Organization Boot Camp

So Sharon at Mom of 6 has challenged all willing participants to an “Organization Boot Camp.” Over the next month, we will have weekly challenges and Wednesday link ups to show how we are coming along. The focus this week is Creating Stations in Your Home. Sadly, in order for me to even start creating a station, I knew I would have a lot of digging out to do!

If you know me personally, you know I am pretty much a disaster on wheels. My purse is always overflowing with crap, my car is always a mess, my family started calling me “the Gear Bomb” after college because anytime I would go to visit, it only took about three seconds and my stuff had exploded all over the place. So, needless to say, I NEED this challenge!!

The best place for me to set up a station is my desk. It is a disaster, I always feel flustered and can never find anything I’m looking for. My piles of projects were all mixed in with the kids’ school stuff, crafts stuff, bills, etc. And, well, I’ll let the picture of my office speak for itself! (Yes, it was really THAT bad!!! I could only bear to show one small corner of the room!)

Yes, it is a shame. I am embarrassed to post the BEFORE picture. It’s awful. But, I do feel like I should have a teeny tiny bit of slack given to me. First of all, life has been a little chaotic over the last year. Secondly, I was in the hospital for five weeks and had a baby in the NICU for another 12 after that, so… a lot of stuff literally got “thrown to the side.” Papers, bills, magazines, all the junk you set aside to deal with later… well, the picture speaks a thousand words about what happened to all of that!

But I WANT to be organized! More than anything in the world. Lately, the chaos has caused unhappiness in my marriage, it has caused unnecessary stress and frustration, and all in all, it’s just not a good thing. I don’t have enough time with three small children and a whole lotta other stuff going on to be spending ten minutes searching for that thingy I put somewhere!!

So I am committed to this challenge!

I really listened to Sharon’s advice on how to set up stations. I loved her emphasis on “Touch it Once” Principle in which you Sort It, Do It, List It, File It, Recycle It. So I set to work on the mounds of paperwork!

Turns out, I had a lot of items that could be easily filed, shredded, or recycled. I started making piles, and then one by one dealt with the piles.

Then I started putting things away, cleaned off the desk, and created my “station” with my boxes of the items I wanted within hands reach. Either items I need to take care of soon, important papers for school, or just items I use regularly.

Going…

Gone!

Finally, I have an organized office area, all papers from the last year have been dealt with or filed or trashed, and I feel so much better being a little better organized! And I know my husband is going to be VERY HAPPY!! It’s not perfect, but it’s a very good start!

Come join us!

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katbiggie

Freelance writer at Kat Biggie Press

Alexa B, who blogs as "Kat Biggie" is a wife, mother, and writer. She has three children and one in heaven. She recently self published a book entitled "Sunshine After the Storm: A Survival Guide for the Grieving Mother" which is available on Amazon. She blogs about life after the loss of one of her twin daughters to TTTS, motherhood, all things parenting, advocacy, grief support and social good.