I’ve tried time and time again to create an organized, efficient workspace. Tried — and failed, always wondering why my diligent efforts toward simplifying the space weren’t paying off. I’ve always been taught that the key to having an orderly workspace is changing my space to fit the way I work. I know how to organize supplies and file papers — and I’m good at it! So why can’t I find organizational success?
A clue came unexpectedly one day while talking to my math teacher of a husband. I unknowingly misused a mathematical term and, naturally, got thoroughly schooled on the jargon of improper fractions, mixed numbers, and simplifying. In the end I learned two things:
1. Avoid using mathematical terminology around my math teacher of a husband.
2. Turning an improper fraction, like 4/3, into a mixed number, like 1 1/3, is not simplifying. It’s just plain turning an improper fraction into a mixed number: you’re doing a lot of work to make it look different, but in the end it’s still a complicated mess.
It occurred to me, after my eyes rolled forward again, that my workspace “simplifying” endeavors have always been gilded with the same kind of illusion; ultimately, rethinking where I work without addressing the way I work is just like turning an improper fraction into a mixed number. Any effort to resolve workspace issues will be fruitless if the workflow isn’t efficient.
As a result, I’ve thought long and hard* and have narrowed down a few key habits that are keeping me from being the organized, productive art-making machine that I aspire to be:
- Beginning projects, but never finishing. It’s a chronic issue that certainly must come from having way too many fantastic ideas and not enough time to work on them. Certainly. Must. Getting bored or distracted too easily during breaks in the process — like waiting for glue to dry — contributes, too. Possible solution: notebooks for recording ideas as they come, along with a master list of ideas to choose from when I’m ready for a new project. Also, a little self-control.
- Shirking cleanup duties. It’s the dirty work, the unfun side of creating. I can’t think of any easy solution to this one, except to remember that by cleaning up after a project, getting to work will be faster and easier next time.
- Putting off documentation. I can think of a dozen examples where diligently labeling supplies, identifying works in progress, and making notes about each process would make it easier to repeat processes later on. Possible solution: personal assistant. Realistic solution: a fun and simple system for storing works in progress, keeping track of supplies, and taking photos and notes while making stuff.
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* Bonus! A mini book review. Or a book mini-review.
I recently ordered a copy of Secrets of Simplicity by Mary Carlomagno — which I had saved in my online cart for well over a year, since Holly mentioned it on Decor8 — and started reading. And yes, it did feel a bit perverse, buying a book about simplifying. To my surprise, I found it insightful and enlightening — even without bothering to do the written exercises.
Instead of touting her own brand of simplicity, Carlomagno guides you through the process of figuring out (a) what simplicity means to you and (b) how to make it work for you. She offers the framework, but you do the work. Ultimately, what this means is that I’ve gotten a firm shove in my own direction, and since it doesn’t require conforming to a prescribed “plan,” it’s a path I’m more likely to stay on. With these lessons in mind, I should be well on my way to successfully changing those unsatisfactory work habits.
And here’s a major plus: Secrets of Simplicity is spiral bound and the brief chapters are tabbed, so that I can quickly find the section I want and don’t even have to hold it open to read while I eat lunch, vacuum, write a blog post, and check my e-mail.