Peace of Mind Organizing

Worth repeating: Finishing is tough (in knitting and organizing)

14 November 2016

This post was originally published on July 9, 2009. It came to mind because this weekend, when the afghan in question was actually finished. That’s right, seven years later. Check back on Thursday for a post about that, complete with photos of the finished blanket. And don’t let the seven year delay detract from the message of this post!

It’s the rare knitter who enjoys the finishing aspects of their knitting projects. That’s the weaving in of ends, the blocking (soaking or steaming the knit fabric to size), the seaming.

Finishing is the bane of existence for most knitters. And it seems to be real problem for folks who are tackling organizing projects as well. (I count myself in both groups.) I can think of a few reasons:

• Fear of screwing up the finishing and rendering all the prior work wasted
• Fear of discovering I made a mistake in the process and will have to start over
• The tedium of the final tasks (whether it be seaming a sweater or shlepping donations to charity)
• Not knowing how to finish
• The threat of being disappointed in the final result

But the flip side of the coin is the thrill when a project that has gone well is finished. And the time freed up to work on something else (another knitting project, another organizing project, or maybe just something fun).

I’m experiencing the combined tedium and joy of finishing a giant knitting project. As I’ve blogged about before, I started knitting Barbara Walker’s Learn-To-Knit Afghan back in early 2006. It’s comprised of 63 8×8-inch squares, each knit in a different stitch pattern. By the time you’ve finished it, you’ve tasted many different types of knitting.

I got about 48 of the squares done, hit a wall in the Lace section, then put the project down. I picked it up again about a year later when I participated in the Ravelympics, where my goal was to finish the Lace section during the days of the summer Olympics. I actually finished the rest of the squares in that time.

For more than 10 months, those finished squares sat in a stack waiting for me to do something with them. The next step was to lay them out, so that I could seam them into a blanket. I had absolutely no idea how to go about doing that well and lacked the confidence to do it myself. I didn’t want a poor layout to result in an ugly blanket. Plus, I was a little afraid that the seaming itself would be difficult or just plain unenjoyable.

Finally, last month, I sought the help I needed to get past that barrier. I took all 63 squares with me to Michigan on my R&R trip with my crafty girlfriends. And I got some of them to help me layout the afghan. They weren’t daunted at all.

Here’s a photo of the laying out process. It was like putting together a puzzle!

I decided to seam only 48 of the 63 squares, to make a smaller blanket to use on the couch. Once those squares were selected and laid out, I started seaming. I had six columns and eight rows. I started seaming columns, then I sewed columns together.

Here are two of the first squares seamed together:

Here’s a photo of the first column:

And the first pair of columns seamed together:

And the whole thing seamed together:

The next step is weaving in all those ends. Then I’m going to put an applied i-cord border around it. Then I’ll back it with soft fabric, so it’s cozy for using on the couch. And when I’m finished, you can count on my posting a photo!

A finishing job this big somehow seems more than finishing. I’m kind of glad I didn’t consider the enormity of what would have to be done after I’d completed the squares.

This is a great metaphor for all projects, isn’t it? Do it one square at a time. When you’re finished with all the squares, do the next task. Ask for help if you get stymied. Finish that task and then the next. Keep plugging away (even if you take months-long breaks!) and eventually you’ll finish. And, trust me, that’s a thrill and a half.

The blog's 10th anniversary!

10 November 2016

Ten years ago today, I published my first blog post, called What is organized? It feels like I’ve been blogging forever, but at the same time, those ten years went by quickly!

Since that day, I’ve written 1,155 blog posts. They’re of varying lengths, but I’d say they average 450 words. That’s 517,500 words. The equivalent of four or five books.

That’s interesting—I would have said I didn’t have time over the past ten years to write five organizing books. But clearly I did. That right there, ladies and gentlemen, is the value of doing things a little at a time.

I took a glance at my Google Analytics to see what my most popular blog post is. Hands down, it’s the one called Are you interested in becoming a professional organizer? with 120,000 page views since I wrote in in 2011 (including a staggering 54,000 page views in the last year alone). Clearly plenty of people are interested in becoming professional organizers.

I want to thank the readers of this blog. I appreciate your encouragement and kind words. If you have topics you’d like to see me cover on this blog, please post a comment or send me an email.

In the meantime, I’ll keep trying to publish those two blog posts a week (Mondays and Thursdays). And if you have any interest in genealogy, please check out my other blog, Organize Your Family History, where I try to post Tuesdays and Fridays.

Photo by CJ Sorg: via Flickr. Used under Creative Commons License.

Making my desk day productive

3 November 2016

My client schedule is light this week and I had high hopes for getting a lot done. I dusted off my important tasks so they were front and center along the urgent stuff. Yet, the last couple of days got away from me. Part of the problem is my obsession with Hamilton and the distraction of the coming election.

