cavylady
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Post by cavylady on Jun 16, 2010 17:06:33 GMT -5
In the past year I have been trying to Step Out of Squalor as much as I can. Last summer I moved all the furniture in the combined Living Room and Dining Room to one end of the large room, steam cleaned the carpet, moved all the furniture to the other end of the room, steam cleaned that end, and then put all the furniture back.
In the process, I unpacked my china cabinet, reassessed what I needed and what I didn't, and ended up rearranging the entire living space.
This fall I took everything out of my pantry and organized it and labeled all the containers.
I've been working with a professional organizer on consult. I send her pictures and she and I talk on email about what's the best way to tackle a project. I pay her a monthly fee -- depending on how much I use her it's either expensive (when I lag behind) or a bargain (when she helps me get my rear in gear).
I have that horrible tendency to buy extra things at Target and at the supermarket and then stash them in crinkly plastic bags. This fall I started stockpiling small gifts and activity books for my daughter. She's nine and is heading off to four weeks of sleepaway camp. She went last year and LOVED it, but her one complaint was that I never sent her a care package. (I've also been getting small bottles of shampoo, etc. for her to use at camp. The large bottle is too much for her to deal with in the showers.)
OK, so this is the week where I'm setting aside her clothes and packing her trunk. And where is my stash of white plastic Target bags with the batteries and the toiletries and ... dear God, I have no idea where it is.
Last time I remember seeing it the pile was on the laundry room floor. Not there. I remember it being on the floor of the office, but I cleaned out the office in January, so it's not there. Shoot.
Last night I couldn't sleep because I was running through my various clutter hot spots in the house, trying to pull up an image of this pile of white target bags.
Today I opened up the linen closet to put away the vacuum and it occurred to me that I might have put the bags in there. Looked behind sheets on shelves. Nope, not on the floor. Looked up to the top shelf where the Christmas ornaments are and, Hey! What's that?
I found a clear plastic bin of her camp supplies on the top shelf. Everything was there. The disposable cameras she wanted. The activity books for the four hour bus ride. The toiletries. Yay ME!
Funny thing is -- I have no memory whatsoever of putting these objects in a bin, and I have no memory of putting them in the linen closet. Judging from the bin, it must have been when I was reorganizing the pantry, as it's the same brand.
On the one hand, I'm quite proud of myself. On the other, I'm a bit sheepish that I forgot where I had put this project. And on the last hand (!) I'm very, very proud of myself that at this time I have NO piles of white plastic Target bags in any room of the house.
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Post by meryt on Jun 16, 2010 17:13:55 GMT -5
Arrrgh, totally empathise! This is exactly my problem when I put things away. I forget where I put them or even forget about them totally.
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canary
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Post by canary on Jun 16, 2010 17:39:12 GMT -5
Good job! I'm surprised I'm not the only one who has kept things in big plastic Target bags. They hold so much more than grocery store bags -- which ends up meaning that when I clean anything out and find junk that has no place, I dump it in a bag and usually never see it again.
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Post by puppybox on Jun 16, 2010 17:47:27 GMT -5
I think this sort of memory lapse proves how some of us are SO NOT LAYZEE and careless but really have brains that operate differently. you were quite organised, efficient, etc and your brain didn't know what do even do with those actions. so it promply forgot them.
I noticed that you mentioned more than once the the "crinkly white plastic"-ness of the bags. -I also remember things by colour and texture rather than more traditional ways. you do not want to get directions to my home (turn right at the big red blobby thing).
keep that in mind as you create a system. you can remember more easily by colour. so don't get transparent plastic boxes maybe!
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cavylady
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Post by cavylady on Jun 16, 2010 18:19:58 GMT -5
I noticed that you mentioned more than once the the "crinkly white plastic"-ness of the bags. -I also remember things by colour and texture rather than more traditional ways. you do not want to get directions to my home (turn right at the big red blobby thing). keep that in mind as you create a system. you can remember more easily by colour. so don't get transparent plastic boxes maybe! Wow. That's a big insight. My Christmas ornaments are in opaque green tubs and I always know exactly where they are. |
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Post by shopgirl on Jun 16, 2010 18:21:52 GMT -5
Even when I organize things in plastic boxes and label them... when I'm looking for an item, I often don't believe my own label on those boxes. So I'll skip right over the correct box and search everywhere else in the house. No idea what that's all about.
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Post by disorganizeddragon on Jun 16, 2010 18:55:09 GMT -5
Congratulations on finding the camp goodies in time for the trip!  I have enough Target bags in my house to stock four check-out lanes. I need a chaperone to hold my wallet every time I walk into that store.  And don't feel a bit bad about putting things up and then forgetting where you put them. I do that all the time. At the end of April, while I was searching for wrapping paper for a birthday gift, I found the gloves I bought for my mother for Christmas. I put them back in the closet, telling myself that I'll just give them to her this Christmas, but as I sit here typing this, I couldn't tell you exactly which closet they're in. Hopefully, I'll have this place clean and organized by then and they'll be in someplace that makes sense--and I actually know where they are. |
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Post by messymimi on Jun 16, 2010 19:49:22 GMT -5
Many of us have the problem of "out of sight, out of mind." So we leave stuff out so we won't forget, and more and more stuff gets left out so we won't forget, and we still can't find it because there is so much stuff out, and here we are.
