Break Chronicles: Day Four - Progress Is Being Made...

It is the fourth day of my mid-summer break, and I am pretty happy with what I have accomplished so far. My first day was spent talking about plumbing issues and solutions. I spent some time taking a shower after clearing spaces in my front room. The next day, I just slept. Yesterday, I started getting serious about my music therapy guest room and emptied several boxes and moved things around a bit. Today's adventures will include a trip to the pharmacy to pick up medications. After that errand is finished, I will try to schedule some further plumbing repairs and get a haircut scheduled for later this week as well. My hair has become too long for my comfort, so it is time to chop it all off! 

The past three days have provided me with some time and enough energy to get things done. I am breathing better now - it will be interesting to see what happens when I go back to work in a week - will I be better or worse? I am almost finished with my latest round of medication. I go back to the doctor on Friday for a check and for more information about what to do next for my health. For now, though, I am focusing on what to do next for my home.

When energies and attitudes combine, I tend to have lots of lofty goals for time that I have in front of me. Currently, I am trying really hard not to get too ambitious because I am still in energy-conservation mode. When I get into an organization mode (where I actually do the things that I have on my to-do list), I keep my four "C"s in mind. These are the concepts that drive my organizational style.

1. Corral - put things into their places. I am currently working on finding spaces for specific categories of things. For example, I have a music therapy room in my home. This is where I am putting all of my instruments, visual aids, and projects-in-progress for my music therapy pursuits. I also have a library room and an entertainment room in my house. At the moment, I have stuff from all the categories in all parts of my house, but I am getting things rearranged a bit right now - DVDs are going upstairs to the entertainment room while instruments are coming downstairs. By having a spot for each category of stuff that I have, I find things a bit more quickly. I also make an effort to put things back in the same place every time I take something out.
2. Categorize - This is probably my most important organizational system. Within my dedicated spaces, I sort the stuff into additional categories. My instruments are arranged by how I use the most - so all of the basic classroom instruments are in the same storage area. The more rare instruments are kept in another area because I do not use them as often. This is what I am working on in my craft supply area right now. What materials do I use the most often together? How can I store those together? Can I make project packs to grab when I am in the mood to make something specific?
3. Conserve - How can I store things and organize things while keeping my body in mind? Is it better to have heavy boxes of things or more boxes that are lighter? How can I keep my aging body in less pain?
4. Consider - This is the concept that runs through all of the others - how can I make things more functional for me? How do I use things? How many different things can I do with one object? How can I conserve my energy? How can I make it easier for others to access materials or objects that they need?

These four concepts help me think through what I want as my desired outcome - a place for everything, and everything in its place. Now, I do not feel like I have to label all sorts of things, but labels do have their place. I don't need tons of cutesy, coordinated containers, but I do like what it looks like when everything looks similar. I have never been to a container store, mainly because I feel like I would never get back out again, but I would enjoy things that match and look cute. I just don't have the attention span or the money to indulge. So, I use my Sterelite containers from Walmart and make my handmade labels to help me remember where I put things in my rare organizing spurts. (Nothing is worse than knowing that you put something somewhere cool just recently but not being able to remember where that cool place was!) Labels have their place, and I use them when I need them.

Well, it is time to head off into the fourth day of my ten day break. Have a good one, all!