I know that my morning hours tend to be more productive than the afternoon. So last night I determined that I would go to bed earlier than usual so I could get up earlier than usual, thus expanding the morning hours.

Well, it’s worked like a charm. I got up at 5:30 and immediately set to putting together a robust task list, one I truly hope to finish today. I wrote my list in Evernote (in a note with today’s date as the title). Then, I selected the items to get done in the coming hour. This is a technique I learned from time management guru Mark Forster. He calls it The Next Hour of Your Life and it’s been working well for me. At the end of each hour, I create another mini-list, extracting tasks from the main list. Most hours I’ve had a little extra time after I finish the hour’s tasks. Then I take a little break.

It’s 10:45 am. My hour-by-hour list started at 6:45. That first hour, I worked on important tasks that I’d been putting off—ones that have no external deadline. Four hours later, I have checked 15 things off my list. I intend to do another 5 to 10 before noon. Then I can coast this afternoon.

This feels great! It’s not the sheer number of tasks that thrills me; it’s the fact that I started the ball rolling on some important projects that now feel viable.

I think the key to my success today is threefold:

• I’m working during my peak productivity hours
• I have a solid list from which to work so that I know what to do next
• I’m using one-hour chunks to give me mini-deadlines and apply a little urgency

I’ll definitely try this again the next time I have a whole day at my desk. Of course, I can do it when I have smaller chunks of time as well!

ETA: It’s now 2:45 and I’ve crossed all 23 items off my list. I’m calling it a day and taking my dog for a play date. It feels great!

This week's life enhancement: Hamilton

31 October 2016

Can't wait to hold this Playbill in my hand!

On Friday, October 21 I watched the PBS documentary about the smash Broadway musical, Hamilton. Of course, I was aware of the phenomenon Hamilton—it won a bazillion Tony awards and made news because tickets are impossible to get. But I had never listened to the music. I knew a lot of it was hip-hop and I did not have much of an appreciation for hip-hop, so I hadn’t bothered.

Silly me.

I’m so glad I watched that documentary to see what all the fuss was about. I immediately downloaded the 46-song original broadway cast soundtrack from iTunes and have pretty much been listening to it non-stop since. Well, not quite non-stop, because I have taken breaks to watch the 90-minute documentary three more times and pretty much every Hamilton-related YouTube video I can find. In one video, I heard First Lady Michelle Obama call Hamilton “the best piece of art in any form that I have ever seen in my life.”

The reason I bring it up here is to encourage you to watch the documentary or listen to the soundtrack if you haven’t already. Its brilliance is inspirational. And it’s so enjoyable. The documentary is freely available to watch online, but only until November 18. So don’t delay.

To make it easy for you to become a Hamilphile, I offer these links. (Just a selection of the many opportunities there are to hear/watch/read about Hamilton.)

• The PBS documentary, Hamilton’s America. Expires November 18!

• This riveting video of Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda performing the opening song from the musical (before it was a musical) at the White House. I’ve watch it roughly a bazillion times.

• Hamilton: The Revolution by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeremy McCarter, about the creation of the play. It includes lyrics from all the songs, annotated by Miranda, as well as great photos. I downloaded the Kindle version from my library and read it on my iPad mini (it’s not compatible with the Kindle Paperwhite). I’m really enjoying it.

• Of course I want to read the Alexander Hamilton biography by James Chernow which inspired Lin-Manuel Miranda to create the show. I’ve placed a hold on it at the library and look forward to reading it when it becomes available.

• It’s hard to find video of the actual play, but the song “Yorktown” was performed at this year’s Tony awards. I keeping watching the video.

• I’m also repeatedly watching the Broadway episode of James Corden’s Carpool Karaoke, with Lin-Manuel Miranda in the front seat (and three other Broadway stars in the back seat).

I now, of course, really want to see the musical on stage, though I don’t think I’m prepared to shell out hundreds of dollars per ticket. Hamilton is playing on Broadway, of course, and there’s also a production in Chicago. Next year there will be a touring show, which is supposed to come to St. Louis. I don’t want to wait that long. So I’m entering the ticket lottery each day for two of the limited number of $10 tickets available for the Chicago performance. Chicago is about a five-hour drive from St. Louis and the same-day tickets for the 7:30 performance don’t become available until 2 pm, so I’d be cutting it close. But every day I’m available I enter. I’m determined that it’s doable.

If you’re obsessed too, please tell me: Have I missed any videos, books or articles? Let me know in the comments!

ETA: On April 20, 2017 I saw Hamilton performed in Chicago! I bit the bullet earlier this year and bought (great) tickets. It was an incredible production and didn’t disappoint. I hope to see it again some day!

ETA: On September 30, 2017 I saw it in Chicago again! My niece was visiting from Australia and wanted to see it. Who was I to say no?

ETA: On April 18, 2018 I saw it for a third time! The touring company had come to St. Louis and I couldn’t stand not seeing it when it was being performed 2.5 miles from my home. So I bought a ticket for an amazing tenth-row-center seat just two days before the performance for a (relatively) paltry $150. The show still amazes and delights me. I’d see it again in a heartbeat.

