Routine

I am a creature of routine and habit.  I have written about this before, including explaining about how I am confounded by changes in routine. 

I was thinking about that today, as I was preparing for work.  Over the years, my early morning routine has changed, yet the core remains the same:  shower, dress, preparing breakfast and snack, tending to the cats, and getting the newspaper.

Beyond that, my morning routine really varies.  I used to read the newspaper regularly...Now, I may do so, skim it, or just open it up so it lays flat when I read it in the evening.

I used to read a morning devotion, a couple of news sights and play one or two word games on the computer before I went to work.  Now, most days, I do not even get on the computer in the morning.

I used to drink coffee every morning, sometimes more than one cup.  Now, even one cup is sometimes too much caffeine for me.  Many mornings, I drink juice or soda, and if I want something hot, it is usually herb tea.

And, while I keep the core routine, the peripheries change:  when I open the windows overnight, I have to have a routine to close up the house in the morning. Or else, I have to return to the house even after I have already reached my place of employment, because I am not sure I closed up the house.

If I want to go to work early, I have to get up early, get through the basic routine, and get to work.  If I am not concerned about getting to work early, I take more time, including with the computer or newspaper.

Some mornings, the cats are wanting attention, and if I have the time, I sit and visit with one or both, depending upon their desire. Even if I want to get to work early, and a cat or two wants attention, they get some hugging and caressing...

So, as much as I have a routine, I realize I am flexible enough to allow variations depending upon the circumstances in which I find myself... I think the lesson here is that a basic routine keeps me grounded, but the variations allow my to adapt, and the flexibility keeps my life from getting stale.

Delete Items

I am really bad about permanently deleting items from my computer mailbox.  I frequently send things to the delete box, but rarely clear out the ultimate delete box.

Last night, I was looking at both boxes: I manage two email accounts, my personal one, and the one I use for sending out emails for the local NASW branch...

My personal delete box had over 8000 emails, and the NASW one had over 3000.  That is appalling!  I set about deleting emails. My personal box has been cleaned out until October 1, 2010.  I still have over a 1000 emails in the box.  I send maybe 5-10 a day. So, I think I am getting too many emails.

Who'd a Thunk It

I have been trying for some months to find books by Alexander McCall Smith in my local library.  I looked in the general fiction stacks, the mystery section, and the large print section, with only occasionally coming across one of the books by this author.  I am trying to ready the books in the series The Number 1 Lady's Detective Agency in order.  I have not been able to find them in the library, although the computer indicated they were there.  Today, I asked a reference librarian, who took me directly to these books.  Hmmm. They were not listed under Smith, but under McCall.  Who'd a thunk it!

Keeping Up With Everything

I have mentioned before that folks seem to be amazed at my organizational skills.  I am amazed by their amazement.  But, I do work hard to "keep up" with everything.  I use every trick I have ever heard:

I use reminders:  I used to have a central calendar and put everything on that... Now I use the calendars on my computer, at work and at home.  I send myself emails to remind myself to do things, or list things on my calendar.  I also call myself to leave messages so I will remember to do things. I use a commercial card sight reminder service to help me keep up with birthdays.

If an electronic account that I have offers a reminder service, I use it:  Bills due, amounts over threshold, change passwords.  I put reminders on my calendar for appointments, library books, meetings, and tasks that have to be repeated.

With all of that, I frequently do not need the reminders.  I use a technique of mindfulness that makes me aware of what I want to do, be aware of, remember.   I give myself the responsibility to remember things.  And, I generally do.

I miss things, occasionally.  Most embarrassingly, when I have changed from paper bills to ebills, I would sometimes forget the first time the notice came, that I was not getting a paper reminder, also... I am doing better with this.

I am thankful that my brain works as well as it does...

Start Early and Hit the Ground Running

I had an appointment this afternoon, and decided that when it was finished, I would go home, not back to work.  But, I went into work early, having prepared everything I needed to on Wednesday, to "hit the ground running."  Having done so, I was able to accomplish as much in 4 hours as I often spend all day working on.  Part of that has to do with having cooperative coworkers who facilitated my tasks by getting patients in and out of their cells (remember, I work in a psychiatric prison) so I can interview them.

Maybe there is a lesson in this.  I do know that I get impatient doing the preparatory work so when I see patients, I can  just focus and concentrate on that.  Several times lately, I have forced myself to do the preparatory work so that I could just see patients.  It works. Lesson in life.

Calendars

It is July 8, 2010. I was at Barnes and Noble tonight for the Mystery Book Club. The last time I was at Barnes and Noble was June 10, 2010, for the Mystery Book Club. In June, I did not do much browsing, but tonight, on my way out, I did.


