Have you ever not seen the trees for the forest?   If you are a big picture or visual thinker, you may know exactly what I’m talking about.  We can see the whole easily, but the parts, well—-not so much. This gift, or curse, is often associated with right brain dominance.  If this isn’t you, and you can easily pick out a tree and find your way there, you may not understand how easy it can be to miss trees.  We forest people are lost in the forest a lot, and we like it there.  I love seeing the big picture and how many purposes can be met by the same activity.   But, keeping the whole in mind does have its draw backs.  We need things that others might never need or understand.  Here are some practical ways I’ve learned to help me stop running head long into trees, and bring some order to my home.

We have to get what we need to know up where we can see it.  I don’t use a wall calendar.  I have a desk calendar hanging on the wall.  If it is flat, meaning on a horizontal, flat surface, it will disappear. Go vertical with everything you need to remember.  Worried that every wall surface is getting covered with a white board or corkboard covered with important papers?  I could very easily have this problem.  I’m sure I’d love a whiteboard as big as the wall.  But, white boards and cork boards are sometimes too stimulating and cluttered looking as well.

To prevent this problem, I limited all my messy big corkboards to the back side of the walls.  So, if you stand at my front door, you see all the regular walls like most people have in their homes.   You might see a few pictures, even a decorative fake tree.  If you stand at the back of my house, at the back door looking the other direction, you’d see the corkboards, the lists and all the charts I make for myself and my children.  It is all there!  I was just very intentional about where I put it.

Use timers.  If time is just not your thing, and it surely isn’t mine, you have to make friends with timers and alarms.  You probably already use them because you have to.   But, you can make friends with them.  Investing in a good phone or other digital, multi-setting alarm is so worth it.  Throughout the day I’m reminded by different tones to help me transition to another activity.  I have spooky sounds signaling homework time and crickets reminding me to put the book down and go to sleep. These are less obnoxious than regular buzzing sounds and, mercifully, reset themselves.  They can even skip Sundays.

Use bags or boxes with no lids and never unpack.  If you love to work but hate to pack and unpack, or set up and clean up, then this strategy is for you.  Find bags that are flat bottomed and have one compartment.  If you want pockets, get them on the outside.  Craft stores sell them and sewing departments will sometimes carry them.  If you want several, get different colors or styles so you can easily tell them apart.  I have a bag for each of my activities:  I have a gym bag, a church bag, a library bag, a writing bag, and a youth activity bag.  These are constantly packed.  That way I can throw in whatever I need whenever I randomly think of it and when I get there, it will actually be there and not home on my bed or on the counter almost where it needed to be.

I have three project bags with a metal frame that holds them open and upright.  These I keep my three most active projects in.  That way I don’t have to find and put away materials every time I get one out, and it helps me keep the number of projects I start down to a manageable three.  This way I can live. I need to make a mess and do projects, but I also don’t want to live in a constant mess just because I’ve always got many things in progress.  Everything is handy when I’m ready to start and fast to throw back in when it is time to set it aside.

Plastic bins and boxes also work well!  I have several I use for paints, yarn, tape and scissors, extra office supplies, etc.  It is just like having it in a drawer, but you can bring it all with you.  You can cart the whole load of paint or thread to the work table, use what you need, and set it right back in the box without moving a muscle!  When it is time to put it away, you just have to put the box away.  No big deal.  No sorting of miscellaneous.  I hate miscellaneous!

We need closets with tall, deep shelves and big cedar-chest like boxes:  How can I live with all these bags and boxes everywhere?  I put them on shelves in closets making something like a dresser full of removable drawers.  I put them in a handy cedar chest so when I’m working I put the big lid up and can see all my smaller bins and reach in for what I need.  My organized mess is at my finger tips and when I’m done, I just shut the lid and it is all out of sight.  I keep my bags in the cracks between the dresser and the laundry basket or the bookcase and my bed.  They hide neatly in lots of unnoticed spots in plain view.  I can easily see a bag, drop something in, or whisk it away with me.  I keep my project bags on top of a changing table in the garage.  It was the perfect height where I can see in, but children don’t and it no longer clogs up the house.

If you need a workshop and don’t have one, or if you have a spouse you just can’t understand, I hope these tips will help you create, co-habitate, and breathe well once again in your home.

We all love to find our keys (try clipping them with a carabiner on the outside of your bag), be on time (aim for early), and enjoy our own home.

Let’s live more authentically.  If necessary, try to understand the strange habits of those “forest people”.  And, please take a moment to share any other tips you’ve learned with me in the comments.  After all, it might help me deal with that elusive tree.

Namaste,

DarEll S. Hoskisson