Tag Archives: organization

Getting My Ish Together

Song Lyric of the Day:

Ooh woo, I’m a rebel just for kicks, now / I been feeling it since 1966, now /Might’ve had your fill, but you feel it still /Ooh woo, I’m a rebel just for kicks, now / Let me kick it like it’s 1986, now

Portugal. The Man / “Feel It Still

Given that it’s December, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what I want to accomplish next year. I’ve been more relaxed the last couple of years about making new year’s resolutions, and I don’t plan on changing that. In keeping it simple for 2018, my only real goal is to get my shit together. I want to be more organized. I want to be on time for appointments or — better yet — early. I don’t want said appointments to sneak up on me the day before or — even worse — the day of. I want to make it to more of Coraline’s school functions and even join her for lunch occasionally.

So with the goal of being super organized, I treated myself to a planner from kikki.K. I’d never heard of this brand before because I’m an old; I learned about it from a Wirecutter review of paper journals and planners. I’m an old and the kind of dork who likes reading reviews of paper journals and planners.

I didn’t choose my usual black and instead went with a metallic silver leather planner you can see from space. Seriously — I’ll never lose it on my (black) cluttered desk because it’s SO BRIGHT. I even got it monogrammed, so you know I’m serious. And so Coraline keeps her little mitts off of it — she was very interested in it. It was packaged simply but beautifully, which was an extra little something considering it shipped all the way from Australia.

Behold:

planner1 planner2 planner3Rich teased me about going with an “analog” planner, but I do better when I write things down. I remember things easier and more often and learn new things faster, which is why I take extensive notes when receiving training at work. So while I do rely on my phone calendar to remind me of appointments, I look forward to being more old-fashioned next year and putting pen to paper. Although I will still trust my phone to serve as a backup reminder.

Here’s to a more organized 2018. 🙂

 

 

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Quick Zone Organization

Song Lyric of the Day:

I threw your shit into a bag and pushed it down the stairs / I crashed my car into the bridge / I don’t care, I love it / I don’t care

Icona Pop / “I Love It

I used to be super organized, like Monica Geller organized. I sorted mail as soon as I got it. I could see the top of my desk. Everything was neat, orderly, and in its place. Then I got older. I got busier. And now I’m mom to an energetic toddler (like there’s any other kind, right?) whose hobbies including following me everywhere. I even have a secret closet of shame (my home office closet), just like Monica. So in order to not go insane when the house gets too cluttered and disorganized, I’ve started tackling little zones one at a time. That way I can restore order and get organized without getting overwhelmed. I can also still keep an eye on Coraline (assuming Rich isn’t around or she just wants to “help” me) since I’m working on a small area. And since I’m tackling small areas, it doesn’t take a lot of time to get each spot tidied up. Over the last few months, I’ve organized some former wastelands of kitchen cabinets, the dining room buffet and china cabinet, and bookcases, among other areas. I can even see the top of my desk again! Which is nothing short of a miracle, believe me.

One of my more recent zone organization projects was this disaster of an open-front kitchen cabinet:

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We did not use this space well at all.

The counter area directly underneath was also not much better.

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See how the bread is shoved to the back wall? If it’s not, our dog Troubadour will eat that whole loaf.

I actually kind of liked the corner on the other end of the counter where our collection of Food Network Magazines lived. But then one day it all escaped being soaked by water by oh, a centimeter or so because the file boxes were directly next to the kitchen sink. They had to be moved after that.

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The magazine collection lived in one of our appliance garages.

One night after we put Coraline to bed, I got motivated to finally tackle these trouble spots because they were not only eyesores, they weren’t terribly practical or making the best use of the space available.

I removed a shelf from the open-front cabinet to make room for the rest of our cookbooks, several or which were stored in a cabinet (which I also later organized).

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Cookbooks within reach

I then moved our magazine collection to underneath the cookbooks, where they wouldn’t be in any danger of getting soaked by water. I also finally tackled the pile of clutter (mostly my doing, I admit) that was growing by the day.

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Now I can look at this area of the kitchen without wanting to scream.

Voila!: A couple of zones organized, and it took less than an hour. Now I just need to work on not re-cluttering that counter space …

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Filed under home, home improvement, home organization, organization