my mess, your mess, my mess, your mess, MY mess. YOUR mess.

Just because we're crafty [and perhaps cluttered...?] doesn't mean we're slobs!


I stumbled on this, and it made me laugh. My closet and my sock drawer and my desk are nightmares to behold - I covered this problem in yesterday's post. Mostly though, my problem is effective storage. It also got me thinking about ways I can effectively clean up the  clutter without feeling like I spent the whole day dealing with it. That just sounds like a drag - 'dealing with it'. I've got other things to be dealing with - 40 minutes of cardio a day, homework, cooking, work, kitteh-attention-time. Who has time to deal?


But I'm making an effort, right? I did a web search for a monthly chore chart. A great place to start - I'm ADD and forget to include things on my list.  I found this one over at moneycrashers.com. Unfortunately for me, there isn't an Adam [or a Josh or a Desmond or a Max...] to go through the bills and check the smoke detectors and kill spiders, but the bills are fairly infrequent and I don't care so much about the spiders. [But I do hate after-cooking-clean-up.]


 The thought also occurred to me, since I do a fair amount of living in my car, that I ought to include that on my cleaning list - shaking out the floor mats, vacuuming in there, dusting off the dash. Maybe start leaving the church bulletin in the basket at the back to recycle instead of dropping it in the passenger seat and throwing it out weeks later? Baby steps. I think we'll just start with the chore chart.


Did we mention I'm ADD? 




via Shelterpop.com, in the storage and cleaning department.
If you have messy: Closets
Chances are you are: Nostalgic -- perhaps a bit too much.
Sam Gossling, author of Snoop: What Your Stuff Says About You notes the connection between old items and our ties to their past. If you've got an out-of-control closet, it doesn't mean you're a pig -- chances are, you're trying to hold on to past events and people through those small mementos.
How to change it: Letting go can be hard. Don't put pressure on yourself to empty out the closet during a quick cleaning session. Instead, take some time to go through the items and identify what justifies keeping in a special place and what you can part with.

If you have a messy: Desk
Chances are you are: Creative. [ha! we crafty people knew this, we just needed someone with a high tone degree to tell our loved ones it's okay!?]
"Messiness is related to creativity because it tends to juxtapose things that don't normally go together." says Columbia University Business School professor Eric Abrahamson, over on Penelope Trunk's site.
How to change it: In the same article, Illinois-based career coach Kelly Crescenti suggests setting up a filing system and then spending the last 15 minutes of every day organizing your piles and clutter into that system.