Efficiency (or the lack thereof)

Okay, so here's a shocker, I'm sure (sarcasm!): I'm terribly inefficient. At pretty much everything. Yeah, it's kind of sad. I'm really not the most organized person, and I promised myself that my only real resolution for the new year/2012 was to become more organized overall. I've managed to kind of corral my blog/design work into an appropriate system that works for me (shared here!), but what I still haven't managed to do is: + Organize my closet, + Organize my office and craft supplies, + Organize all past design sheets, + Organize all past blog sponsorship sheets, + Organize business and tax information. (Oh My LAW! Don't even ask about the tax drawer...) 


I've noticed that being this inefficient has really caused me to stress out. (Duh!) I spend more time looking for something than I spend using it. And my office when I/we get on a creative roll? Oh boy... it's baaaaaad. (The image above isn't a good depiction of it. That's super tame.) It's kind of embarrassing to admit that sometimes we'll go to Target to get something but I'll leave it in the bag and then the bag makes it's way into my office and then I lose it. No clue where the original item went. It's not like Hoarders or anything, but I'm just forgetful and well, lazy, is what it'd come down to. Lazy about putting things where they go. Lazy about figuring out the best place for things. It's seriously sad.

I've taken measures to help fix the closet situation by tossing out 80+ items. Some will make their way to a Kaelah's Closet sale, and the rest will get donated or thrown out. Now I need to do the shoe purging, and craft supplies, too. Working from home is so hard because the office makes it's way into the living room, kitchen, bedroom, etc. 

I need to put a stop to it. Finally.

Starting today I vow to:
  • Take an extra minute or two when I'm finished with something to put it away.
  • Always put it where it actually goes.
  • Stop keeping things I know I won't use. Toss 'em!
  • Immediately remove purchased items from the bag and store them appropriately.
  • Stop buying more clothes hangers. I already have too many clothes. 
  • Keep an inventory sheet of all craft supplies I have as to not buy more of what I already own.
So I'm seeking YOUR advice + expertise. How do YOU organize your life? What are some tricks you've learned to help separate your professional and private life (especially if you work at home)? Any special supply or desk organizing resources you might have? Seriously, I'm looking for any and everything. Maybe even just some reassurance that I'm not the only one out there?! Haha

Ultimately I'd like to look back on this and say "Ha! Remember that time I was so unorganized I literally couldn't keep track of my hair?" (Sidenote: That's a real thing and has really happened in our house. Multiple times. In fact, almost daily.) I'd like to scoff at my formerly-inefficient self while I file all of our appropriate tax documents in the right folder and contracts in the right drawer... yep. That's the girl I'm looking to become. And I mean, I've still got 3.5 months left of 2012 right?! Share your knowledge!

PS; Let me take this quick chance to say that if you don't use Gmail's Priority Inbox feature, you're really doing yourself a disservice. It's one of the only efficient things I've got going for me aside from my blogging notebooks! haha It's a heaven send!

39 comments:

  1. I don't have a ton of advice because I suffer from some of the same habits as you. I think that changing one small thing at a time helps, like committing to putting things away. Also, not buying any organizational supplies until I know exactly what will go in them.

    I do have to say that it's refreshing to know that I'm not alone in my creative messes. I've been trying to organize my creative space since we moved into our house almost three years ago.

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  2. I think the most important thing to take note of when organizing your entire life it so make sure you use a system that works specifically for you - even if its weird or looks funny. Lots of great ideas are floating around on the internet, but if it forces you to BE someone you are not, it will never work and you will never get organized! For example, if you are a serial stacker, and you see a tutorial for a pretty filing cabinet with millions of tabbed folders, chances are you will stack all your papers on TOP of that filing cabinet and it won't do you much good. My advice is to organize your life in ways that complement methods you already have instead of trying to change it all completely! :)

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    1. I think that is *such* a great + valid point! I definitely don't stick to the traditional sense of organizing when it *does* work for me, and the stacks of papers on TOP of the filing cabinet is basically a caricature of me in all of my glory. This inspires me to dig a little deeper and see what other people do though!

