An "Aha!" Moment

I'm only two chapters into Julie Morgenstern's book Organizing from the Inside Out but it has been really good so far. And today I had an "Aha!" moment while reading about the six "technical errors" that keep people from being organized.

Here is my problem (Error #5):

"Many people leave things out as visual reminders of what they have to do--e.g., a book that has to go back to the library, bills to be paid, or a coat that needs repair. This would be okay if there were only a few items strewn about, but once the volume builds, everything begins to blend into your environment, becoming a sort of visual "Muzak" that renders all your visual reminders invisible, defeating their purpose."

Apparently Chapter 5 will show me how to create a less obtrusive system for reminding me what things are important and where they are stored.

Maybe I'll just skip to Chapter 5. Seriously, you should see my kitchen counter top right now--there are items to be addressed for mailing out, coupons I need to look through to clip out the good ones, summer reading program forms that need to be filled out, seeds that need to be planted (I'm about a month late already!), and a receipt for an item that needs to be returned. These items have all been sitting there for about a week already. This is my biggest organizational problem, I think.

Okay, should I tackle that counter top first or read Chapter 5 first? Oh wait, the kids need attention ... maybe I'll do one of those things tomorrow!!

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Oh, in case you were wondering, the six technical errors are:

1. Items have no home
2. Inconvenient storage
3. More stuff than storage space
4. Complex, confusing system
5. "Out of sight, out of mind."
6. Organizing is boring