And, I saw a table of calendars. 2011 calendars. I did not recall seeing them last month. But they were out now, and they may have been out then. I am wondering if it is early for 2011 calendars to be out.



But, a few weeks ago, I received a complimentary calendar in the mail. It starts with July 2010 and goes through December 2011. This makes a little bit of sense for me. But having 2011 calendars seem a bit early. Who is planning their life for 6 months from now? Not me.



I have previously mentioned in this blog my habit not to bring a calendar to a meeting, so I can have a chance to plan and ponder before making a commitment. This gives me some power and control.

I understand that by September or October, people will need to start planning their lives into January... But why are the calendars out now? 

The Difference Between Being Neat and Being Organized

I have struggled with this for a long time, and am just now beginning to realize what it is that I am dealing with:  the difference between being neat and being organized.

I am told, regularly, by coworkers and friends that I am well organized.  I do not feel well organized.  I feel scattered and at loose ends...  I see piles of papers jumbled together, stacks of stuff needing sorting, a hodge podge of this and that.

I have mentioned this before. I had an office mate who was very neat:  he filed everything away.  And, when he could not find where he filed something, he would ask be if I had a copy, and I would be able to pull it out of one of my stacks...He was neat, but he did not know what he did with his neatness.  I was messy, but I knew what was in my messy stacks...

It was years before I realized my organizational skills were an asset: I could align things as they need to be; I could remember what need to be done when and where. I could make sure that other people knew what they needed to know.

I left a job, and before I did, I organized my files for the next social worker... But there were some obscure things filed.  The person succeeding me would call me to ask what file something was in... My brain would work it out and give her the answer, or sometimes the options based on how I organized.

I am not neat:  I do not keep the cat hair vacuumed off the carpet every day.  My cats like to tear up cardboard boxes.  If you think that is not messy, think again.  I have stacks of unread stuff on my dining table. I have all kinds of things stuffed into my vehicle.. But, if I need something, I know where it is .. So, I guess that is organized....

Time Warp

I send out the meeting announcements for the South Plains Branch of NASW monthly meetings.  This past weekend, I asked my colleagues to get the information I needed, to be able to send out the announcement this weekend... Well, our monthly meeting is the second Thursday of the month, and we usually send out the announcement about a week before the meeting... So, my request to get the information was about a week premature... (And I sent an email apologizing to my colleagues.)

I am not sure why I am in a time warp...Part of it has to do with the fact that we did not have a monthly meeting in April, due to having a CEU 3 hour workshop...Also, I am now doing 2 treatment teams at work, and have spent the week doing treatment team preparation, which includes dating things 5/3/20 and 5/4/10.  So, in my mind, I am almost already in the first week of May.

Sometimes we find  ourselves in a time warp.  It happens.  But we can manage.....

Organized and In Control?

I attended a talk today during which the speaker talked about being organized and in control may mean being unwilling to expand your comfort zone, and try things that are new and different.

This may be true.  I like being organized, but I am rarely in control. I do try to experience new things and expand my horizons.  I have found myself really doing so this last year:  I have joined the Mystery Book Club at Barnes and Nobel, the Friends of the Library, and the Heritage Fiber Guild (not yet a member, but participating.)  I have been attending the Osher Life Long Learning Classes.  I attended the Lady Raider Basketball games (but did not enjoy their sporadic record.)

The speaker I heard talked about a trip to Italy, backpacking and traveling with no plan or design as a very freeing experience.   Hmmm.  She wrote a book:   "Two Nuts in Italy"  http://www.twonutsinitaly.com/. 

I have never been interested in traveling to Europe.  But I understand, from this speaker, and from others, that the attitudes and ideas of Europeans are very different than those of the Americans.  Less technological, more earthy and less circumspect.

However, after reading "The Guernsey Literary and Sweet Potato Peel Pie Society" 
http://www.randomhouse.ca/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780440337973, I have thought a visit to the Channel Islands might interesting.  And, I think a visit to Ireland, and to Scotland (the outlying islands, especially) might be exhilarating.  

But there are so many places in the United States, and Canada, that I have not seen.  And want to. 

Well maybe someday I will take well orchestrated trips to those places.  Or, someday, I will feel able to just take off and travel to where ever I want to go....

Organizing

I use every organizing trick I can think of, and am always interested in learning new ones.  I use the electronic calendar with reminders to notify me about when bills are due, and when activities are scheduled..  I have a special events electronic reminder service.  I use sticky notes, lists, and notes on doors. 

