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Chapter 2

Personal Styles: How We’re Wired

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord.

1 CORINTHIANS 12:4-5

In chapter 1, we identified Gemma as I love to be busy/drop and run. I love to be busy is Gemma’s personal style. Personal styles, an integral part of who we are, influence the way we organize. The three personal styles are I love stuff, I love to be busy, and I need to see it. When you took the quiz in chapter 1, which personal style described you? Feel free to skip ahead and read that section of this chapter first if you wish. Then, double back and look over the information about the other styles to see if you can pick up a few additional ideas. Although each of the styles can pose challenges when it comes to organization, all three can be pressed into service in a positive fashion.

I Love Stuff

What it looks like: Like Zane in chapter 1, those with an I love stuff personal style are collectors, with an eye for unusual treasures. As a result, they become very attached to their things, which makes culling collections and — gasp! — getting rid of things very difficult. This can create a space issue, as those with an I love stuff personal style often accumulate more things than they have room for.

The heart of the problem: too much stuff, not enough space.

Positive attributes: An attraction to unique items that, when applied to containers and other storage tools, can add a flair to organizational systems and beauty to their surroundings. Their affinity for collecting often makes those with the I love stuff personal style very good at creating unusual and eye-catching combinations of items. In addition, those with an I love stuff personal style are often very good at finding creative uses for everyday things.

Putting it to work: The skill of keeping like items together of ten comes naturally to those with an I love stuff personal style. This is key to organization, since a cluster of similar items or treasures united by a theme looks neater than a haphazard group of items that appears to have been dumped on a shelf or table. Unrelated items look like clutter. Items that go together look like a collection. This “like items together” mentality also gives those with an I love stuff personal style an edge when it comes to finding logical homes for their things.

Organizational systems rooted in the I love stuff style pair beauty and function. Look for ways to make your “stuff” do double duty, such as storing keys inside a pretty pottery dish or using colorful baskets for storage. When acquiring new pieces, plan ahead. Is this item decorative? functional? both? Can you imagine where it will fit in your home? Use the answers to these questions to make deliberate decisions about what comes home with you and what you’re satisfied to admire from afar.

When it comes to collections, set aside a special spot for displaying those that are more decorative than functional. If your collections overwhelm your space, try rotating them, one collection per room or season, so that each gets time in the spotlight.

The process of rotating collections can also reveal which items are the most beloved. Examine your feelings when it’s time to take the collection-in-waiting out for display. Are you excited to do this, or could you just as easily leave it out of sight? If it’s the latter, consider finding a new home (outside your home) for that particular collection, or at least part of it. As part of this process, also examine the items in each collection as you move it from displayed to undisplayed and back again. Is every piece still something you want to keep? If so, then do so. If not, consider downsizing the collection by donating or selling pieces you’ve grown tired of. We’ll talk more about nontraumatic ways of letting things go in chapter 7.

I Love to Be Busy

What it looks like: Those with an I love to be busy personal style get things done. As with Gemma in chapter 1, this generosity of spirit can sometimes lead to overbooking, which may leave those with this personal style feeling overwhelmed or stressed, leading to pileups. As those with this style run from one place to another, they may lack the time and energy to put each activity’s stuff where it belongs — if they’ve even designated a space for it — let alone keep up with the influx of new things.

The heart of the problem: too much to do, not enough time.

Positive attributes: In addition to being generous with their time, folks with an I love to be busy personal style are usually excellent time managers. Because the things they commit to are things they genuinely love and/or want to do, I love to be busy people manage to squeeze a lot of activity into a little bit of time. The skills of sticking to a schedule, managing small blocks of time, and categorizing — all of which are strong suits for those with an I love to be busy personal style — are important tools when it comes to organizing not just time, but things as well.

Putting it to work: Those with an I love to be busy personal style often benefit from putting their categorizing skills to work by creating separate storage, preferably of the grab-and-go variety, for each activity. Catechist materials go in one tote bag, book club materials in another, knitting in a third, and so on, with each bag or container being replenished right after it’s been used. The trick is to put those superior scheduling skills to work as well, building in time to take everything out, remove any time sensitive information, sharpen pencils, replenish supplies, and put everything back into the bag so it’s ready to grab and go the next time it’s needed. Ideally, each container should be well-suited to its purpose so that all necessary supplies have specific homes within the container or bag. This makes a quick once-over easier on those days when the replenishment of the bag just didn’t happen. Scheduling time to keep up with the flow of stuff is especially important for those whose schedules are packed. Luckily, scheduling comes naturally for most people with an I love to be busy personal style.

No matter their storage preferences, those with an I love to be busy personal style will need to establish consistent homes for their things, particularly those they need to grab quickly on their way out the door. We’ll talk more about homes and locations in chapter 6.

