Just a Little Peek at Disorder

Okay, you can see just a little of the desk I was talking about yesterday. You'll see some photos showing mini-views. Looked at that way, the desk really doesn't look so bad. (Ha!)

These are some of the studio heads. Notice how coyly they glance downward looking all innocent while sharp objects cluster in their heads. Notice the irony of the little blue skies card with the word Organize on it. And notice the errant light bulb lying amid the paper clips.

Of course there are ways to hide tangled messes of computer cables and power cords, but that all takes time. That cube of memo paper in the back has a to-do list from February with one of eight items checked off as finished.

Yes, that is a container of dental floss threaders in the foreground, but before you get too bad an image, I use them to thread beads onto yarn.

Now we're getting to some serious mess, and I'm starting to feel a little sheepish.

I have tried all kinds of games to get myself to keep everything neater. If you are a creative type who makes things and who gets out lots of tools and supplies in the process of making things, perhaps you can relate. Before you know it, there are dozens of items laying around.

Sometimes I play a little game called "Put 50 Things Away!" The object of this game is to put 50 items away where they belong in as little time as possible. Each item returned to orderliness is worth one brownie point.

This is a game that can be played anywhere in the house. Putting away laundry or emptying the dishwasher is a great way to rack up points fast. Most days I could play this game half a dozen times and still have material left to play the game on the next day. Of course I pull out 50 things easily in the course of working on a project or two.

Inventing games to trick my ADD mind into slowing down to keep order or to keep focused is fun. The invented games don't always work, though.

Take this game:

The game material consists of a series of cards on which are words to be chosen as the focus for the day. The objective is to choose ahead seven cards for the week with a key word for each day. You could decide to relax on Sunday, research ideas for your business on Monday, plan on Tuesday, etc. When I invented this game I thought it was pure genius and that my focusing problems would be solved; however...

Remember that first photo above--the one with the studio heads? When I took that photo this morning, that card saying Organize had been there on top of the stack of cards since the very day I invented the game.

But the light bulb comes on--I have another idea . . .