing, you’re probably going to avoid trying to do it and focus on all the “proof” that backs up your interpretation. What would happen if you searched for all the evidence that was the opposite of your interpretation (and not minimize or discount them)?

As much as the repeated failure of the organizing inside the craft room closet is hard to accept, I can also see that each time I re-do things in there I make improvements – both in how things are arranged and in how long the organization is maintained. I recognize that my continuing struggles are centered on that specific area.

It’s remarkably easy to discount our successes – it seems like we all do it in some way or context. Likewise, we all falter and struggle sometimes. It might feel that we’re more prone to challenges than other people. What do you tell yourself? Do you see any possibility for finding your way through your challenges?

I keep chipping away at that craft room closet – riding the ebb and flow of emotions – from overwhelmed, to frustrated, to excited, to apathetic, to embarrassment, to any number of other reactions. I recognize that it is simply feelings – they will pass or at least subside and don’t necessarily reflect the reality. My interpretation is that I’ve struggled to find all the solutions I need for this space and stuff at the same time – that it is evidence that there are times we need to go through the process of discovering our answers, however long that process might take. (My post, Organizing Art & Craft Supplies, talks about some solutions.)

Therefore, the way we interpret our own challenges can define how we progress through them. Professional organizers exist because people struggle with getting organized – there’s nothing wrong with facing that challenge with help. Yet, if you tell yourself that you’re just lousy with organization, what happens when the organizer leaves and you’re left to maintain the organization?

Put a limit on your critical interpretations – in what way are you challenged, specifically? How are you successful, even in the midst of that struggle? Can you see that there’s a way for you to develop the skills? When the ongoing challenges in a particular area tempt you to you give up, how will you interpret both the continuing struggle and your inclination to throw up your hands and walk away? You probably know generally what I would say – find an explanation that supports you and your strengths from the reality rather than any biases.

Temptations of Purchasing

About a month ago I became aware of the large increase of catalogs arriving. “Aha, it’s that time of year again.” From this point, I can have any number of reactions – from apathy to curiosity, sometimes I even feel annoyed. Of course, their job is to convince you to spend your money with them – at this time of year, with their offers of saving money and finding the perfect gift. Yet it’s not just this holiday time that we’re surrounded with offers – their hope of being tempting.

How do you think about the approaches and offers all around you? Do you consider the strategies they’re using? Do you know what and when you are more prone to giving into the temptation?

If only it were simple to have set rules for making intentional purchases and avoid collecting clutter. Which isn’t to say that there aren’t some strategies for doing both of these things – yet, with all the variables, they’re not likely to be foolproof. The more we understand our own dynamic – the factors that impact our buying more things – the easier it will be to catch ourselves.

There are times that the idea of an item being scarce can be a challenge for me – “uh oh, I absolutely love that, it’s on sale which means it might be going out of stock (or is less expensive), so I should just get it.” Once I became aware of how this situation of an apparent scarcity (or “good” deal) can lead me to impulsive purchasing, I can now catch myself most of the time from buying into the perception of scarcity. I realized that it was more important to me to be able to take the time to process and evaluate buying items, then that if it was in fact not available (if I even went back to get it) it was “just not meant to be.” This is one of my strategies – in response to one of the marketing strategies that can entice me.

For me with the idea of scarcity, it only applies to some things. When it is in the clearance area of a store, I practice skepticism about why something has made it there. Yet I learned that the hard way – I picked up too many things over the years that were flimsy. Just because something is marked down doesn’t mean it’s really a savings to buy – if the item is poor quality, it won’t work or last long anyway – so it’s a waste of your time and money.

The marketing aspects that can tempt me are not necessarily the same ones that lure you – just like the approach we take to handle it will be different. If we don’t pay attention – learn from our experiences – we will spend money we don’t need to and have that much more excess stuff around making more work for us.

It’s not just as simple as the marketing – the things retailers are advertising and trying to tempt us with. We also have an internal sense of when something is too much – whether it would match anyone else’s view or not. So, consider if you later regret how much you spent on x, y, z, etc. Do you need to adjust your internal sense or apply it only within certain limits?

