The deadline in question was the final critique for my art class, a self-directed painting [...]]]> I haven’t been blogging much lately.  My offline life has been pretty hectic, as I mentioned in last week.  But I got through a great big deadline yesterday, so I hope to get back to blogging, organizing, and blogging about organizing.

The deadline in question was the final critique for my art class, a self-directed painting seminar in which the students basically pursue their own projects, only with the advantage of structure, feedback, and people to commiserate with.  It’s perfect for someone like me — I have an MFA, and while my draftsmanship leaves something to be desired, I don’t really need drawing and painting classes that focus on the basics.  As much as I love making art, though, I find that I don’t tend to do it unless I have some sort of structure supporting me.  I need to know that someone will be looking at what I make, that my teachers and classmates will wander over and check out where I’m taking my work.  Even if they don’t give me feedback, even if I ignore the feedback they do give me, the conversations inspire me to keep the art happening.

Which brings me to the end of class, which brings me to the state of my studio space:

The Artist's Studio, With Ladybug Cookie

I was working on three large projects at once, and ran out of room on my table, which was covered in jars of medium, pigment, collage materials, and my lap top, which I have to move whenever I work. So I grabbed an end table from the living room to work on (it cleverly nests under another end table most of the time, so I didn’t even have to clear crap off it first!). That end table wound up with jars of paint all over it (as well as my Spring Cleaning Ritual Candles and Feast, consisting of a cookie shaped like a ladybug). But since it was a small table, and the piece I was working on was large, there are also jars of paint all over the floor, and stacks of National Geographics everywhere, and other random art supplies, as well as a handful of books, and receipts, and other random things.  Seriously, you can walk in here without slipping on the slick surface of a National Geographic.

Only this isn’t the scary part.  This is the scary part:

It just keeps getting worse ...

I know … it looks much better than the first picture.  There are no bottles of paint, jars of medium, collage materials, tottering piles of National Geographics, or random bits of laundry.  But under that big brown piece of paper lurks … paperwork.

That’s right.  My studio, messy as it looks, was reorganized last Spring.  I created a system that’s basically functional.  The only thing I have to do is clear the table, clean the floor, and put things away.

But the kitchen table … that’s another story.

The kitchen table has a backstory.  You see, my partner and I are barbarians who tend to eat in front of the TV instead of at the kitchen table like civilized folk.  This is due in part to the fact that we like to watch TV.   But it’s also due to the fact that the kitchen table tends to become a workspace, whether I want it to be or not.  A few years ago I finally decided to own this; Stuart and I got a nice big coffee table for the living room, and we just eat dinner in there.

With the intent of using the kitchen table to expand my workspace, I was used it as a staging area during last year’s massive Spring Cleaning and reorganization project.  I took everything off the shelves in my art studio, spread them on the kitchen table, sorted them, and put them away.  Then I took everything off the nearby kitchen and pantry shelves, spread them on the kitchen table, sorted them, and put them away.  Then I got distracted.

The tiny pile of “homeless” items remained on my kitchen table.  Then it metastasized.  It acquired other homeless items as the months went on.  The scariest part is that it became a repository for my business receipts and paperwork … and those items are homeless because I don’t have a filing system set up yet, which means that I really need to bite the bullet and create a filing system.  This is going to be the biggest challenge of my organizing transformation.  Wish me luck.

As much as I freaked out in the weeks leading up to my trip, I’m proud to say it was a well-organized success. I remembered my underwear, and my passport, and my meds. I even remembered some [...]]]> I got in from France on Saturday night. I’m still pretty jet-lagged, but I’m recovering slowly.

As much as I freaked out in the weeks leading up to my trip, I’m proud to say it was a well-organized success. I remembered my underwear, and my passport, and my meds. I even remembered some French. All in all, I had an awesome time and I can’t wait to go back.

The whole experience got me thinking about some of the tools I use to stay organized while packing and traveling. Back in the day, I would say that the most stressful part of packing was dealing with toiletries. The night before I left town, I would inevitably be running all over the house trying to look for plastic bags to put my shampoo in so that it wouldn’t spill all over my clothing. Then I got a few simple travel toiletry items, and it made all the difference.

I store these items in my luggage so I always know where they are, and when I’m ready to pack I can just refill my shampoo and conditioner and be ready to go.  The best thing about this list is that all of these items are available from under $20!

1. The Eagle Creek Pack-It Toiletry Kit at Magellan’s. In this airport-friendly kit, each bottle is clearly marked “3 oz.” and the bag itself is clearly marked “1 quart/liter”.  It’s clear plastic, so you can see what’s inside.  This is one of the best things I’ve ever bought.

2. Eagle Creek Travel Bottle Kit at Magellan’s.If you need extra bottles, or want to customize your Toiletry Kit, grab one of these. Again, all of them are clearly marked “3 oz.”

3. Eagle Creek Plastic Pack-It Sac, Xtra Small, Magellan’s I have a few of these running around. I use one for prescription meds, one for colored pencils … and I could really use another one for first-aid supplies like ibuprofen and band-aids. These are invaluable!

4. Eagle Creek Plastic Pack-It Sac, Small, Magellan’s I use one of these for make up. Since I don’t have that much make-up, nor do I wear it that often, I can just chuck the whole case into my luggage. The best thing? These are spill-proof. On the return flight, one of my eye-shadow cases broke, spilling finely-ground, slightly oily, colorful pigment all over my make up case — and it stayed inside the case, not all over my clothes.

