Remember that "Messiest Studio Contest" I told you about a couple of weeks ago. Well, just guess who won said contest!!!! YIKES! When I got the news I told my family and started uncontrollably blushing. Then I grabbed an empty trash can and went to work. That was about 7 PM and I stopped at about 1 AM. I’m not finished but I made a really good start on things.
I’ve just been too busy to stop so it all piles up. If I stop to clean I miss a deadline, so the mess gets worse and worse until I can barely function. Does that sound familiar? I’m sure that I’m not alone. The part that amazed me last night is that the worst area cleaned up in less than half an hour. So how much time did I waste looking for things when I couldn’t spend half an hour cleaning?
Here’s what I learned last night as I was throwing about 150 pounds of paper away (an entire, very large trash can on wheels). Most of my issue is with paper — surprise, surprise! A lot is the magazines and catalogs that I need to look through for ideas and to keep track of trends. I’m not sure what the answer is on that one as I still need them but don’t have enough time to look through them on a regular basis. I’ve been letting about half of my subscriptions go and picking my magazines more carefully.
The other part of the paper issue is things that I’ve printed out to check that the files are good, colors are okay or are copies of emails with instructions for projects that I’m working on. I tend to keep piling things around my computer and work off of the top layer. When I consistently take a few moments at the end of my day to get rid of what I’m done handling, I do better. So since I totally cleaned and reorganized my computer desk that’s what I’m going to start doing again. Historically I do well for quite a while. So how do I keep the habit up for the long haul? I don’t quite know the answer to that one yet!
The organizational expert counselled me to get rid of a lot of my tables. I think she’s right. They tend to be easy places to accumulate stuff that I just don’t want to make a decision about at the moment. Then they get buried by the next layer of procrastinated decisions and my life is in chaos once again. The old adage HIO comes to mind… Handle it ONCE! Make a decision and throw it away, file it away or do what you need to to put it to rest. But Handle it!
Oh well. I won a great prize though, so since I aired my "dirty studio" out in public at least it was worth it. i won a year’s listing on an new licensing website called "Simply licensed." www.simplylicensed.com It’s a place where mfgs. can come to see art and artists to see if there’s something that fits their need so it’s really a cool prize. Thanks for the congratulations on the win from so many of you (along with your admission that you could easily have won if you entered 
that helped a lot!)
THE PROVERB OF THE DAY Proverbs 10:17 He who heeds discipline shows the way to life, but whoever ignores correction leads others astray. NIV
AJ, you sound exactly like me at the moment. I have let things pile up and then it is much harder to find things. I am also trying to clean my stuff up but it didn’t get this way in one day and it won’t get cleaned up in one day. Congratulations on your prize!!!
I know what you mean I tend to collect magazines, papers etc. I spent about 2 days reorganizing my craft room so I could find what I needed. I have enough supplies for somethings to last a life time.
I hate to throw things away because I might need it some year! I did that about two years ago and then needed some of the things I had gotten rid of.
Congratulations on your prize. You are now a double winner, as this forced you to clean.
congradulations and I do know where you are comming from as far as not being organized I barely have enought room on my disk fro find the mouse and mouse pad
good thing my key board is under the desk type or I wouldn’t be able to find that half the time to type
Congratulations on your win! I am looking at my desktop and thinking I sure could stand to clean it up so I can find the top of my desk! I have CD’s, floppys, scissors, etc. all over! I clean it up and seems like the next time I sit down at the computer it is filled again.
Hi Audrey,
Your “ugly Studio” contest sounds like a good one. I think I would have made my studio 10 times worse than it already is, on purpose, just to get a bad picture and WIN!!! what a great prize, too!
Congratulations! See you at the shows!
Denise (Oh Denise! I WISH I could give that as an explanation!!!! It was just plain out of control waaaaay over the top baaaaaad! But I was so embarassed that I spent 6 hours that night with a trash can and still only got it 40% cleaned 🙂 But it’s so much better to work in already that I’m determined to finish it up and keep it better. At least for a little while. Good to hear from you ! AJ)
Yeah! Congratulations! 🙂 There are worse things than winning a Messy Studio contest….like NOT winning a Messy Studio contest! LOL! Congrats again!!
Congratulations on your win!
Good luck with your organizing!
Woman’s Day magizine has an article on how to organize almost anything. So, I bought it….but now it’s now it’s just sitting on top of the pile of magazines waiting for me to read them! LOL!!!
No comment about the messiest studio from me! If you could see where I sit all day, you would be amazed!!!
Just a thought on all of the magazines and paper…Day Cares love to receive paper and magazines. Even if the paper is printed on, they can be used for the kids’s crafts. The kids can also practice cutting out things with scissors, using glue, and etc. I know that I would love to see some different magazines in my doctor’s offices besides “Field and Stream” type magazines. Also, ones that aren’t years old!