Then there’s also how our personality, mood, and feelings influence how we buy or not buy as well. For me, it also affects my tolerance for shopping at all – sometimes the last thing I have any desire to do is walk into a store unless I have an immediate need. Then there are other times that I want to look around and explore. Once I even said, “I want to go into the “clutter” store.” Then I chuckled – both at the desire to go into the store that seemed cluttered and how I labeled it – automatically. Here’s the window that somehow drew me in – and after going in, I admired a few things, considered if anything wanted to come home with me, and left happy – exploring and not purchasing.

The “clutter” store I wanted to go into.

We all have opportunities to buy things we don’t need and end up not using or appreciating those things. And more than the opportunities, we all spend on our money on these things – at least sometimes. This isn’t about how much money you do or don’t have – since you can collect clutter at dollar stores just as easily as higher end boutiques and the excess stuff still requires your attention, at some point. We can choose to consider the things influencing our purchasing and explore how we can do that in ways that are truly supportive of our life.

Giving Thanks

This is the time of year when we tend to think about being grateful – at least if you’re not already practicing gratitude regularly. After all tomorrow is Thanksgiving – a day we often associate with sharing the things we’re grateful for – before digging into the feast. Yet, it seems as a society we’re thinking more and more about gratitude – and the value gratitude has on our own lives. How often do you take time to consider what you are grateful for?

It can be all too easy to downplay and dismiss the value of expressing your gratitude – after all you’re busy and the things going right don’t require your attention, either in remembering or for problem solving. One day is enough, isn’t it, for sharing the things you’re grateful for?

Although we certainly don’t want to forget those things in life that need further attention from us, there is value in remembering all the things that went right, that there were things that we can be grateful for. Human nature is to focus on the negative, yet this just reinforces the ruts in our brain that can limit our thinking and perspective.

Earlier this year at the ICD (Institute for Challenging Disorganization) conference, one of the speakers talked to all of us about “Living Stress Free.” Lots of things can contribute to our stress level and the way they interact then has a further impact. Therefore, we can reverse the path to stress with some practice and tools. And you probably guessed it – one of those tools is expressing gratitude.

His recommendation was at the end of every week to count your blessing with these 2 steps: 1) recall 3 things from the prior week for which you are grateful and 2) acknowledge 3 things in your life (not time constrained, but overall) for which you feel blessed. He went on to share that research suggests that this practice translates into people with less depression and stress and that they are more likely to make progress on important personal goals.

New to me was that there is some evidence that counting your blessings once a week is more beneficial than doing it every day. I found contradictory information on this in my research – and overall that there is no consensus yet about the frequency. There seems to be no debate about the value of being grateful – of making a practice of it – as long as you don’t get so habituated to it. Consider the feelings that accompany being grateful – those are part of what benefits the brain.

Sometimes it can be challenging to find things that you are grateful for – whether you’re experiencing depression, a series of tough life events, or whatever else it might be that interferes with identifying the blessings in your life. Every organizing client that I’ve had has had areas where they are successful – though they don’t always recognize it. Search out the parts you are succeeding with – I insist there are some! 😉

Due to my worldview, the obstacles and struggles I’ve faced in my life are blessings – they helped me learn and grow. So even in the midst of a struggle, I can be grateful. That doesn’t mean I’m not frustrated or challenged, simply that I have confidence that it will in the long run be a blessing for my life.

Similarly, you can feel gratitude for the goals and desires you have. Where would you be without those? If you’re dealing with a cluttered living space and desire more order – can you acknowledge the strength and blessing of wanting it to change? This focuses on the positive – which will support us in moving forward.

We’ve probably all heard that “Thanksgiving was never meant to be limited to one day.” When we make a habit of gratitude we shift things for ourselves – we’re more resilient, more realistic about our self-worth (rather than pessimistic), and it helps us live mindfully in the present moment. With my approach of experimenting – if you find yourself resistant to the idea of making a practice of gratitude in your life, test it out. Commit to 2 weeks and just do it – and then observe – how do you feel? Has anything changed? In what ways?

