Out of Chaos an organizing newsletter
Dedication
One of the first gifts my husband ever bought me was a Montblanc pen. I was horrified. It was extravagant. It certainly cost more than anything anyone had ever given me before (I believe this includes my parents, if you don’t count schools and vacations.) It was a very nice pen, but it seemed too grown up for me, too committed, too serious—and what if I lost it?
I’m glad to say that I’ve grown into that pen. Now I use it everyday. It is the pen on my desk; yes, I have a pencil jar, but it’s for pencils and sharpies and pens that the kids use to do their homework. The Montblanc is my pen, on my desk, for my use only.
The great thing about this pen is that I always know where it is. If my husband takes a pen to the grocery store, it’s not that one. People in my family (notorious thieves and boundary-crossers every one of them) steer clear of my pen.
Not only do I have one pen on my desk, there is a particular pen I keep in my purse. I don’t take it out at home, just as the Montblanc doesn’t leave my desk. I want to know it will be there when I need it. Really: Why do we need so many pens? I have been at client’s homes where there are 50 pens rolling around in their desk drawer and not one works. Or they can only find green. Better to have one and keep it in good order.
Similarly, I keep a notebook on my desk. It is also very fancy; like the pen, it was a gift, and like the pen it stays on my desk. If I write something down when I am sitting at my desk, it is going to be in that one notebook. To be fair, it isn’t the only notebook I have. I have a little one in my purse and a larger one that I use exclusively for co-op board meetings and teacher’s conferences. Still they are all dedicated, the purse one lives in my purse and the meeting/conference one stays on the shelf until I need it. What I like about the meeting/conference notebook is that it is almost a filing system: While I’m waiting (and I’m always waiting) for the meeting or conference to begin, I can review the last meeting. Meanwhile, the notebook on my desk is full of things I need to do at my desk.
I “dedicate” all kinds of stuff in my house: There are tote bags for the farmer’s market and LL Bean bags for Fairway, there are dishtowels for dishes and dishtowels for lettuce. It sounds counterintuitive: You would think that making things multipurpose would be more efficient, but I find that “dedicating” things, whether it is a pen or a notebook or a tote bag, adds clarity to my life. And clarity is really what we are seeking when we are trying to get organized.
So, go ahead, try it: Pick one pen for your desk, one for your purse. Commit to the choice and pretty soon you’ll realize you don’t need to take those pens from TD Bank… you have all the pens you need.