Monday, December 29, 2008

Did u ever?


I have 309 unread emails in my dominant email account. That little postage stamp icon on my desk top haunts me each day as that number constantly increases many times each day, reminding me Of how truly un-organized I am even on a flat desktop screen. I have what has to be over a thousand that I've opened and read or only half read but have them stuck there, awaiting deletion or another look or filing to a new folder. This disarray of emails as you may have guessed is just the tip of my totally cluttered, disorganized iceberg. I am totally puzzled by my organized friends. Did you ever meet someone like them? Or maybe YOU are lucky enough to be like this. We will be talking about something she bought years ago,she tries to memorize the price, she says 'wait a sec'... and really, like only two seconds later...She freaking whips the receipt out of her Ausss! I am always astounded! I take a sip of tea, turn around and she is holding the receipt to the couch she bought in 1992! How the hell is that even possible if you aren't an illusionist?
Well, Little Lulu is changing up things over here for the NEw yeaR and for my NEw ATTituDE! ( did u read my last post??NO? please do!)

I have been picking the brains of these amazing(wacky), brilliant(anal),organizers!(freaks)
One of my clients is the best I've met so far, and considering she is a teacher, I decided to take my entire lesson from her on organizational skills.( i had to get the smelling salts out, when I told her of my current filing system.~ A large Macy's shopping bag that I throw EVERy receipt, paid bill, tax return, bank statement in! When that overflows onto my closet floor it gets shipped to the garage (the land of the lost) and replaced with a brand new bag!) She regained consciousness and instructed me to go to Target first for the filing cabinet. (yes, I really mean business) Being that Ms. Kay is a thrifty organizer (cheapskate), she told me Target has the best price for the cabinet. OKAY. Check! got it. (Black and sleek, reminiscent of the sexy shoes I had my eye on but the $32.00 I spent, would have only bought me One heel.) Next, she instructed me to go to Costco for a box of 50 filing folders and a box of 50 hanging folders. Check! got 'em! only cost 14.oo total! ( 32. + 14.= $46.00 or 1/2 of one shoe)

Next came the labeling and that's when she totally lost Loopy lulu! I was very confused but, determined not to look like a complete clutter idiot, I nodded a LOT! She was ready to give me an A+ for attitude and attention span! Until, she asked me to repeat what she had said. My defense was 'uhhhh, I was concentrating on your haircut so intensely I lost my concentration on your filing system!" ( ehem, bullshit)
SO, her being a bit anal and apparently intolerant of slow learners, my lesson was terminated on the spot! (what a terrible teacher!) But, No worries, I am SO on top of this filing stuff without her! I really have a system going. Instead of starting the millions of folders she was attempting to tell me to start. It makes more sense to me to tackle them as they come along. SO, for example, I paid a credit card bill after Christmas, then I started a hanging folder that simply says Credit cards. IN there I put folders for my different cards. WAHHLAAA! Childs play!
My son's school papers were cluttering up my hutch, SO, I Made up one with his name and several inside for his school papers and other categories. As more clutter accumulates, I will just make up another folder!! (Sure hope 50 will be enough!)
I think my way is less time consuming than her way too! So what do you think?
Pretty impressive, no? I am going to LOVE being organized and I am so excited that I am going to have all that extra room at the bottom of my closet! you know what THAT means! (That is where I keep the SHoES! ) If i do get those sleek new ones, wait a few months then ask me to see the receipt! ok?

11 comments:

Gill said...

Good on you Lucy! Being organised is so empowering. I always feel so much better about life in general when I am on top of my filing.

Anonymous said...

Hi,

LOL, I spent Sunday on web looking up hints to become more organized.

Anna

Giggles said...

I have that many in an email address I never look at....

Good for you...getting organized does save time. Good luck with that....it will work as long as everyone is on board...that's the tough part. My rule is never touch a piece of paper more than once! Shoe boxes work wonders for mail and receipts you have no time to file.....

One bank account that you never touch....only for bills works wonders too! Add up your expenses, have that amount transferred automatically into that account each month...another account for food and sundries...

Good luck with all that!

Hugs Giggles

Forgetfulone said...

Hahaha! I'm LOL over here! The way you write is just... so... you!

Your system is going to work perfectly, but 50 is probably not enough. Also, no need to save EVERY receipt. Why would you need it, for goodness' sake? I save receipts for major purchases, Christmas (for a while), birthdays (for a while), and tax info. That's it.

Can't wait to see the new shoes!

Deirdre said...

I love being organized as much as I love the process of getting organized. I could probably hire myself out and be quite happy.

(You're going to need more file folders.)

Queen-Size funny bone said...

I've always had a filing system and a special box for big items i have bought. And yes I stil have my furniture recipt. I want to find what I want when I want it. Also I have a drawer that if I don't have time to file I throe the stuff there and then file every couple of weeks. your gonna feel good that you took this step.

paisley said...

for email i use my spam folders,, if it ends up in there,, its just gone .. no open no look no nothing...

as for any form of organization in any other area of my life... well,,, lets just not talk about that and say we did....

Patois42 said...

So long as your shoes are organized by color or type, I think it's fine to keep them in the bottom drawer!

Bone said...

these amazing(wacky), brilliant(anal),organizers!(freaks)

LOL You crack me up. I tried this for awhile. But then those folders get full, so you just have to get new folders. (Heaven forbid I ever thrown one single thing away.)

Personally, I think you should have gone for the new heels :)

threesidesofcrazy said...

A Macy's bag - oh my! You are sooooooooooo going to love being organized. I can't live without it. I save all my receipts too, but for the smaller ones I use a photo negative storage box. It's perfect for a year's receipts, stashes in the desk drawer with the lid on the underneath side and holds up well long term.

Anonymous said...

Whatever, all this big talk, are people for real?? Lucy don't beat yourself up about it. I love to be organized too, every 3 months I do it faithfully, but in the meantime, there is a little pile here and one over there, and another shoved into a drawer. What does your friend want that receipt from 1992 for anyway? I say toss 90% of them :). Happy new year! Can I just say shuffling papers is boring!!