One essential tool for those with an I love to be busy personal style is a calendar or planner. For some, a single calendar for everything makes sense; for others, a combination approach works better. The specifics of the planner — whether it’s electronic, paper and pencil, a bullet journal, or a white board on the refrigerator color-coded by activity — matters less than its ease of use. If you’re getting where you need to be on time on a regular basis, without missed appointments and forgotten commitments, your planner system is probably a good one.

I Need to See It

What it looks like: Just like the other two personal styles, the I need to see it personal style is just what it sounds like. Afraid that out of sight will mean out of mind, those with this personal style leave physical reminders for every important task out in plain sight. While leaving a backpack and lunch bag beside the door isn’t such a big deal, the I need to see it reminder plan can become problematic if those with this style have lots of interests (like Isabelle in chapter 1), have lots of things to remember, and/or fail to put away these physical reminders once the task has been completed.

The heart of the problem: attempting to use piles as a workable organizational system.

Positive attributes: optimism and categorizing. Those with an I need to see it personal style really do believe they’re going to be able to do all those things in all those piles — and some days, they do. And because their piles are their system, just one pile won’t do. Each pile represents a category or line item on a list. Tossing everything into one stack might look neater, but a single pile often defeats the purpose for those with this personal style.

Putting it to work: Keeping things visible is the key to success for those with this personal style. Containers and folders that are clear, color-coded, or labeled will beat out traditional tools such as binders, pocket folders, and file cabinets every time. Shelves work better than drawers, but subdividing drawers also works well; when a single glance reveals everything inside the open drawer, it’s less intimidating to put things in the drawer (out of sight) in the first place. File boxes with open tops also work well, especially when combined with colored file folders. The more see-through, colorful, patterned, or unique the storage, the better. The goal is to maintain the visual nudge by using something neater and more organized than piles.

So why not just make lists? If you have to ask that, you don’t have an I need to see it personal style. I need to see it folks do make lists; we just supplement them with piles. Items on a list blend together into a unified whole, causing individual items to disappear onto the page; crossing items off a list, no matter how motivating, can’t top reducing and removing piles from a horizontal surface. When the piles are gone, the I need to see it person knows she’s finished. Unfortunately, the piles are rarely gone.

Can I Have More Than One Style?

When I first share the styles quiz, I frequently get the question, “Can I be all of them?” The answer is yes … and no.

While it’s possible to have elements of each of the styles, most of us end up identifying one predominant personal style and one predominant organizational style. These styles pave the way to organizational systems that play to our strengths. But even though our predominant styles form the foundation of our organizational systems, the traits we share with other styles broaden the range of tools that work for us. Combining the tool options that work for our primary styles with those that work from other styles allows us more choices and helps us to infuse creativity into our organizational plans.

For example, even though my predominant personal style is I need to see it, I can also identify with both of the other personal styles, I love stuff and I love to be busy. Because of this, I can adopt tools and strategies from these styles, as long as they work with my primary style. No matter how pretty, cool, or unique the container, if it doesn’t give me the visual nudge I need, it will be an obstacle rather than a tool.

Confused? Here’s the simple version. Use your primary styles — one personal style and one organizational style — as the foundation of your organizational system. Then use your tendencies from the other styles to build on that foundation, adding variety and creativity while staying true to what works.

Oh — and don’t forget to have fun.

Smart organizers know when to ask for help

Dear Lord, help me to remember that my personal styles are a part of the me you created. Help me to use them in constructive ways so that I may be more at peace with myself and with all that surrounds me. Amen.

Chomping at the bit to get started, even though we’re only in chapter 2? Go for it! Check out this chart on containers by personal style. A “yes” means that type of container is a good match for the style; a “no” means just the opposite. Blank cells are “maybes” — containers that fall somewhere in between and are more a matter of personal preference.

Lisa’s Lists

Three Things to Remember

1. Every style has positive attributes. Because our styles have most likely gotten in our way in the past, it’s easy to see them only as stumbling blocks. But once we acknowledge and embrace our styles, we can use them to our advantage. When we adopt this new perspective, we unlock the potential behind our styles as tools for getting organized in a way that makes sense to us and is therefore sustainable.

2. A sense of humor is an important tool in the organizing arsenal. Because you’re reading this book, I’m assuming you have a sense of humor, but it’s been subjugated by the judgments you (and perhaps others) have made about the very styles I’m asking you to embrace. Why not try dusting off that sense of humor and taking a more lighthearted approach? At the very least, it’ll save you from expending energy on making yourself feel bad, and at best it can lead you to a self-acceptance that enables you to come up with creative ways of using your styles in ways that work for you. Either way, you’ll have smiled.

3. It’s a process. Identifying your personal and organizational styles is the first step in this one-step-forward-two-steps-back process. Some days you’ll feel like an organizational guru and other days, you’ll feel like the Queen (or King) of Chaos. Baby steps.