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    2. I'm a serial stacker, but discovered Ikea do a desk unit with essentially a magazine rack-esque unit attached, so I can now stack in a semi-organised fashion! Things don't make it to the filing cabinet till I'm done with them, so this means I can keep everything out and accessible, but in vertical piles. Whatever works, eh? :)

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  3. I also work from home, so I totally get it. I live in madness...and stacks and piles...when I'm getting ready for a photo shoot, event or any creative endeavor. Mostly because I'm kind of manic in my creativity. When I feel inspired, I need to work work work to make awesomeness happen when the mood strikes. Translation: I go from project to project for hours on end...never putting anything away as I finish one piece and move on to the next. I'm like this little mess-making whirlwind...but the final products are so worth it!

    The only way I can avoid getting in the way of my own creative drive--and still function and not become a crazy, messy hoarder--is to take 10 or 15 minutes at the end of each day to tackle clutter. That's the time I put away craft supplies, file away receipts, stash inventory where it belongs, sweep up fabric scraps off the floor, etc.

    This way, I don't feel like I'm cleaning ALL day long. And I can make a huge mess for a project and not feel guilty about it because I know it'll be taken care of before I go to bed. And I won't wake up in the morning to a project hangover in the form of 20 random piles of glitter and feathers and whatnot.

    Seriously, 15 minutes a day will change your life. Sure, my dogs still end up with the aforementioned glitter in their fur and feathers in their beards, but hey...my office and my living room are also my workspace. Stuff happens.

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  4. i am just like you too untidy, to unorganized, too messy. i am lucky i HATE to lost things so even though I am super messy I never let things walk out on me. Recently I filed away my electric bills, payment papers all that big girl important stuff in a simple plastic binder with page protectors. And put that binder into my magazine holder thingy. I also put all the guarantee papers, invoices of all the electronic items i purchased in case i will ever need them (knock the wood). Now I try to come up with a efficient way of storing my craft supplies. I plan to get everything inside the boxes so everything will have a place to go at the end of the day. I purged most of my fabric stash and even though the hoarder in me regrets it, i know i'd never use them anyway so good riddance.

    So i guess the great solution is to have a place/box for every little thing to go, then everything takes care of themselves.

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  5. I find that lists are my friend when it comes to organisation, I have lists stuck everywhere, once a thought has popped in my head its usually lost again pretty quickly if it doesn't get written down. I usually have a list of stuff to do in the day, which helps me to organise my time for work and fun, there is usually scheduled in some time to organise other things such as messy draws etc aswell. Also sticky labels help a lot.... all my crafty and photography things are in boxes labeled clearly so I know exactly which box it's in, same for folders. These are just a couple of things which work for me, hope you find out what works for you and helps to relieve some of your stress.

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  6. Oh, this sounds like me!

    One of the ways I stay efficient at work is the good old-fashioned to do list. Prioritised by deadline, of course!

    To organise my wardrobe space, I use a lot of baskets on shelves. I have a basket for hair bands, a basket for sunglasses and so on. Unfortunately, I don't actually use them very often and my stuff is usually strewn all over the place!

    Becky
    xx

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  7. I'm in the middle of cleaning and organizing. I'm a bit of a messy person. My parents have been asking me to clean my room for upwards of 4 years (I live with my rents and I'm not sorry about it). I'm moving out to go on an extended missions trip and I myself am finding there are so many things I just don't need.

    Purging is the first step! Mad props to getting rid of over 80 pieces of clothing. I have mine in plastic bags ready to go to consignment shops, goodwill, etc. I've also thrown over 20lbs of items that are just taking up space. I have a huge chest that has been in the family for decades. In there I have all my sewing and most of my craft items.

    I utilize bookcases for books, magazines, my nail polish collection, movies, sewing machine, and knitting/crocheting supplies. Decorating while using furniture efficiently in my book.

    With that said, I still have tons of clothes, and other "crap". And there are still many books and notebooks on the floor.

