My Annual Effort to Organize

I am not a naturally organized person. My theory tends to be put it in a pile and deal with it when I need it.

But that drives my husband, who has a mild form of obsessive compulsive disorder, a little nuts.

Unlike what television shows like Monk depict, OCD is not cute. And when our home or our shared office space is disordered, my husband's anxiety is through the roof. It is a constant source of stress and irritation.

So, even though it is not my natural state, I try to make an effort to keep things organized for the sake of his mental health and our marital health. I fail. A lot.

The problem I have is that if something is out of sight, it's out of mind. If I file that tax paperwork, for instance, I'm likely to forget that I need to file our taxes. And it's far easier to throw the warranty information for his new computer into a desk drawer than to get out the expandable file and put it with the other warranties.

Still, I make the effort every spring. Actually, every spring and fall, to do a good reorganization and find a pattern for things that makes sense to me and keeps things where both of us can easily find them.

For the most part, there are just two areas of the house that are my responsibility: The office, which is both my writing space and where I greet customers for our day job, and my closet. I am the primary used of our office space, but technically it is a shared space, so I need to make it at least semi-organized for the days when he needs to cover the business.

But at the same time, it needs to contain all the things I need to be comfortable -- everything from lotion to hand sanitizer to my arm warmers -- and all the office supplies that we use on a regular basis. And it tends to be the dumping ground for things that have no other home like our external hard drives and extra headphones.

Today, I spent the day opening drawers and cleaning them out to get rid of the things we don't need anymore. Outdated advertising materials for our business and our sister companies got tossed and my winter hat and gloves found a home for the summer.

The next step is going to be to divide the office supplies into what we reasonably need to have accessible all the time and what can be relegated to our storage unit.

After that, I need to have a heart-to-heart with my inner hoarder and discard or donate the things I really don't need any longer. The problem is, I grew up poor, so I hate to get rid of things I might need again someday. Case in point, I just threw away the box for my three-year-old iphone. I can likely acknowledge I won't be needing it again.

The Advantages of An Organized Spouse

While being organized does not come naturally to me, I do have the advantage of an organized spouse.

That means one wall of my office is dedicated to an IKEA Kallax with 16 drawers in the base and eight cube shelves on top. It gives me a place to display my collection of Nightmare Before Christmas stuff, things that make me happy, and a place to stow the office supplies and other things we need in the office.

We have three drawers of pens, paper, and markers, a drawer of packing tap and a drawer with the fist aid kit. Other drawers hide locks, we do run a storage facility, advertising materials and, since March of 2020, masks.

Under my desk, I have the paper shredder and a pair of expandable files for the paperwork I need to keep in the office. The top of my desk has the two computers I work on, a printer, a check scanner for making bank deposits and my two day planners.

The day planners were his idea and work remarkably well. I one to make note of working related information and appointments. It has people I need to call about rentals, repairs that need to be done and bills that need to be paid. The second one is for my writing goals and submissions. It helps me keep track of what needs to be done and when.

The other thing that he suggested which keeps me on track is a weekly to do list. On Sunday mornings, I check my planners and make a list of all the things that need to be done that week. It's probably the best organizational tool I have.

The other organization he helped me figure out was my closet.

I have way too many clothes for one human. It goes back to that growing up poor. If it fits and it's not torn or ruined, I have a hard time getting rid of it.

Once again, my hubby came to my rescue. He found zippered clothes boxes that I can sit on the shelves in my closet. Each one will hold about a dozen sweaters, jeans or hoodies.

Better yet, they can be zipped up and taken to the storage unit as is when the season is over. No more grabbing a big plastic tub twice a year to switch out summer clothes for winter and vice versa. Now, thanks to him, I can just grab the boxes of clothes I need and throw the others in storage.

Spring has not quite come to stay yet in Pennsylvania, so I'm not switching out my clothes yet, but thanks to an OCD and organized husband, I'll be starting the new season a little more prepared than i was for the last one.