Follow-up on the Arc Notebook

It’s hard to believe it was only January that I reviewed the Arc Notebook from Staples initially and two things have happened that inspired me to follow-up on this – to share more about how it’s holding up with even more time and usage.

I continue to greatly appreciate this notebook – it really is my go-to place when I need to write things down. This includes my to-do list for the week (or occasionally, day), notes about any blog ideas, things that inspire me, and other things that it’s easier to hand-write (rather than using the iPad).

First, I need to share that there is something I forgot to talk about in my review – another positive aspect of this style notebook (both sizes) is that the rings allows for the notebook to be flipped over like a standard notebook. This means that if you have limited space for the notebook to be sitting out, you aren’t limited to it lying there closed until you need to use it. The poly style will lie flatter since the leather has some bulk and causes it to lie at a slight angle.

It’s been interesting though, the amount of paper that comfortable fit in the notebook seems so little. My perception (and some of the people I work with also) is first that it’s easy to put too much paper in – I think the rings are deceptive in that it seems like more paper would fit easily.

I’ve also become curious about if we’re simply more comfortable with having lots of pages available to us – so when we see how much we need to cut back on the pages, we feel ill at ease. I know I do – “uh-oh I only have 8 blank pages” – yet I have yet to use all those pages in a sitting. And there is still a bit of discomfort about how few blank pages there are – hence my curiosity about how we view the access to blank pages in our notebooks.

And it finally happened – there is a page that is coming loose and does not want to sit back around the rings. I shared in my initial post how it seems like the pages would not be easily moved around time after time – that there should be a limit before the punched paper will just stop working. Although I initially had some pages where the punched paper was certainly flexible from moving it around, it still connected solidly with the rings.

The only page that has caught my attention with this issue is the first page I left in the notebook – I left in the cover page – and the bottom punch doesn’t want to stay. Even though the cover page is beginning to not connect with the rings – it’s still only 1 of the punches. The page has 7 other punches helping to keep it attached – so even when the paper is getting tired, it happens slowly and there is support so that the page is still part of the notebook.

I’ve been appreciating the Arc Notebook so much that it took me a while to start using the similar notebook from Ampad (blog about that coming fairly soon!) and my intuition tells me that I will still prefer the Arc Notebook. As I see people making notes for themselves – either on random pieces of paper or just filling a spiral notebook with notes – I think about the Arc Notebook and how easy it is to keep like notes together – at least as long as you don’t fill a single page with notes that relate to different aspects of your life. It’s probably obvious that I consider this product a great option for a variety of needs that require our writing it down.

Our Feelings & Our Organizing

I recently talked about how our minds are the most important tool for our organizing efforts in Our Minds & Our Organizing – how when we use it clearly we can figure out the solutions for our unique situation. And of course our mind handles more than the logical data in our lives – it’s processing our emotions. Our thoughts and feelings interact and intermingle influencing our actions and behaviors and when we improve our awareness then our choices will support our life and goals.

The feelings we have can inspire us to make changes – “this space feels cluttered,” “I’m so frustrated at how I’m managing my time,” and “I get so anxious when I have to deal with paperwork.” As we recognize the feelings we’re having, we can then start the process of finding a way to change things and feel better – at least ideally.

Those same feelings can prompt avoidance and discouragement – where we cannot conceive that there is hope for things to be any different – hopeless, another feeling. It can be challenging to withstand the influence of our feelings – shirking tasks we feel we’re not good at or can’t succeed with, procrastinating things since “what’s the point?” and giving ourselves all sorts of messages that support reasons that we cannot change things. Yet if you examined those things logically, without the negative beliefs, would the evidence show your “complete incompetence” or just that you are not perfect and might need support, skills building, or practice?