My calendar tells me when to change the furnace filter.  It tells me when the library books are due.  When I have non-work related appointments.  On Star tells me when to change the oil in the car.

For years, I have called myself (usually at work) to use my answering machine to remind myself about doing things.

When I have invitations, I add them to my calendar.  I have a specific basket where I put pending bills, invitations, notifications of events.  I check this basket once a week, at least. When I purchase a gift for a shower or party, after I wrap the gift, the invitation is moved to be on the gift, so I will know where I am going. And, my calendar tells me when.

Frequently, I load my vehicle the evening before with whatever needs to go with me the next day, as much as possilbe. 

Do I lose things.  Sometimes.  Do I miss things, sometimes. Do I forget things, sometimes.  But I try not to. Do I oversleep, sometimes. Am I late. Sometimes.  But I try to start early for most things, bring a toy for while I am waiting, to allow for delays I can not avoid. 

I do not carry a calendar with me to meetings.  I know my schedule in my head, and if anything unexpected comes up, I have to defer to my calendar... I learned this from someone a long time ago:   it gives you the chance to debate if you really want to commit to that or not.

Okay, so some of preparations are anal retentive, but they keep me on a better track than if I were not as prepared.  It takes me some effort to do these things, but I FEEL better, knowing my ducks are in a row... And, I do not spend scurrying at the last minute energy getting organized.

As far as I am concerned, trying to keep things organized helps my stress level to stay lower, and helps me to do better self care.  And frankly as far as stress and self care go, I need all the help I can get.

Organizing Workshops

Since the beginning of my social work career, I have been involved in organizing workshops...At Catholic Family Service, Inc., we did adoption workshops, typically with the Interagency Adoption Council... We usually had a workshop co-ordinator, but did a lot of the work ourselves.

Late in life, I started helping with the NASW workshops.  Sometimes we co-ordinated with other agencies, sometimes we did them by ourselves.  I will not be a workshop chair person, but I like working on this activity.  I like working on the brochures, the mailing lists, and the registration forms and logs.  I really enjoy sitting at the registration table.  It gives me an opportunity to say "hi" to people. And, reconciling registration with collected fees is something that comes easy to me... I enjoy doing this.

This year is not different.  I have loaded the paraphernalia that I need for registration: pens, brochures, NASW applications, flyers about upcoming activities.  I am ready!

Organized? Me?

I have heard for years that I am well organized, and I always feel embarrassed, and maybe that I am an imposter, when I hear this.  If you see my house or office, you will see that I am a pack rat and stuff stacks up, piles up, amasses and no kidding, paper in my possession self propagates...

But, people insist.  So, what do I do that impresses people about my organizational skills: 

Well, I rarely forget things.  But that has more to do with my anal retentive mind, and less to do with organizational skills. I will admit,  I build on past experiences and I generalize my knowledge from one situation to another.

I can usually find things in my office.  That is for several reasons:  I file things in a manner that makes sense to me, so I know where it will be... sometimes I duplicate file, especially if I am not sure where I want to file something.  That way, it does not matter where I look.  When I do file, I label the file with a common sense name that tells me what is there. Sometimes, I can not find something and have to recreate and refile.  If I do this twice, I know I am not filing it correctly and have to be better at finding a place for it.



I also do not file:  If something is commonly used, or anticipated to be used in a short time, I put it where I know it will be... I admit, I do lose a lot of stuff in the jumble, but it does resurface.

I am a person of almost obsessive compulsive routine: what I do, when I do it, where I go, and where I put things.  This keeps me on track.  The downside is that sometimes I do something(s) so automatically, I do not recall the doing, and have to recheck myself.

I think ahead and organize my moves accordingly.  Then, I think backwards and go through everything again.

I am a list maker.  Ten years ago, I would have said I was a compulsive list maker, but now my lists tend to be more mental than pen and paper, and less compulsive.   But, having a written list which allows me to cross things off is for me, contentment. Being able to cross things off actually creates, in me, a physical pleasure reaction.

I use electronic reminders.  I use the Hallmark reminder service: http://www.hallmark.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/home%7C10001%7C10051%7C-1?landingPage=homepage Currently, it is free.  It will email you a reminder about any event you load.

I use reminders on computer calendars, and I set reminders on my cell phone.  Years ago, I used paper calendars and a calendar book to keep me organized.  I use sticky notes, magnet posted notes.  I put notes in the seat of my vehicle, on top of my purse, where ever I need them. 

No, I am not organized... I have a good memory, and I over achieve at reminders...