5. Eagle Creek Mesh Laminate Pack-It Sacs, Xtra Small.So you want to see inside your bag, but you also don’t want to show all your underwear to everyone else waiting in the security line. These mesh laminate Pack-It Sacs come in various sizes, from extra small to large, and balance visibility with discretion.

5. Magellan’s Flat-Pack Toiletry Kit For longer trips, you’ll need to check a bag, and 3 oz. of shampoo might not be enough. I keep my toiletry kit stocked with shampoo, conditioner, lotion, contact lens solution, and a few first aid supplies.

6. Magellan’s Travel Jewelry Pocket OK, full disclosure — I don’t have one of these … yet. But I am going to get one. My current method of packing my earrings and necklaces in a series of nesting ziplock sandwich baggies is just. not. working.

Bon Voyage!

My partner travels a lot.  And when I say “a lot”, I mean that when somebody asks me where he is, I have to stop and think pretty hard about it.  Is it Beijing? No, that’s next week … Australia? Hong Kong? Seoul? Tokyo? … Brussels?

Last year he spent more time driving on the left-hand [...]]]>

My partner travels a lot.  And when I say “a lot”, I mean that when somebody asks me where he is, I have to stop and think pretty hard about it.  Is it Beijing? No, that’s next week … Australia? Hong Kong? Seoul? Tokyo? … Brussels?

Last year he spent more time driving on the left-hand side of the road than the right.  The people in the local airport lounge for his preferred airline know him by name.  Sometimes I think this is because they see him more than I do.

What makes it worthwhile is that sometimes, when he goes someplace really cool, I get to go with him.

This February he has a meeting in Paris.  Yeah, I know, poor me.

So I’m off to Paris in a month, or something, and I have a ton of stuff to do before I leave.  I’m probably not the only one who finds international travel to be a little stressful, but as with so many things, I manage to make it just a tad bit worse.

My typical ADD travel planning procedure goes something like this:

Trip minus 6 weeks and counting. “I have that trip coming up soon.  Next week I should really make sure I have everything I need in case I need to buy anything”.

Trip minus 5 weeks and counting. “I should make sure the cat sitter is available during our trip. I’ll e-mail her next week.”

Trip minus 4 weeks and counting. “That trip is coming up pretty soon. Next week I should check to see if I’m running low on any prescriptions.”

Trip minus 3 weeks and counting. “I wonder if I have contact lens cleaner in bottles less than 3 ounces. I should check on that before the trip.”

Trip minus 2 weeks and counting. “I wonder if any of my clothes fit?”

Trip minus 1 week and counting. (staring off into space) “La la la la la, la la la la la la la …”

Trip minus 3 days and counting. “OH CRAP I’M LEAVING FOR EUROPE IN THREE DAYS AND I ONLY OWN A SINGLE TORN PAIR OF BAGGY GRANDMA JEANS!”.

This time, I’m trying not to do that.

Since Rule Number One for managing my time and sanity is to avoid the mall at all costs, I do 95% of my shopping online. So far, I’ve ordered some tops, which have arrived in plenty of time to try them on and exchange the ones that didn’t fit. I still need to remember to do the actual return, but I at least I remembered to take care of ordering the replacements in the correct sizes. I now have two tops and a dressy winter jacket taken care of.

I still probably need one or two more tops, one or two pairs of pants, and maybe a vest or jacket or something to accessorize and pretend that I’m not wearing the same three shirts for two weeks straight.   So far I’ve spent most of the evening looking for this stuff.  Why is this so hard?   I just want a couple of outfits that won’t wrinkle, will dry quickly, and don’t look like featured ensembles from my second grade teacher’s line of polyester couture.

Am I really being unreasonable?

“I think we should help each other get organized”, she said.

I was stunned. “Get organized? Help each other?” I asked. “How can I be any help to you at all? You’re pretty [...]]]> My organizing journey began in the fall of 2005 when a friend of mine called me with an interesting proposition.

“I think we should help each other get organized”, she said.

I was stunned. “Get organized? Help each other?” I asked. “How can I be any help to you at all? You’re pretty organized already. I’m a chaos demon. I think I just need to come to terms with that.”

“I realize that I know more about organizing than you do,” said my friend. “That’s OK. But I just moved in with my partner, I’ve got a lot of unpacking to do, and two people’s stuff to deal with. I could use the company. And I think I could help you a lot.”

“Look, I’m grateful, I really am. I’m happy to help you get unpacked. I just don’t think I’ll ever be organized. Honestly. I’ve tried EVERYTHING. You wouldn’t believe the money I’ve wasted on containers and drawer organizers. Besides, I’m in grad school, and I have a job … I have no time and no money.”

“Do you have one afternoon a week?” she asked.

“Well, I guess Friday afternoons are free”, I said.

“Great. If I recommend a book, a single, inexpensive book, are you willing to buy it?”

“I don’t know. I feel like I’ve read everything and nothing works. Besides, I’ve got a ton of reading to do already.”

“You haven’t read this,” my friend told me. “And it’s easy. It won’t take you any time at all.”

“OK, fine, I’ll buy the book”, I said. “I just don’t want you to feel bad if this doesn’t work.”

“I know you’ve had a lot of bad experiences in the past, but I know you, and I really think this will work.  I wouldn’t be suggesting it otherwise,” my friend said. “Go find that book. And I’ll see you Friday.”

Hmph, I thought to myself after I hung up. We’ll just see about this book.

The book, Julie Morgenstern’s Organizing from the Inside Out, would change my life. Using it, I was actually able to organize my space, starting a cascade of healthy, positive change that has completely transformed the way I see myself.