    I said this basically to say... YOU ARE NOT ALONE. The whole shopping bag thing (GUILTY).

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  8. Man, I feel like I go through a giant stash purge/organization party every month or so. Moving house really helped a lot - with getting rid of stuff ("eeww I don't want to move that!") and just a fresh start with keeping stuff clean. My new mantra is "Don't Be Lazy." I know that sounds really lame, but I am lazy and I have to keep myself in check. Making sure I hang my keys/purse when I get home (instead of throwing them on the table), putting clothes away after they air out (instead of leaving them on the bed/chair/trunk), not *only* putting dishes in the very front of the dishwasher (you know what I'm talking about - just opening the door & shoving stuff in the closest part of the rack haha), clearing off the counter in the bathroom when I'm finished getting ready in the AM, etc etc. It's just so much easier to maintain a clean/organized home than it is to clean it up when it gets to the messy point, you know?

    For craft room organization, all my stuff sits out all the time. I like to look at it & I like to know it's there so I don't buy doubles. I also make it a point to have a specific place for everything and to *keep* it in it's place - no more leaving piles of junk on the cutting table. I clean my sewing room every evening when I'm done sewing. It makes it soo much easier to get started the next day when I don't have to deal with the mess from the night before.

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    1. Lady, as someone who has seen your former craft room, I think it was super organized. All your fabrics were folded neatly and put away just so. You deserve a pat on that back for that, missy.

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  9. Girl, I'm the same way. So unorganized. I couldn't agree with Skye more, if you try using a system that isn't tailored to *you* then it most likely won't work. A lot of bloggers use cute notebooks to keep track of all their blog stuff and I've tried doing that for forever. Sometimes it works but then I end up forgetting where I put my notebook or I get sick of lugging it everywhere with me. What I've found that helps me be more organized (blog-wise) is to keep all of my blog ideas/projects/etc in an app on my phone. I know that I'll AWLAYS have my phone with me, so I won't have to go searching for anything or accidentally misplace it. An iphone app certainly isn't anything to write home about and isn't as cute as a pretty notebook, but it gets the job done. :)
    Hope this maybe helps a little. I look forward to reading what everyone else suggests! Lord knows I could use the help, haha.
    xo Mandy
    missindieblog.com

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  10. This sounds exactly like me. I want to be a neat organised person, but so far I haven't figured out how to do it. There's a pile of clothes on the bottom of the bed because I don't put clothes away immediately. The laundry also usually takes a few days to be put away. I think one of my big problems is that so many things don't have a place, so I really don't know where to put them a lot of the time.

    I read a great book by Terence Conran a few years ago called small spaces. The main thing I remember about the book is that he says your storage system has to be easy to use. It's the same as Skye said. If you have to take something of a chest to put a blanket away, you probably won't do it.

    Another thing I read this year, but haven't tried yet, is that making your bed each morning will inspire you to get more organised in the rest of your life. I don't know about you, but I don't make the bed very often :)

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    1. See what's weird is that i make the bed *every* morning. I love to. I don't know why but it makes me feel put together (while the rest of my house is in shambles haha!) but if I could just apply that to every other area of my life, I'd be set! :P I'm going to check out that book, thanks lady!

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  11. I feel like an enormous hypocrite doling out advice when I'm TERRIBLE about being organized, BUT... the fifteen minutes a day method works really well for me. I set a timer in the kitchen and then clean/pick up/sort stuff/etc until the timer goes off fifteen minutes later. It's sort of amazing all the stuff you can get done if you just slam through it!

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    1. That's called the Pomedoro Technique or something isn't it? I used to do that (years ago!) and I remember it working well. I'm not sure why I ever stopped! I think we'll give this a go, thanks!

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  12. This is such a coincidence! I posted about how awfully unorganized my craft space is this morning as well (although, I did have some pictures of it completely 'untamed')

    Somehow I have managed to spend so much time creating organizational processes and pieces for my clothes, shoes, makeup and beauty products - but nothing for my art room! I like your idea of the inventory, but I think I would forget to update it.

