Organizing: it doesn't always look like progress

[pseydtonne]

I totally wanted to write about something upbeat after two posts of evisceration. I failed. I found out this evening that I have a lot less contiguous CD shelf space than I thought.

I've had a policy of keeping the music CDs in the dining room near the vinyl albums and the data CDs in the bedroom near the computers. The rack handling the end of the music alphabet is larger than either of the other two racks, so it has had about three spare shelves. The top shelf has had some unsorted discs and empty jewel cases for a long time. That may soon change.

Tonight I finally got thirty of my leftover music discs back into order and on the racks: it took me an hour. The two empty rows at the bottom of the end rack have became half a row. I had to keep shuffling chunks at a time from one row to another, freeing up space only to lose it within minutes.

Then I got back to my room and realized how many discs still needed to be sorted. Even though I freed up space in one place and put a lot of things in order, I still have another hundred fifty CDs that need their fates decided.

This part of my organizing project has suddenly blossomed. It's not like the stuff wasn't there before -- it just wasn't approachable. I still have a mound of objects at the foot of my dresser, which keeps me from sorting out things without leaning over.

I'm going to make up a number: six hours. Sorting out the tchotchkes on the edge of the dresser and on top of the dresser's bookshelf, sorting the CDs and figuring out where things have a logical place in just that bookshelf and the one next to it will take six hours. That six hours includes putting away laundry and finding a home for the floor fan in the middle of all of this. I'm not even certain that six hours will include putting the DVDs into order, even though they make up part of the problem. The six hours definitely does not include getting any displaced book in order.

I go sleepies. Sometimes this just overwhlems me. I have to remember that the result will be worth it, that I can tackle a section at a time, that some of the biggest space hogs can be resolved in minutes. Looking at the stacks of CDs in various states of clothing feels like I'm looking at a nightmare.

I shall close tonight with a link to Jesus healing suicide wounds. Why? Cuz it's f*ckin' funny whereas tonight's organizing session was not.

Comments

[proudlyfallen.livejournal.com]

That feeling of "wow, I own too much stuff"? I got the same thing. Except in my case, a lot of it is junk. WHY do I need a dozen empty liquor bottles and half a dozen broken figurines I got from the arcade when I was younger? No freakin' clue. In the trash they went. Most of the papers on the floor? Grocery lists, a URL for a website that doesn't exist anymore, and a scribbled note about Ty's declaration that on the last day he worked, he was going to pull the "call the police" wire under the counter and run circles around the Indian 3rd shift guy screaming "AL-QAEDA!"

My side of the room is almost presentable now. Time to tackle the bookshelves and get on J's back about all of his shit that's in the way of me making use of the second closet. And then? Well, and then I'm going to clean out the closets in the basement where we sleep. Because digging through the one of them this morning for my snowboard boots... I don't think those rollerblades fit anyone anymore. My grandma's teeth container? She doesn't leave Delaware anymore. And why the heck did my mama keep a stack of squares of wrinkled wrapping paper? We all know she's never going to use it.

For the moment though... I'm gonna get on the damn mountain for the first time in 3 freakin' years. Cleaning can wait until tomorrow.

Unsolicited professional advice

[anotherjen.livejournal.com]

I recommend lots of wastebaskets/trash cans/recycling bins within easy tossing distance from any point in every room.

Re: Unsolicited professional advice

[proudlyfallen.livejournal.com]

We have them. We're just a family of packrats. For instance, if you need any kind of electronic cord, any kind at all, my father has it. (I inventoried his chargers once -- everything from 1.5V up to 16V, I think it was.) Thus, the need for the occasional total overhaul. The URL for the website that doesn't exist? I'm sure I meant to check it out 4 years ago. I'm sure it was very important. Now, not so much. We have a lot of stuff like that lying around.

Re: Unsolicited professional advice

[anotherjen.livejournal.com]

Oh. I thought you meant you had actual trash lying around, like tissues, food wrappers, that sort of thing.

[anotherjen.livejournal.com]

Lately I've had a couple of new organizing clients who have been really shocked at how long the process can take. I try to explain it to them this way: How many minutes a day do you think a person should spend tidying and putting things away? Maybe three chunks of ten minutes = 30? Now multiply that 30 minutes by the number of days you haven't been tidying and putting things away. It adds up a lot.

I think reality TV has also given people unrealistic expectations, since the organizing shows bring in a team of organizers to work all at once for two or three straight days, plus there's lots of video editing.

Organizing is mainly a process of decision making. It's heady stuff. Not like cleaning, which you can do while you're listening to a podcast or chatting on the phone.

There are ways to make the organizing process more efficient, though; I recommend reading Organizing From the Inside Out and/or hiring an organizer. :-)