Getting Organized. Step 1

09/02/2011 at 3:58 pm · Filed under Getting Organized, Quilting Plans and Goals ·Tagged chaos, creativity, design, office organization, organizer, professional organiser, studio

view of my studio from dining room

Today I had a formal consult with a professional organizer.  I was surprisingly nervous considering that  she is a good friend who has helped me out in my home many times, but this is different.  It is my studio.  I have a certain fear that if everything is changed I will lose  my creativity.  But it wasn’t scary at all.  Claudia had me think about  the steps I take and what I do at each station in my studio.  She targeted my major problem areas and then we brainstormed possibilities for solving each problem.  I have been thinking about this for a few days and had some big ideas.  She unceremoniously cut them down to size, and made me focus on the immediate instead of the long-term.  (she kept telling me ‘don’t worry about that yet.  It will be obvious once your workspace is functional.’) We came up with this list.

Problem 1.  Fabric is everywhere, my storage system is obviously not working

Problem 2. I have UFO’s (UnFinished Objects) scattered around and mixed in with my fabrics.  I tend to jump from project to project and loose pieces and notes in the chaos so finishing projects becomes less and less attractive.

Problem 3. I can never keep track of my small hand tools, like scissors, unpicker etc.  Or even if I know exactly where it is, it is on the other side of the room, and I waste a lot of time retracing my steps.

Problem 4. Paperwork is never properly filed, add this to my tendency to sketch, take notes and make calculations for cutting and yardage on any handy scrap of paper, and I have a giant pile of paper sitting in a basket with no idea what most of it is for.

Over the next few days I will be tackling these problems one by one, and discussing the solutions my organizer suggested and what I end up with.  I feel like I am on the edge of getting this figured out and I am actually pretty excited.  I am committed to getting this done before sewing another order (luckily I don’t have any due this week or next!).

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