    I think more drawers might be the answer for me. I've found bins cause a problem for me because with the lids on (even clear ones) I can't KNOW if what I want is in there. Also, I never put the lids back on...

    By the way, I'm super excited for your closet clean out for entirely selfish reasons :).

    http://whiskeybreakfast.blogspot.com

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  13. The thing that I have found that works well for me in the realm of purging things is taking a day to go through (without taking time to rationalize or put any emotion into) and throw everything into a toss or giveaway pile. If I haven't looked at it, worn it, used it in the last 30 days to the last time I cleaned (just depending on the object) it belongs in one of those piles. It has helped me a lot for scaling down and decluttering!

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  14. Don't worry! A house cleared away is an indication of the wasted life. It's favourite sentence of my life.

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  15. I totally feel you Kaelah. Do you know how frantic I was before you ladies came over? I was putting stuff away and re-organizing. For some reason I thought that someone who occasionally blogs about fashion should have a really organized closet. But I don't. I even tidied up the craft area for you girls. But I'm ok with this- It's all the more reason to have people over. Good excuse to clean.

    Oh and losing stuff in shopping bags? Guilty. I normally use my leftover kroger bags for kitty litter scooping. Sometimes I find spices or fruit at the bottom of the bag that I just stored with the empties. Whoops.

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  16. Organizing seems to work for a whole...day! for me. I love the art of organizing, I love taking everything out of it's unorganized space and redoing it, but once that happens, then Hurricane Amber comes and it's done. :(


    http://frenchpresstights.blogspot.com/

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  17. For me, my most messy space is my car. It was full of garbage, clothes, and tupperware (I know..it is disgusting). I cleaned my car a few weeks ago and I had a mental breakdown of sorts. I was so disappointed in myself. My boyfriend and I are getting our own apartment soon and I can't even keep a CAR clean!? Sometimes it just hits you. I now know that a mess truly is not worth having my anxiety on at all times.

    I also love doing a big sweep of all my belongings. We ALL buy things we actually don't need or even use! I'll make a day of it, do one room at a time and make up some piles! A keep pile, donate pile, trash pile and maybe even a re-gift pile. Being brutally honest with yourself is super tough but very liberating. An item may be adorable and cool as hell but if you can be true with yourself and know fur sure that you don't use it, you just gotta buck up and give it away. Your items that aren't being used might make someone else super happy and they'll use them everyday!

    I've also changed my ways of thinking shopping wise. I'll walk around Target and have my basket/cart completely filled. But before I think I'm ready to check out, I have a little talk with myself. No biggie, I think people should check in on themselves more often! I ask myself a few questions; what will I wear this with? What room will this go in? Does it match my other decor/wardrobe/etc.? What else could I be spending this money on? I've put back many thrift items and Target items in an angry huff because as adorable as they were, I just knew they weren't worth it.

    Crap, I really hope this helps. This one turned into quite a rant..but BEST of luck lady!

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  18. I have the exact same problem! I used to attribute being disorganized to being the creative type ("Creative minds are rarely tardy") but I realized eventually that living like that is not an option. I always think that meh, I could do the cleaning some time later on or I'll do it when I'm in the mood. Problem is that it never comes! I am still stuck in this process and even though I know that I am better off doing things now, and cleaning them right away, I don't do it because for some reason it doesn't feel right... or maybe that is just laziness going deeper into my psyche and manifests as a bad feeling.

    I am extremely OC at some points and it has worked well at certain times, with me making spreadsheets and lists for everything and all. The problem with that is that it comes and goes! Also, I tend to fill my lists with things with too much tasks that I don't really need to do, but would be nice if I did. This then adds clutter and makes the to-do list irrelevant. I also mismanage my time by imagining the future clean-up me to be suddenly inspired to clean and be super efficient. Never happens. Frustrating!

    One thing that has struck me though is the saying "Do things the future you will thank you for." Unlike giving the future self some work in favor of the now, sacrifice the now a little so the future can breathe. Instead of "I can do this tomorrow" imagine how the future self saying "Thank God I did this yesterday."

