UPDATE: The winner is…Beverly!
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Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”
~ St. Francis of Assisi
I’m working on updating my plans today. Trying to re-jigger them to fit in everything I have to accomplish. It always looks so…possible, until real life intrudes.
After finishing my #the100dayproject (yay, me!), I feel like I can do anything once I focus. My priorities this week? I need to write some chapters! I have an editing project to wrap up. I want to complete organizing my jewelry-making station in my art room. I haven’t made jewelry in a while, in an organized fashion, because it’s such a jumbled mess, but I’m making progress. I don’t want to get mired in indecisions about where everything should go/how can I make some space/what I should de-stash, etc. Plus, I want to leave time for family fun, too.
The jewelry station feels like the most daunting thing, and it shouldn’t be, because it’s not a money-maker gig. However, I feel less stressed overall as I make improvements in that room. So, health-wise it should be a priority, right? Okay, so maybe I’m trying to justify focusing on it to the detriment of the “real work.”
I’ve accomplished a lot already. The areas underneath my worktables where I have boxes/bins stored, have all been cleaned and only “necessary” stuff was kept. I completed organizing my ink/glasswork station. What’s left? The jewelry station. The art table which has to be cleared/cleaned/and space made for painting. The rolling bins need to be cleaned out and organized, but I am trying to finish one big task per week so that by mid-summer I’ll three stations free and be able to find what I need when I start a project.
In case you don’t remember or haven’t been following this blog for a while, this is what my art room looked like shortly after my mother passed and ALL HER ART SUPPLIES were dumped in here for me to sort through. I barely had room to navigate the aisles on either side of the art table to the left here—standing sideways! It’s nothing like that now, but it helps me to remember where I started. Now, I know my goal is possible. When I finish, I’ll share pictures. It’s not anything fancy. The room itself is painted concrete block walls with 1980s industrial tiles on the floor. The furniture is a mishmash of things. But I will share. A workspace doesn’t have to be stylish to fulfill its function!
And none of that has to do with books. However, I should let you know that while I clean and de-stash, I work through story issues in my head. I have a notepad always ready for ideas. I can’t complete any editing, but I can be working on my own stories, so it’s not wasted time.
I’m rambling. And no doubt you’re bored. So, I’ll close with a contest!
Tell me about any huge organizational challenge you faced and how you overcame it for a chance to win a $5 Amazon GC!
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Don’t know that any of my reorganization have been huge projects…every now & then I get sick of the stuff I’ve got stored in my back room where I have shelves for my appliances, canned goods, & other items. I’ll go through some of it & just start tossing…if it hadn’t been used recently, to the Goodwill it goes. I’ve taken appliances, extra carpets, cookbooks, etc there. I always feel better when I look around & see extra space. But, unfortunately, it clutters back up.
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I hear you. I can’t let go of something—even small scraps of paper—because I can see a use for it. Pretty paper scraps are sooooo valuable for collaging. But I do have drawers full. 🙂
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I have several huge projects, but am just starting to tackle them. In January I was laid off from my job of 26 years. In 17 days, I will turn 69. My mom died in 2009. In this last dept of my recent job, I worked 6 days a week (OT was gratefully paid) I rode a 5:00 AM bus, changed to a trolley at 6:00, started work at 6:30 and ultimately got home by 4:30. I live alone. Housekeeping was not high on my priority list.
Now I am home full time, I need to tackle that. I need to put things away, find and shred about 9 years of old bills and receipts, and find furniture that has been covered with stuff that was easier to set on it, then run upstairs to put away. Plus, my folks kept things because it might be needed…
My goal (so far it has worked) is to tackle 1 or 2 small projects daily. Eventually, I will make visible headway.
I want to PLAY! I want to get back to writing. I want to watercolor. I want to turn bricks into books for my front yard. I want to read. I want to enjoy life after working since 1972.
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The store room at work was given to me to sort out. I started by emptying the room. I cleaned the room, grabbed a label maker, storage boxes, a rubbish bin. I took my time, although it really did not take much time to put it all back properly.
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When I started canning years ago I couldn’t figure out how to store all of the supplies out of the way but still accessible. I ended up getting shelves and creating a storage system in the back corner of my basement. I even used an old clothing rack and some fabric to make a “door”. It’s not pretty but it sure does keep everything organized.
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packing to move; friends helped out
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Delilah, part of my living room looks similar to your art room right now; I definitely need to make time to sort and downsize! It feels daunting, so I’m trying to figure out a way to break it into more manageable chunks–I should probably start by categorizing the piles, and then I can start tackling them… good luck!!
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I am still working on organizing my yarn and crochet stuff. Maybe one day I shall get there.
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When my husband and I combined houses we had two sometimes 3 sets of everything and he kept everything so we sat down and went through everything. Kept the newest things and donated the rest. We kept both microwaves because we knew at some point we’d need another one and we did. His went about 2 months after moving in together. I hate clutter so this was something that needed to be done in order for us to live together.
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I have two rooms that are a mess… still have not organized them better… a project on my to do list…
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We always seem to have a project going. The biggest right now is a screened-in porch. I’m not part of that one.
My daughter and SIL are taking care of the construction.
My project is to unclutter my office space. Apparently, my desk is a dump all space. I’ve been successful in keeping it clean, until the teenager dumps whatever he wants on my desk space. I have art projects, painting, stamping, and other miscellaneous items. There’s always something on my desk to clear away.
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We had to empty a room to repair the wall….took us forever and sadly it was just putting thing in another rooom i still to reorganise so i would not said i suceeded