These feelings can also trigger action to resolve the annoyance quickly – more of a reaction to your feelings. Just like when interacting with people and someone blindsides you – it can be hard not to just react (whatever that looks like for you: snapping, yelling, apologizing, withdrawing) and realize later how things could have been handled better. Similarly with our organizing, it can be easy to react to our organizing and tasks annoyances with our emotions. Therefore, do we jump in and do anything to relieve the discomfort? Or do we take some time to consider how to move things forward and make sure we’re not making more work or more complications for ourselves down the road? If we’re busy reacting to our feelings of unhappiness, without evaluating our approach with the logic our mind can offer – it could be counter-productive.

We can draw an analogy to a typical junk drawer – it can be easy to just drop in all the random things we don’t or can’t deal with right now and it becomes the jumble where it’s hard to find anything. The thing about a junk drawer is that it’s small and so what goes in and how much it can hold limits the degree of chaos you’ll have to deal with eventually. Yet when we’re plagued with the need to fix that thing that’s bugging us, it’s often not as small and limited as a junk drawer. That’s when the temptation to throw everything into the closet or a bin/bag/box, or rent a storage locker can lure us into thinking this is the best option. And it might be the best option – the key is to consider your motivation, the logic of doing it, and then approach the stuff in a way that will minimize frustration and maximize getting your goals accomplished.

You can see that our emotions can have a tremendous effect on our efforts – whatever those efforts might be – both in a positive as well as a detrimental way. These feelings can drive us – hurrying us to get through them – after all, when emotions are uncomfortable, why would anyone want to hang out with those unpleasant feelings? It can be tricky to distinguish between our thoughts and feelings since there is such interplay between them. Yet when we examine things from a logical point of view – looking for the evidence that supports and rejects our ideas – we can make the most of our emotions for inspiring change. Ideally we’re using both our minds and feelings to develop the systems that will help us simplify and accomplish what we want.

Time Map

Wouldn’t you like more time? I’m not sure there are many people who would turn down the offer of more time. Do you have a list of things – even if it’s just in your head – for the things you want to do in your spare time? “Spare” time usually only appears when some other obligation falls through unless we designate the time and priority for it. Are your bigger life goals floundering where you can’t seem to move them forward?

This is where a time map comes in – it is a visual depiction of how and where you want to spend your time, and hence your energy. We all have various roles we fill in our life – work, relationship, self, family, and so on. Hopefully these reflect our priorities and goals – although maybe not in the time they each get.

In my post More Scheduling Options, I shared:

This is what Julie Morgenstern’s refers to as a “budget of your day, week or month that balances your time between the various departments of your life.” I think about it as a chunking of what we need to do and how it relates to our schedule – a combination of the roles we fill and the ways we can shape our schedules to fit our life and style. It’s a visual guideline for how we want to use our time; usually done in broad strokes (though you design it as you want or need) and from here you can see where to add any additional appointments or tasks. Here are some sample time maps to see various ways you can design your own: Time Map Sample Booklet.

A time map is a tool that some people recommend to bring order to your days – where it relates to your calendar yet isn’t really about those specific appointments. It is all about you – this isn’t a cookie-cutter solution or tool – you consider and then design it according to your life and needs.

It’s often designed as a week view where the columns are the days of the week and rows are time slots. Considering your priorities and goals, you put those into blocks of time in your time map. This isn’t about scheduling every minute or every hour; it is about grouping things together in way that helps simplify and streamline things in order for you to focus on all those things that matter to you. Here’s part of a blank time map template I made:

Time Map template

You begin with all the concrete pieces – those various things you do consistently from day to day or week to week, i.e. your work schedule, bedtime and wake-up time, meals if they’re regularly at x time, date night, and so on. What are the things you need as well as want to spend your time on? Pick a day, a time slot, and put it in.

By creating your own time map, you are providing a structure to your time and schedule. This structure is to support you – not constrict or hamper – where you set aside time for all those things that take time and energy, and making sure that your priorities have time allocated for them as well. It can offer you clear boundaries – “nope, I can’t meet with you that day, but I do have time here and here” – so you protect your valuable time. It is there to remind you of the priorities and values you identified and the time you blocked out to focus on those.