    Good luck with this! Cheers to the future, well-organized self!!

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  19. Ahaha, I totally lose stuff I just bought all the time. It's the worst! Keeping an inventory list is a really great idea though!

    -Lindsey

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  20. So.... last year, my boyfriend (who works a crazy job that should be three separate jobs for a non-profit) said he felt like he was constantly in "emergency mode," never getting to work on anything that wasn't needing done Right Away. So he got this book (I know, a book about organizing your life sounds like a good way to waste time, but-) called "Organize Your Life" by a guy named David Allen. Its more about your to-do list than your physical space (though that's part of your life, so...)

    Basically, it was all about getting EVERYTHING in your life onto one big to-do list (he called this closing open loops...making it so you can't forget things/leave things out). The Boy took two days off just for this plus some other time, to sort through every little thing. You also break down big projects into smaller steps ("what's next?"), and organize all these items into 43 folders. One folder for every day in a month, and twelve for each month (you put each month's items into their daily folder as the months change). Its a work in progress for him, but things seem a little less "putting out fires all the time" and a little more pre-planned so...

    All this is to say, I've no clue if its something you're looking for, but I'm thinking of trying it and seeing if life if more organized or not.

    Also, read another article that said right brained people/visual people might do better organizing in such a way so that they can SEE everything. For example, your necklaces on the wall or photos on boxes to identify what's in them.

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  21. You know what's funny is I'm either really, really organized or totally disorganized. If I'm going to bother organizing, everything has to be perfect... and sometimes I just don't have the time to do that, so instead of half-assing it, I just don't bother. Then I have an epic clean-up night (yeah, I clean at night) where I stay up until 5am just organizing the heck out of everything. Heh.

    Anyway, off the top of my head, my four favorite organization tools/secrets/things are:

    1.) IKEA. Cheap dressers. They have this particular model that is AMAZING for my craft room, because it has a ton of drawers that are perfect for supplies (or accessories). Most dressers have less but larger drawers, which just doesn't work as well for that kind of thing. And it's like $120. WIN!

    2.) Those photo boxes from Michaels. They look kinda shoebox size and I have them in pretty much every color, some multiples. Stack nicely and I buy them whenever they're on sale, for like $2 each or less. Again perfect for supplies/accessories!

    3.) Magnetic closure fake hollow books from Michaels. They don't seem to carry them in every branch, but seriously that's what I do with receipts, ideas, cards, etc. They go into the books which are gorgeously printed and neatly arranged on the bookshelf. They're fake so they're all the same size and look really tidy! Best thing ever.

    4.) Post-it notes with the entire back made of the sticky post-it stuff. I don't know what else to call them (they were a gift), but they are THE BEST. I use pretty pens to write labels on them and then I stick them on my IKEA dresser drawers so I know what the heck is inside without writing directly on them. And then I am free to rearrange stuff around, which I do constantly.

    Anywayyy that was a long comment. Hehe. Someday I'll turn this into an organization post!

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  22. ooh goodness, looks to me like organized mess *wink*

    i've read in articles that tackling the biggest and most undesirable task first in the day helps with getting/breaking through

    also found that Pinterest has a bunch of neat organization picture posts that always makes organizing seem fun!

    good luck!

    ~Fae
    http://rosy-pop.blogspot.com

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  23. that's the story of my life...haha.....love this blog http://iheartorganizing.blogspot.fr/
    take a look...

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  24. Glad to know I am not the only one who leaves a creative disaster behind! Something that has helped me stay a bit more organized in the chaos is that I created designated working areas. A desk for sewing and area where all the sewing stuff belongs.. An area to work on the computer. I made it a rule that there is no working on projects at the computer desk. I have a work table (old kitchen table) where I can make all the messes I want, and I try to clean up this table every few days as projects allow.

