STYLE Savvy: Small Things

Time flies when a strategy is working.

In preparation for this post, I scrolled back to see how long it's been since I adopted my "Big 3" approach. Last week? Last month?

January.

My surprise over this discovery told me that clearly, the novelty hasn't worn off. And, when it comes to organization, that can be a good thing. Novelty can prompt excitement and optimism, two things that are necessary for turning a new idea into a habit.

For me, the Big 3 has brought about palpable changes not only in organization, but in attitude as well. By prioritizing, I'm getting the most important things checked off my list. In addition, I'm more aware of what I'm getting accomplished, which turns my focus to successes rather than all of the organizing that inevitably remains.

And so one night a couple of weeks ago, as I stood in my office, taking in all the evidence of my drop and run organizational style, I decided to give the little things their due. Tackling just a few of them, along with a few of the niggling things that didn't make the Big 3 list (but certainly would if left undone long enough), would create visible progress. And, it would give me that always satisfying feeling of checking several things off the list as well.

5 things. Just five small things.

At the bottom of the page of my desk calendar where I note each day's Big 3, I wrote "Small Things," leaving space beneath the words for tally marks. Then, after scanning the desk and the living room, I went to work.

Within an hour, I'd not only cleared space, but also created a home and a new system for filing some of the papers that had been sitting out, homeless. If I'd stuck to clearing off my desk, I could've been finished in 15 minutes, but the papers on the counter were bothering me, so I tackled them as well. In short order, I managed to clear space on two surfaces and use a style-appropriate tool (an accordion folder) to set up a long-term solution. Even better, two weeks later, new papers that belong in that folder are going away, not just getting plopped down on my desk--no small feat for a drop and run girl like me.

[tweet "We need to keep both big and small things under control. #STYLEsavvy with @L2Hess"]

Admittedly, none of this is ground-breaking, but it does illustrate a basic organizational conundrum for those of us with busy lives. We need to keep both the big things and the small things under control. And, without a strategy for doing just that, it's easy for one or the other to get neglected.

But sometimes, all it takes is a little novelty to kick-start the process.