If something comes up unexpectedly, you can see what you might be sacrificing and then, if you want to switch things rather than give up your time on something you value. Some people say that having their personal time map makes shifting things much easier; it requires less processing since it’s all laid out in broad strokes.

Since your time map is unique to you, it will likely take time figure out all the details. Do you already know clearly how you’re using your time? Or how you want to be using your time? Are you maximizing your priorities with your energy level? Did you leave in enough time for transitions, bathroom breaks, and other parts of life we don’t always think about? Do you want to run errands all together (theoretically most efficient) or after certain appointments? How are your time estimates for accuracy – do you tend to under- or over- estimate how long things take you?

We all have the same amount of time – 168 hours a week before factoring in sleep. And Julie Morgenstern says that on average the time map should work about 80% of the time (and 100% is unrealistic). The point of a time map is that it can put you in control of your own schedule – you still have all those things you need to get done for work, home, and family – and you decide how and where to fit those pieces into your schedule. And you can adjust it as needed – this is about providing you with the outline of how you want to spend your time and in a way that makes sense for you – whether that’s more or less detailed. It boils down to setting aside your time for the things that you’ve identified as important – and hence feeling successful and in control of your time.

What Do You Identify With?

How do you see yourself? We all have this idea of who we are – what our strengths are and the things that define us. And then there’s what other people think of us – how they see us. Often these are based on the plethora of labels available for defining things – a way to characterize all the things in this world. Yet, do these things end up encompassing who we are – who any one is?

It is easy to look at things with the idea that it’s an either-or option – especially when we look at others. This person is depressed or they’re not. This person is a hoarder or they’re not. This person is an introvert whereas that person is an extravert. This person has ADHD or they don’t. This person is punctual and that person is always late.

All this is not to say that we don’t or can’t fall into these characteristics in one direction, rather that it’s a limited way to view people. I was sharing with a client that there are things I hoard – where I struggle to let go of certain things. Her reply was that couldn’t be true, I was a professional organizer after all. Yet, even as a professional organizer, my home has plenty of unnecessary things – I can be organized as well as cluttered. People are rarely (if ever) so easily captured with labels – our personality and character are more complex than can be described simply.

While on the other hand, these labels can also help us. When someone shares that they’re depressed, ADHD, introverted, or whatever, it gives other people some idea about them. They’ll likely be more understanding when behaviors come up – ah, that apathy/distraction/withdrawal/etc. could be from that.

I’ve had a number of client that have described themselves as hoarders, or been told by others that they are hoarders. None of the people I’ve worked with would truly qualify for the diagnostic criteria of hoarding, though they might struggle with parts within the hoarding definition. And I talk to them about it – they are identifying with a label that doesn’t truly apply to them. One of them shared that it helped her to use the term; she felt that it finally offered a frame of reference for her challenges – a starting point to understanding what they are struggling with.

Most of the “hoarders” I work with recognized that using that label limited them – the negativity confining and draining them. This is where the application of these defining terms can be damaging and hurtful and can apply to any description. The way we use the labels, whether self-applied or given from others, – and what they mean to us personally – can have a significant impact on how we approach things.

Do the labels help you – give you a frame of reference for understanding, find it empowering to find a way through, or permission to set better boundaries and get more realistic? Or do they end up hurting you – confining you by their definition, discouraging you – taking away hope, or do you seize the idea and limit yourself – “since I’m “x”, I can’t…”

Even our more defining characteristics shift and change – vary in the short term. People who tend to be adamantly punctual will run late and vice versa. In working with people about their stuff – some of them tend toward ruthlessly purging stuff and just want to get all of it out and then we’ll run into times where making a decision has become excruciating. Then in the opposite – people who struggle to make decisions will have times when it’s easy. And this isn’t necessarily a random day – rather a series of them or “regularly” at some other (often unknown) interval. Just another reason it’s hard to capture a person with labels.

People are complex – aren’t you more complex than can be captured with descriptive words? We’re made up of many experiences and characteristics and really we tend to defy being categorized. There are so many factors that influence us – from those life experiences to the degree of recent self-care (ever notice the impact the amount of sleep can have on your behavior?). Consider the labels – each one independently of the others – that you apply to yourself – do they support or limit you? How can you challenge them – are they truly accurate or accurate at certain times? Reducing and eliminating the labels that confine you can open up a world of possibilities – we all need hope to move forward with our goals and dreams.

