Systems Sunday: The Things I Wish I Had Systems For...

Today, I am spending some time thinking about what I want to have systematically organized in my music therapy life. I have lots of music therapy stuff, and I am constantly trying to corral it into some sort of organizational system. I would love to be able to place my hands on everything that I want to see by just looking up a file in my digital world, but I'm not at that point yet.

I have several shelves that are dedicated to one specific type of music therapy tool or the other to help me find materials when I need them. I have a couple of music therapy textbook bookcases. Texts are arranged by topic area so I can easily identify where the general music therapy texts are compared to the technique-specific texts. There is a portion of the shelf dedicated to my copies of the Journal of Music Therapy and another part stores my Music Therapy Perspectives. I also have my copies of the first journal from the National Association for Music Therapy, Music Therapy in that location as well. I love the historical information that is part of that journal. When I need a text or a journal, I know where it should be located, so it is easy to grab.

In another part of my home, I have many CD binders that include my massive CD collection. I no longer buy many CDs, but I have so many of them from my earlier years as a therapist, that my collection takes up a couple of shelves. My organization system for these CDs includes the use of iTunes for identifying digital copies and sorting the actual CDs by genre into the binders. I can grab my Christmas binder, and I know that all of my Christmas music is inside that binder (for those rare days when I cannot access my iPod for one reason or another). I would love to have a digital database of all the music that I own on CD, but I haven't really found an easy way to do this task. Maybe someday. Until then, I'll keep going the way I've been going.

I am a person who loves stuff, so I have lots of things that I've acquired because I can think of therapeutic uses for my clients. I have a bit of an organization system started with my monthly books and themes, but I feel that I could be more efficient with this system if I just figured out how to use it a bit better.

I have an instrument organization system - wooden instruments go together, plastic instruments go together, rhythm sticks, shaker eggs, jingle bands, triangles, and sound shapes go together - that sort of stuff. I tend to organize based on types of things rather than just the things. I have a couple of file folder drawers that include visual aids - now, those are alphabetized based on subject, but I do have several subjects that include different things - for example, I have a folder that stores bats, another that stores pumpkins, and one that is labelled "Halloween" that has a bat, a pumpkin, a witch, and costume-type visuals. This way, I can grab the "Halloween" folder and know that it will include all sorts of visuals that relate to the celebration. If all I need are bats, I can grab the "bat" folder and then I don't have to sort through to find what I need. Sounds really simple, doesn't it? It really is.

For me, the best way to organize is the way I think. Again, sounds really easy, but keeping this in mind is how I find the things that work for me. I think in both broad topics and specific categories, so I make systems that identify both elements at the same time. This is why I color-code my file folder activities with both a primary color and secondary colors. It makes sense in my brain to indicate things in this manner. That's why it works for me.

One thing that I want to make completely clear - my way is not THE way to do things! If your brain doesn't classify things the way that my brain does, then my system is not going to be efficient for you. 

Find your own way, and then do it! 

(By the way, does anyone have a good way to organize music?? I really need some ideas!!)