The Deep Tidy III

The first phase of the Deep Tidy is almost done. There will be pictures.

The first phase of the Deep Tidy meant going through everything I own and throwing away everything that was not useful or beautiful. I have made the odd mistake, but luckily no one has died.

One major trick is getting organised, putting the remaining things in some kind of order so I can reasonably find them again.

I have always had serious trouble getting organised. Diaries have been a nightmare. The struggle has been finding one I can bond with and use for more than a few days. I have tried tiny diaries, long thin diaries, big page a day diaries, A5 diaries and tiny week to view diaries. I lose them, forget to fill them in, have two or more going at once. It has taken me almost five years of concerted searching to finally bond with a style of diary. For over a year I have used an A4, week to view, hard backed diary. I have ignored people who say, that's big, that doesn't have much space and how do you carry it around. The A4, week to view, hard back diary is a major pillar in my Deep Tidy.

I have also struggled to find a way to organise my paperwork, folders, files, boxes, books, cupboards have successively failed. Oxfam have recieived a steady flow of filing systems over the years. However finally I have discovered a way to make hanging files work for me and even though I have three drawers of hanging files, I am using them!

Finding a system of organisation into which to shoehorn the surviving mess has been a key to the success of the Deep Tidy. Organisation is categorising and sorting. Everyone organises themselves differently, and the Deep Tidy simply means you find the system that suits you best. By contrast, everyone in time management, management training, office work is saying, do it this way, do it that way. The answer for me, has been to do it my own way. If only I had had the courage to invent my own system years ago. Hanging files go hang!!

In the final stages of the Deep Tidy, it becomes important to keep the place tidy, and that requires constant discipline. The Dog Whisperer says about dogs, exercise discipline and affection, in that order. I am finally learning to do that for myself. I have to be my own pack leader, my own owner and my own dog. I delegate things to myself on a regular basis. And I am now developing a zero tolerance policy for mess of all kinds.

There is still a bit more work. But perhaps for the first time, I have finally organised myself in a way that suits me. The house has become increasingly weird, it will never sell or rent to anyone else, so it looks like I am stuck here.