Our Minds & Our Organizing

I think we are all doing more – we have more to track and stay on top of – than in past generations. I don’t claim to know whether we’re saying ‘yes’ to more things or if there’s more to do. Whatever the reason, it can mean that it’s easier to get overwhelmed and for things to simply not get done. I could probably write a whole post about saying ‘no’ to things – even those that we put on ourselves – yet this isn’t what this entry is about. When we have what feels like endless things we need to track and accomplish, organizing can be one of those pieces that feels less important. Although if we know where things are and where they go, we can be more successful with all the other things we’re trying to handle.

When you decide organizing is important and will benefit you – it doesn’t happen magically. (If only it was that simple! :)) The way we think and process interacts with our organizing efforts – in all ways, the decisions we make in choosing what, where, why, and how we put our things and then both in creating new systems as well as in maintaining what you’ve set up. Our minds are critical to the process – and they can fool us. How so, you ask?

Have you noticed that you can set aside the time, energy, and focus for organizing and then after you’ve done all the work realized that it’s not as logical as you’d thought? I’m not sure how many people see this – that the way we think can end up creating some additional challenges to our efforts.

First, there’s more than one “logical” system we could create for ourselves considering the way we work. If you’ve ever tried to categorize things, you’ve probably encountered those items that fit in more than one place and then have to choose one – and then, most importantly, remember which place you chose – and all at some unknown future point. Filing is an example of specific example – what to call this or that file and then finding where you decided to put those specific papers. Sometimes the fact that things can be misplaced even with thoughtful and logical decisions can be upsetting for people – potentially to the point of avoiding making decisions on systems.

One way to help you track your systems is to make a list or a map – keep it relatively simple. I have a list of each file name and which drawer it’s in and then one of those files has lists of the boxes in storage and what the rough contents are so if I need to find a specific thing I can reference my file and go directly to the box it’s in. I recently made a map of a dresser for a client – where each box, labeled with a short description of the contents (mostly 1-3 words), represents a drawer in the dresser. Whatever you can do to help your mind focus on the things that really matter is what’s important.

example of a map for the contents of a dresser

An example of a “map” to identify where things are stored

Second, we might be impatient to find our solutions. The level of frustration at how chaotic things feel – whether that’s searching for things or how many things we’re dealing with – can tempt us into rushing into setting up something – anything. And then we change our minds – and set up something else. Maybe we do this over and over and over again – and avoid sticking with any one system long enough to find out how it does help us. Just because something doesn’t work immediately does not translate into its being useless. It’s too easy to discount the importance of our habits – that it takes time, energy, and most importantly effort to shift them. Do you remember the process of learning to ride a bike? It took time and practice. Therefore, make a decision – hopefully thought out – and stick with it for a while, working on being consistent with it.

In our search for answers – the way to make things easier – the thought of spending time thinking can be objectionable. “What, you mean, I have to not act, let the crummy system/space continue? And sit still and think?” Well, mostly yes (you don’t have to sit still ;-)) – if we avoid considering how this or that did or didn’t work, all the various pieces of it; we’re going to keep jumping randomly from one idea and system to another. Meanwhile, life isn’t going to be simplified and finding things that work for you are likely to elude you – defeating the purpose of trying to make things easier.

Although it might feel counter-productive to evaluate your systems – “a waste of time” – taking the time to do this will save you time, energy, and effort in the long run. And when it appears that a system has broken down – take the time to re-evaluate things. You might discover that something else – not the system – has changed. There are plenty of times that things can become fully functional with some tweaks here and there, whether they are new to you or established yet fluctuating systems – and not require an overhaul, i.e. more time, energy, and effort from you, unnecessarily.

