Talking Myself into It

Neon Trees cover via tumblr.com

It's funny how writing about organization has influenced my own home and behavior. As I look around my house, I still see plenty to do -- plenty of clutter to be sorted, diminished and stored, plenty of spaces to attack and improve upon -- but I also see the fruits of my bit-by-bit, one baby-step-at-a-time labor.

I noticed it most -- the good stuff, that is -- when we returned home after almost a week away. I walked into my living room after a long car ride home from Boston, and saw floor. It's not that my living room floor is usually buried, (even at its worst), but I'm definitely guilty of a "nest" beside the sofa in the spot where I sit. Writing and teaching are both paper intensive tasks. Add reading for business and pleasure, and sometimes, the pile-up gets out of hand.

But it was gone. And little by little, other messes have been disappearing too. My house has a long way to go before it's ready for its close-up, but the power of suggestion has definitely inspired improvement. A baby step here and a baby step there started a march toward order.

Still, this is not a permanent state of affairs. This week, I'm teaching a class, and so within 24 hours of the "ahh" inspired by my living room floor, I'd wreaked havoc on my office -- my beautiful office that had only recently begun to take shape. Why? Because I needed to dig out materials that I hadn't used since I taught the class last year.

And so, for the better part of a week, I cringed every time I picked my way through the tiny space that I'd made even tinier by a pile-up of bins and notebooks. I hated it, but there was no sense putting everything back until I was sure I was finished. Furthermore, since it was already out, it only made sense to reassess it and see if any streamlining was possible.

Ed Sheeran cover via
turntablelab.com

Indeed it was. Last night, I sorted through not only the pile I'd created on purpose, but also the accumulated materials in the vicinity. And I downsized. About one third of the papers made their way to the trash or the recycling bin, and when I put things back, the office looked better than it had before. That particular space looked better than it has in a very long time.

Sometimes, talk is just that -- talk. But sometimes, it's thinking out loud.

And sometimes, it's the beginning of a plan.