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  25. I've been bookmarking but not reading these articles because I'M not organized!

    http://www.xojane.com/diy/your-weekly-organasm-how-to-mess-proof-your-home

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  26. I'm such an organized gal but it wasn't always like this. In my younger years I was kind of a disaster. My best advice is to take a few days and give everything a home. Get rid of doubles/extraneous items then define an exact home for everything else. It gets a lot easier to put things away when there is a defined space for it. I also think a great way to organize is to clean as you go. That way, when you're finished with a project the mess doesn't seem overwhelming.

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  27. Oh, Kaelah. We are the same. That is exactly what my office looks like at this moment, just less stylish. I've got nail polish, polish remover, a cup of water, a digital camera battery, scissors, coupons for starbucks, tape, three notebooks all between me and my computer screen.

    I've been doing a lot better this year, though. My biggest thing right now -- get rid of EVERYTHING. Slight exaggeration, but you know what I mean. If I don't currently use it, it's gone. My closet/drawers/bedroom floor are always a mess so I just recently went through it all and created a giant 2 1/2 foot pile of sell/donate clothes.

    Papers? The worst. I'm a stacker. I recently bought 100 files and am using the cute vintage metal porta-files I got years ago. I have one for my business and one for personal. I just spent an entire day making files for everything and filing it all away. Now I still stack stuff: bills, receipts, etc, but I have a special paper holder to stack in and I do my best to stop what I'm doing a couple of times a month and just file all of that away. You have no idea how excited I was last week when my husband needed info off of some bill and I found it in seconds. Seconds! The old me? I probably wouldn't have found it at all.

    And that is my novel. I could say more, but my comment might turn out longer than your blog post. ;)

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  28. Even cluttered and all, your office looks cozy and seems like a nice environment for creativity to flow. It's really important to be surrounded by inspiring nice things, even though they're not always perfectly organized. Over the years I've been using a system that has yet to fail me: I have a to-do list for everything! That way I can keep track of all the things I need to do. When I started blogging it became a necessity and now I can proudly say I have a blog post schedule that fits right into my rather busy life. I have two months of posts planned ahead and that gives me peace of mind to focus on other things and not stress out unnecessarily. xx

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  29. I have a strict rule against shelves & organizational furniture. I like one or two shelves max for necessities. Other than that, I feel like the more places I have to put stuff, the more stuff I will allow myself to get! If I have no where to put anything then I force myself to get rid of junk and really think about what I have.

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  30. Hi there Kaelah! I'm a bit of an organization freak (my friends made fun of me in high school for having everything color-coded and on a to-do list) but I love to share my tips! (and there will EVENTUALLY be a post on my blog about it...if I get around to it.)
    First off, for desks: hutches. You can get them from Target or, knowing you, you could probably make one. They're basically little shelves that sit on top of your desk and can hold any number of things. (see: http://www.target.com/p/south-hampton-hutch-white/-/A-14026167#?lnk=sc_qi_detailbutton ) At school, I had this hutch with three cubbies on either side, a drawer on each bottom, three baskets along the top, as well as the entire top of the shelf to store things. (I also got it in 65% off deep sale glory!) These things can cost a pretty penny but THEY'RE WORTH IT. A cluttered desk, in my opinion, is the start of a cluttered room. Tuck your things in their own special places and soon you'll have a clearer desk and a clearer vision.
    Next, color-coding: It doesn't work for everyone, but it works for a lot of people so I recommend giving it a try. I'm not exactly sure how you organize your to-do list currently, but I've found just adding a little bit of color makes it a lot easier. For instance, if you had blue highlighter signify something design-related, while pink was blog-related and green was wedding-related, then when you felt the need to work on something blog-related, you can skim down the pink tags and figure out what you'd be best at tackling next. If you're looking for ways to organize your design clients, you might have a different color for different steps of their design being completed (blue means conceptualized, green means groundwork laid, pink means they're overviewing it, red means they've paid, etc etc) so you can tell where you're at with a glance.
    Last, common sense: it takes time to figure out what works best for you. Don't think that necessarily the first thing you try will work! Experiment with a few different systems and see what clicks. Also, nothing on pinterest or the blogosphere that seems to 'magically work for everyone' ACTUALLY magically works for everyone. Sometimes you have to alter a few different 'magic solutions' to find one that works for you. Anyway, I applaud you for taking these steps to make yourself more organized and I hope I helped!!! Best of luck :]