The benefits of being organized are innumerable – the reduction of stress and worry (at least in the organizing area) is priceless. It would be hard to argue that it’s not valuable – though there are certainly times that it isn’t high on the priority list. It requires we spend our valuable time and energy on it – all the more reason to not rush into it. And ideally we’re going to approach our organizing efforts with our mind focused and relatively clear. It’s your best asset for discovering the systems that will enable you to simplify and focus on all those other things you’re handling. Therefore, use your mind to choose a system to try, set it up mindfully, and then stick with it for a while – and of course evaluate how it’s working or not for you.

Variations in Traditional Products

With so many products available – sometimes only online – it’s challenging to know what the possibilities are for your needs. And I cannot claim to be an expert. Yet, I do love discovering the variations and considering how and where they might be helpful. Therefore, with that in mind, here are some variations on a couple of traditional products.

3-Ring Binder Pocket

I first discovered this at Walgreen’s for $0.99 and was impressed by its quality, though I haven’t been able to find this specific one in recent years. There are now other brands available with various differences. It can be helpful to have a closeable pocket or folder that then lives within a larger container – in this case a 3-ring binder. I prefer the side opening; it makes the contents easier to access. If you are a fan of using binders, there are limitations when you have smaller items that need to be included and this is when having the pocket helps. (You might remember this is one of the benefits I’d talked about with the Unikeep binders.) Typical binder pockets and page protectors can be a way to include smaller items, though things can fall out of these since they don’t close. In searching for the specific style I’d found, I realized there are some variations available – from the top or side opening and the type of closure: string, Velcro, and plastic snap (though this plastic snap is harder to find). Most are designed to expand as the contents need – which is another reason they can be helpful – as the typical binder pockets and page protectors are intended for a limited number of pages.

My last unused 3 Ring Binder Pocket (from Walgreens) holding the rest of what I talk about here.

Bookmark Index Cards

Index cards have many variations – they have colors, lined and unlined, 2 size choices, and binders and spiral bound to contain for your index cards. Then there’s the bookmark style from Mead – where it looks like a ruled index card only there is an area that is cut so you can attach it to a page. Now you can make more extensive notes and easily keep it where it relates in the book. These can be found locally, Office Depot lists it as being sold in stores, so you might have seen these already. A friend shared a handful with me and I’ve been using them some – they can fall off the page, though I’ve been using them on the side rather than the top so that might be part of the problem! I like how they have color on the top and back so they stand out and that due to their size I can write more details. Then if I want to remove them from the book and save them, it’s easy to do.

Colorful bookmark index cards – the backs are colored completely in the color of the front edge

Tree Free File Folders (in SuperTab style)

Most of us use file folders at least some – even if you avoid a typical filing cabinet – and we’ve probably all seen all the colors and patterns available. Did you know that you could buy file folders that are made differently? These are made from sugar cane waste fiber that they say is sustainable, bio-based, and is a renewable resource. The file folders are biodegradable, recyclable, and made through a sustainable, eco-friendly manufacturing process. These have the 1/3 cut tab and are the SuperTab style – which means the space for your label is larger. I can say that they feel sturdy – maybe even more than the typical file folders we’re all familiar with.

Highly eco-friendly file folders

Project Planner Notebook

I’ve mostly seen project planner pages sold in packets that you then add to your day planner or other customizable notebook, like the Arc Notebook. Granted I don’t personally have a great need for a whole notebook dedicated to project planning. Nevertheless, it’s an interesting option – and now that I have a one from the NAPO Conference Expo – it’s been handy. The distinct spaces for making notes is conducive for planning and keeping track of your progress – and different project planners have different allotments of space. Although it comes spiral bound, sometimes the pages are perforated so removing them and putting them somewhere else is clean and simple.

Here’s one example of what the pages in a project planner notebook look like

All these products relate in some way to common organizational tools we’re all familiar with, yet these are variations that you might not have known existed. There’s part of me that thinks we already have too many choices – too many options – yet there’s also a need for alternatives to the traditional tools. Since we’re all different, having a variety of needs, and handling things uniquely our own way – this means we can likely find the tools that can assist us along the way. Are any of these items likely to benefit your organizational life?