Anyway, I'm glad you found it, and next time, you might want to leave yourself a note on the calendar or something, so you don't go through this again.
messymimi
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Post by notsomessyshell on Jun 16, 2010 20:00:23 GMT -5
Yay for the desqualoring efforts and successes!!! And Yay for finding the stuff before it was too late. Your daughter will be really happy.  I too have a tendency to buy stuff for "something". It has a purpose when I get it. It has a purpose when I put it somewhere. And when that purpose rears it's head I have NO IDEA WHERE IT IS! Yep I totally understand this one. I put stuff in crates. I think wow I am so organized. Nope. Not if I have no idea where I put it. Grrrr. Trying to put labels on stuff. And keep it in a notebook. That way I should know where they are. I will let you know how well it works. Work in progress. Target bags are the best! They are thicker than other places bags. And they are bigger. All our bags go to my parents house for the care of my mother. She is still incontinent and we use the bags to dispose of her "diapers". Hopefully for not too much longer and then I can go back to keeping them, ahem I mean USING them.  |
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Post by dtesposito on Jun 16, 2010 20:13:10 GMT -5
This happens to me when I have layers and layers of containers. If I had one row of bins or boxes on each shelf, I could label things or (if the containers were clear) I could see what was in them. Another reason to not have so much stuff that I have to stack things on top of, in front of, and precariously balanced on each other. I currently only have one closet that is easy to find stuff in, the one I cleaned a couple of weeks ago. Someday (soon) they will all be like that.
Glad you found the camp stuff bin, instead of buying everything new again this week and finding the bin NEXT week!
Diane
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cavylady
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Post by cavylady on Jun 16, 2010 23:21:34 GMT -5
I was in the process of getting angry at myself because I was sure I'd have to go shopping all over again. But no.
I've packed the trunk and everything fits. The sleeping bag has been to the dry cleaners and back, and except for ironing on a few more labels, I'm pretty much done with packing her for camp. Wow.
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Post by lizzie on Jun 17, 2010 3:47:52 GMT -5
Cavylady, you are SO ORGANISED!!! That is very impressive, well done!
I was thinking about shopgirl's comment about not taking in what is written on the box - I spent ages recently looking for the particular box which had beads in it amongst rows of boxes on a bookcase - must have looked past the words 'beads and sequins' a dozen times. I have decided now to put a PICTURE on the side of the box. I did consider actually gluing a few beads and sequins onto the box but decided pictures would be neater!
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cavylady
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Post by cavylady on Jun 17, 2010 8:52:50 GMT -5
For my next trick, I will attempt to find the four bolts I bought some months ago to repair my youngest daughter's vanity table. It's really only a shelf screwed to the wall, but the screws ripped out of the supports, so now I have to bolt the shelf to the supports (which are holding on to the wall just fine). I had planned to fix the shelf and pick out a Hawaiian print fabric before she left in order to make a skirt for the table/shelf. She'd like her room repainted so that it's no longer pink, and she'd like a tropical blue or green. I figured it's easier to pull a paint color from the fabric.
While she's away at camp would seem to be the perfect time to paint the room.
I don't really need to *fix* the shelf in the next two days, but I do need to pick out fabric with her in the next two days. And find the bolts soon after that.
Somewhere on the shelf by the door in the garage? I think?
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Post by JoyInAction on Jun 18, 2010 6:45:21 GMT -5
I don't know if this will help anyone else - it may just be time clutter for some, but this is what I worked out that helps us find things that we've put away. I use MS WORD, but any editor would work. I created a document called Where Is It.doc with the following introduction and table. I can't figure out how to build the table here, so you'll just need to create one with the table headings I suggest, or use others to fit your own needs. Not all columns in a row would need to be used for any given item. And you'll create your own Locator Keys (as many as you need). Also, the successful application of this document depends on ongoing updates to the table when things are moved or removed. If you learn of a better database tool to accommodate our need to easily locate items, please let the group know.
Hope this helps,
Joy
This document is a simple and crude item locator system. The items in this catalogue may be files (paper or electronic) or any other type of article (like keys or shoe polish). The definitions are in no particular order - which will not be a problem for you because, to locate an item, you will press the search icon (binoculars) on your toolbar or use the drop-down menu path Edit Find then type in a keyword for the search. (This is not a sophisticated search engine, so only a very short search string should be used. If you aren't successful in locating what you want with a string of words, try using just one keyword.) Search strings or keywords should be entered all in lower case. Press Find Next as many times as you need to until you find the item you’re looking for or until the system returns a message that Word has finished searching the document.
If you have knowledge of item locations that you feel others should know about, please feel free to add it to this file. It is best to spell words out completely, rather than abbreviating, since that is probably how searches will be done and is most easily done consistently. It is important to spell correctly.
Note 1: To avoid clutter, electronic files should be saved rather than paper. When an electronic file is referenced, the reference should be hyperlinked to the electronic file and the file path should also be fully recorded.
Note 2: When adding new articles to this document, add as many keywords and as many variations of a keyword as you think might be used; for instance, nonprofit and non-profit or fundraising and fund raising and fund-raising.
Note 3: VERY IMPORTANT Do not discard anything that is listed here without ensuring that someone updates the reference in this database.
Locator Key:
Lat3 – Lateral file, 3rd drawer from the top
Lin1S3 – Linen closet #1, third shelf
ShedR – Shed, right side
table headings
Mark for Removal Status
Item Description
Location Code
Purchased For
Alpha File Name
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cavylady
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Post by cavylady on Jun 21, 2010 10:27:25 GMT -5
She's off to camp. Everything's all labeled and packed and done. Whew!
Found the bolts for her shelf and she picked out a fabric.
I've got a game plan for her room -- some of the walls need priming as there's a mural on 1 1/3 walls. I'm going to end up breaking this this down in Listzilla and taking it day by day.
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