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  31. Hi there Kaelah! I'm a bit of an organization freak (my friends made fun of me in high school for having everything color-coded and on a to-do list) but I love to share my tips! (and there will EVENTUALLY be a post on my blog about it...if I get around to it.)
    First off, for desks: hutches. You can get them from Target or, knowing you, you could probably make one. They're basically little shelves that sit on top of your desk and can hold any number of things. (see: http://www.target.com/p/south-hampton-hutch-white/-/A-14026167#?lnk=sc_qi_detailbutton ) At school, I had this hutch with three cubbies on either side, a drawer on each bottom, three baskets along the top, as well as the entire top of the shelf to store things. (I also got it in 65% off deep sale glory!) These things can cost a pretty penny but THEY'RE WORTH IT. A cluttered desk, in my opinion, is the start of a cluttered room. Tuck your things in their own special places and soon you'll have a clearer desk and a clearer vision.
    Next, color-coding: It doesn't work for everyone, but it works for a lot of people so I recommend giving it a try. I'm not exactly sure how you organize your to-do list currently, but I've found just adding a little bit of color makes it a lot easier. For instance, if you had blue highlighter signify something design-related, while pink was blog-related and green was wedding-related, then when you felt the need to work on something blog-related, you can skim down the pink tags and figure out what you'd be best at tackling next. If you're looking for ways to organize your design clients, you might have a different color for different steps of their design being completed (blue means conceptualized, green means groundwork laid, pink means they're overviewing it, red means they've paid, etc etc) so you can tell where you're at with a glance.
    Last, common sense: it takes time to figure out what works best for you. Don't think that necessarily the first thing you try will work! Experiment with a few different systems and see what clicks. Also, nothing on pinterest or the blogosphere that seems to 'magically work for everyone' ACTUALLY magically works for everyone. Sometimes you have to alter a few different 'magic solutions' to find one that works for you. Anyway, I applaud you for taking these steps to make yourself more organized and I hope I helped!!! Best of luck :]

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  32. I'm kind of hyper-organized. I run two businesses from my home so I have to be. Also, my home is tiiiiny, so I have to keep it clean!

    I do have a few posts about my office, you can see them here:

    http://eef-etc.com/whiteboard-love/
    http://eef-etc.com/creating-a-work-space/

    Basically I found the best thing for me is to break things into monthly, weekly, and daily goals. I just keep track of them on my whiteboards and cross them off!

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  33. I've said before and I'll say it again: we are SO much alike. Perhaps it's the fact that we're both Aries? I don't have much advice because this is a constant struggle in my own life!

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  34. From someone who sews 30+ hours a week, I definitely have a few tips.
    1. keep a little pencil box, organizer next to your machine on your sewing table. Always keep your small sewing tools in them. They're easy to reach while you're working, and those are the things you'd spend 20 minutes looking for at the moment you need them.
    2. If you plan on sewing more frequently, I'd recommend a stationary sewing table. Where you can keep tools within reach and a waste basket nearby.
    3. Label drawers! I have a drawer where my scissors ALWAYS go. I had to FORCE myself to always put things back where they went or I'd spend half of my workday looking for something. (the worst is my clear ruler and rotaty cutter edge. drop it on the floor and I'll loose it for an hour)
    4. Instead of folding fabric on a shelf, I roll it up and put a rubber band around it. Much easier to see all the fabric you have. and since I see you're making bowties from repurposed fabric, keep a waste basket for pieces over a certain size, that you'll use again when they become scrap from other projects. I use all my scraps for something :)
    4. COFFEE COFFEE COFFEE! I'm so ADD and unorganized, I'll start my day sewing, then end up in the kitchen baking a cake if I don't force myself to stay on task. Coffee is my only saving grace.

    Good luck!

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HEY! Thanks for dropping by. xo KB