ETA: On September 1, 2019 I saw it in Chicago again! This time I (finally) won the ticket lottery and saw it from the second row for only $10. It was amazing from that vantage point!! Can’t wait to see it again.

Keeping the important top of mind

28 October 2016

It’s so easy to focus on urgent tasks, rather than important ones, isn’t it?. Every day I create a list of tasks I want to accomplish that day. (When I’m on my game, I do it the night before.) I try to keep the list short so I have a fighting chance of actually accomplishing all of them.

That approach often results in a short list of items that are calendar-driven. Sometimes they’re important, but often they’re simply urgent. One day last week, I emptied my brain of the urgent tasks and realized none of the items were particularly important. Then, when I put my mind to it, I remembered some projects that were languishing. It was a reminder that it’s important to consider the important-but-not-urgent tasks when I’m putting together my task list.

Considering those tasks when you’re figuring out what to do next can help you be successful. When you work on important projects in bites, over time, you can take more thoughtful action, rather than always rushing to get something done. It can decrease stress. Eventually, if you’re successful at staying on top of important tasks, you’ll have fewer urgent tasks populating your to-do list. And that’s a nice way to live, in my opinion.

So how can you keep the important projects and tasks top of mind? For some people, it starts with setting goals. If you set goals, the important tasks become more obvious, because they’re in service of the goals. You can keep a list of your goals or projects in front of you (on a bulletin board, for example) or use reminders on your phone or computer to bring them top of mind. You can create a paper or electronic list of important projects and break the projects into tasks, then schedule the tasks. For many people, interim deadlines are really helpful.

There’s no one right way to do it; I encourage you to experiment with different methods.

One thing that can be very beneficial is to schedule time in your week or month to ruminate. Think about how things are going and how they might improve. If you feel like you’re on a hamster wheel, for instance, think about what you’d do if you could hop off the hamster wheel. Then think about how you could make that happen. Brainstorm with yourself using whatever tools feel right. For example, I keep track of tasks in my computer, but I like to brainstorm with pen and paper, often using mind maps.

One way I ruminate is to schedule monthly floats in a flotation tank. While I’m floating I get great insights and sometimes I remember important projects that had fallen by the wayside. I always take along my float journal so I can jot down the ideas that come to me. And periodically I review my float journal.

How do you keep track of your important projects and tasks?

Worth repeating: It's holiday card time

24 October 2016

I wrote this post on October 31, 2012. It seems timely to repeat, since on Saturday I ordered the holiday cards for my business. That’s the front of this year’s card at right…I like to order New Year’s cards because they’re secular and give me the ease of an extra week to send them. I still use Minted.com (they’re awesome) and they now will (stylishly) print your recipient addresses on the envelopes at no extra charge. So that means I needed to finalize my recipient list before finalizing the card order. It feels so good to have that finished already! I’ll have plenty of time to write notes on each recipient’s card.

I’m thinking about holiday cards for my clients and colleagues and I’m whispering to myself, “Let it be easy.” In the past, I’ve tended to make holiday cards way more complicated than they need to be.

My friend, Margaret Lukens turned me on to Minted.com, which sells lovely personalized cards. Lots of different designs. So I spent some time there considering the offerings and was starting to feel overwhelmed by the options (as usual).

So I’ve boiled it down to these first tasks:

• Decide how many cards I need, even if it’s a ballpark number
• Stick with the design I’ve already chosen and customized
• Make final decisions about the last trivial options
• Submit and check out and stop worrying about it

I’m going on vacation next week (more on that later this week!) and the cards should arrive shortly after I get home. Then I’ll have time to update my list, print my address labels and enjoy the task of getting them out in a leisurely fashion.

No need to get myself tense about this. Thanks to the internet, I can create beautiful, customized cards without even leaving my desk. Now that’s easy.

How about you, have you started thinking about your holiday cards and how easy you can make them? (Hint: Not sending any is the easiest option and a perfectly viable one.)

National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day is back!

20 October 2016

Almost everybody has old prescription drugs cluttering up their bathrooms and other spaces. The trouble is, it’s hard to dispose of them responsibly.

On Saturday, though, it’s easy. A couple of times a year, the Drug Enforcement Administration, in conjunction with the Department of Justice, sponsors the National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day, where consumers can drop off their old medications for proper disposal.

That day is this Saturday, October 22, from 10 am to 2 pm!

Click here to find a collection site near you.

The first Drug Take-Back Day took place in 2011 and it’s been a success from the outset. In the May 2016 nationwide event, they collected 893,498 pounds — about 447 tons! — of unneeded or expired medications. Those are drugs that might have landed in the landfill and damaged the environment, or perhaps in the hands of abusers or children.

This is a great opportunity to declutter your medicine cabinet!