Update: Tuesday, December 30

For the past several days, I have been working on sorting my huge collection of magazines. To begin, I wanted to sort through all the Tennis Magazines which I have--dating back to 1966. While I do not have every single issue, it is useful to be able to go to them when I am working on an article about tennis, especially since I cannot always find such articles in Library research databases. Yesterday, I filed 6 bag-a-boxes full of magazines that filled 2 file drawers. Today, I sorted and filed 6 more bag-a-boxes that filled two more file drawers. I am now about mid-1990s and still have quite a few more magazines to go. I would like to finish organizing them by tomorrow. Then I still have a ton of other magazines that need to be filed--ESPN: The Magazine, Sports Illustrated, and many more.

Kitchen table covered with books

These two photos reflect the dilemma in my kitchen. The table is covered with books that I have used in writing the last several chapters on which I worked. But it has been several weeks since I finished the last one, and yet the stacks of books, note cards and other materials remain. The book case was filled before I started writing--containing books that I planned to use for the writing that I was doing. About half of the books were from the library, so I should be able to return some of those, rather than waiting until May and needing a shopping cart to return them.

For today, my assignment from Mary Jo is to spend 20 minutes cleaning and organizing a book case. So, I have chosen the above to do that. When I have finished, I will post the AFTER shot below this entry. It should look somewhat different (hopefully the table will as well!). Here goes:-)

Cluttered Counter: November 30, 2008

The above picture captures a shot of my cluttered counter in the kitchen. I took the photo while I was riding my exercise bike. It reveals where I need to begin to clear away the clutter. When I sent a copy to Mary Jo, she asked: how do you work in such clutter? I wrote back to say that I do not work IN it, I work AROUND it. That is how I have been doing it for a long time. But, that has obviously not worked so well. I started this blog well over a year ago, but I am returning to it in the hope that I can write more regularly and perhaps make progress, even if it is a little bit at a time.

I have found that I watch a lot of show on HGTV, like Clean House, and Clean Sweep. Part of my fascination with them is that I wish that someone would come in and help me to get organized--albeit I am not sure I am that committed to throwing things out, as people are required to do. I think I also rationalize that at least my house isn't as bad as some of those shown on the "messiest house in the country." But, as can be seen above, I do have a long way to go. I thought I might begin tonight but then got involved with grading papers--another thing that I really need to do. So, another day passes without making appreciable progress. So, hopefully tomorrow (which is now later today), I will try to spend at least 15 minutes working on that counter. Perhaps by the end of that time, I will be able to actually see the counter. That will be my goal for tomorrow.

Organizing (from the Inside Out)

I have decided to return to the book on "organizing from the inside out," (Morgenstern, 2004), because I believe that my efforts to use time effectively have been hindered by my inability to use space effectively. Morgenstern likens our attempts to organize to ineffective dieting--i.e., "the Yo-yo Organizing syndrome" (p. 1). Is that ever the truth! Ultimately, it seems that organizing is an impossible task, and yet, I know from firsthand experience that one of the most frustrating things about not being organized is not being able to find items that I need in order to write (or do whatever else I would like to do). Morgenstern's goal is "to radically change your thinking and approach to the organizing process" (p. 2). I say: bring it on!!! The most amazing thing that Morgenstern says in the Introduction is that I might actually come to ENJOY the organizing process. I can see where that might happen, but now I want to SEE it happen!

Next: A new way of looking at organizing.

This is Morgenstern's definition of organization: "Organizing is the process by which we create environments that enable us to live, work, and relax exactly as we want to. When we are organized, our homes, offices, and schedules reflect and encourage who we are, what we want, and where we are going" (p. 7).

Some misconceptions about organizing:
1. That it is a mysterious talent that some are born with... In fact, it is a skill that can be learned. 2. That it can be overwhelming to try to get organized... In fact, it can be liberating.
3. It may be impossible to stay organized... In fact, you need an adaptable system that becomes "satisfyingly ingrained" (p. 10).
4. It is "nonproductive use of time" (p. 10)... In fact, it is an investment that pays off in the end.

What Morgenstern means by "organizing from the inside out" is that we create a system that reflects our unique "personality, needs, and goals" (p. 11). That means I need to look at the "big picture!"

Finally, Morgenstern suggests the following three steps:
1. Analyze: take stock, define what you want to accomplish and what's holding you back.
2. Strategize: create a plan of action with a realistic schedule.
3. Attack: address clutter methodically, so as to be able to see visible results.

Tomorrow I will consider what's holding me back!

New edition

As mentioned previously, I have decided to get the new edition of Morgenstern's book(s) so will probably look at some of the updated chapters to consider next. I definitely want to get through both of her books this summer and find a way to plan effectively before the school year starts. I also want to figure out how to bring balance to my life so any suggestions for how to do that would be appreciated. In the meantime, I hope everyone is having a good week and I will be in touch soon.

Goal Updates

Last week I set some specific goals so wanted to update you on how they went. This will be a real brief entry since I need to get to bed. I did finish the chapter I was writing on Women and Sport in the 2004 Olympics, but unfortunately it is about 3 or 4 times longer than it needs to be. It may be that I can use some of what I found for another chapter I will be writing later this summer, but at least I am no longer stuck with writing. It took a few days longer than I had hoped to finish it, but perhaps that was why it turned out to be so long. It will now take a few days to revise and bring it into line with the length it needs to be.

As for writing, I next want to focus on the biking paper I started to write after my cross country bike trip. The irony of that paper is that while it took 51 or 52 days to travel cross country (over 3000 mis.), it has been 10 years and I still have not finished writing and submitting the paper.

The goals related to organization did not go so well, although I have done a bit of organizing each day. I just realize that it will take a committed effort and a bit more time to tackle the things I would like to get done. In the past few days, I have done the following:

1. Organized videos (and labeled as I taped:-) from 2007 French Open.
2. Sorted through mail and paid bills (a bigger job than you might imagine:-(
3. Took boxes from garage down to basement.

I did not do my office, so that will probably wait until next week at least. In the meantime, I will reset goals for this week and let you know what they are.

Since I did not hear back from anyone about the book, I will probably get a copy of the new edition for myself so I can post info from that on the blog. More later...

Setting goals for today

Jenny asked about how to get back to the blog itself, and I think there are a couple ways that you can do that, but you can also publish a new post by clicking "New post." You can navigate from there by going to "View blog" on the left side of your tabs or by going to "Dashboard" on the right side.

For today, I would like to set my goals for this week and ask that you help to hold me accountable. Here are mine for time and organizational management:

1. From a time management perspective, I would like to do the following:
a. Tuesday (today)--finish revising the Results section, and write rough draft of Discussion for chapter on 2004 Olympics and women.
b. Wednesday--revise Discussion and write rough draft of conclusion.
c. Thursday--revise Conclusion and double-check references.
d. Friday--final edit. Send to co-editors (Pirkko and Toni). Start revision of biking paper, which I would like to submit by next Friday.

It would be awesome if I could stick to these deadlines!

2. From a space and organizational perspective, here is what I would like to do this week:
a. Tuesday (today)--someone is coming to help with my flowerbed (weeding), and I would also like to fix sliding door (it sticks) and carry stuff from garage down to basement.
b. Thursday--Trudy will be coming to work on my office (get stuff off the floor and go through storage stuff, to make papers, journals and books more accessible).
c. Saturday--Clean out front hall closet and list items that are stored there, post inside door using velcro (I saw it on one of the shows I watched:-).

It would be great if I couldaccomplish these goals as well.