How Are Smart Freedoms Supposed to Stay Organized? Nine Tips
When we think of the Don Draper character from the TV series Mad Men, we think (besides tortured and handsome) of spontaneous creativity. That Kodak carousel scene, where he wows the clients into stunned silence, using a speech he’d created on the spot. This is perhaps the hallmark of the Pixie Type Smart Freedom. First, what they can’t see, they forget about. Second, their best work is done in the moment. Third, there needs to be a method to their madness (or an order to their piles). Lastly, if they need to delegate their home organization to an outside party, they will have no qualms doing so (they have other, more important things to do).
But we can’t all be Don Draper, this fabulously charming but stoic and brilliant character who rises to each and every occasion with aplomb (at least for the first few seasons). What we can do is offer Smart Freedoms some real-world tips on how to stay organized. So grab an Old Fashioned cocktail and settle into a comfy chair. It’s time to harness some energy and work with it!
Got a Habit? Formalize It
Do you use your entryway as a dumping ground for your keys and change, your coat and shoes? Formalize your normal everyday tendencies with a nice bowl to hold your keys and change. A hook for your coat. And a small bin for those shoes. Make containers specifically designed to hold specific things, but don’t make things too specific. For example, don’t bother to separate your keys from your change. Just having a bowl for keys and change will make retrieval ten times easier.
Purge When the Mood Strikes
We know you hate to purge. It’s time-consuming, boring, and you dislike making those types of decisions (when there are so many more important ones to make)! However, when the mood strikes you, take advantage of it and get rid of as much extraneous stuff as possible. If you never get hit with the mood, hire someone to do it. No matter how you do it, it must be done. Clutter has you by the neck, or will, unless it’s purged regularly.
Do Things in the Moment
Consider your mail. Bills, messages from your doctor’s office, tax forms, junk mail. If you don’t separate the wheat from the chaff IMMEDIATELY, the whole pile might as well go directly into the trash. You are best when dealing with things in that very moment, which is why important pieces of mail need to go directly into your briefcase or work bag, where you can deal with them at work and be done with them. This way, there is no danger of them falling through the cracks. This rule is true of everything you do organizationally: Putting your shoes away, hanging up your coat, writing a letter, writing a check.
Delegate
Say you have other, more important things to do than purge or set up organizational systems. Ask someone else to do it. Maybe you’re married to a Classic Structure. Ask them to organize — they’ll be thrilled! Or hire a professional organizer (hi, us!) who can help you develop systems that will work for you.
Create Predetermined Piles
There will be piles. Piles are inevitable with this type. However, if you put names to piles and create intentional piles, then you’ll know where to put different types of papers, and the piles will make more sense. If you have the energy, put the piles in shallow bins to contain them.
Do Not Use Filing Cabinets
For Smart Freedoms, having a filing cabinet is the same thing as having a wastebasket. Throwing it in the filing cabinet is akin to tossing something in the trash — you’ll never see it again. This is why there should be no filing cabinets in a Smart Freedom’s household.
Reduce Steps and Eliminate Decision Making
The key to staying organized as a Smart Freedom is to utilize one-step solutions and literally eradicate any decision-making around organizational stuff and systems. The fact is usually that Smart Freedoms have too many other things to worry about besides how something is organized. They are practically the opposite of Classic Structures, who could discuss the ins and outs of household organization until the cows came home.
Use Electronic Calendars
Schedule things with these, and do not try to use written-out To Do lists. You will lose or misplace them. E-calendars are great because you can add items to them in the moment and set alarms for them so as not to forget them. One we love? The Evopaper Slice Planner. It’s a tablet and a calendar all in one!
Get a Junk Drawer
We know. Junk drawers are usually a no-no for us, but for Smart Freedoms, they are an essential way to stay organized. Get one drawer and designate it for junk. Don’t forget to look in it from time to time (when you’re looking for something) and don’t overfill it — but definitely use it for things you don’t have time to think about strategically placing.
Smart Freedoms may have pitfalls, organizationally speaking. But that doesn’t make them different from any other Pixie type. Follow these simple rules and life will become, if not perfectly organized, at least a lot more orderly.