Several years back there was a popular book entitled, "All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten" by Robert Fulghum. It had things in it like - share everything, play fair, don't hit people, and clean up your own mess. Today I am here to share another thing you learned in kindergarten that can help you be more organized.
Kindergarten teachers have it right when they divide their rooms into "centers". You have the make believe center, the reading center, the building block center, the manipulatives center, and the computer center. In each center you have all the things you need to have fun and learn in that center.
How does that apply to adult life? In my den, I have 2 centers that just happen to look like chairs. If you look in the photo below you will see a chair with a lot of books. This is the "reading" "life coaching" and "quiet time" chair. In the basket, to the left of the chair, you will find books I am reading,some of my life coaching reference books and information, my Bible and devotional books. I keep a highlighter and pen handy for marking up and making notes about things I want to remember.
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In this second picture you will see another chair. This is where I do most of my writing, social media work, computer work and heavy duty business stuff. I have a notebook, pen and computer handy around this chair. Before I sit down, I have a plan of action - What do I want to accomplish when I sit down? What are my goals for the time I have available? Who do I need to follow up with and do I need to play my next word in my Words with Friends game? Yes, my centers are for fun, too!
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Look around your home. Could you divide your house into "centers" so you can work more efficiently and effectively? When you decide what areas would be a good center, gather the things you need for that area so that you can get the work done without getting up and down to gather supplies. After you have figured it out, go thank a teacher for figuring it out first!
My husband and I are in the process of reorganizing this in our home - we had our first child earlier this year, which resulted in me losing my office to create a nursery... so for the moment, I'm un-centered. Slowly but surely, we'll get there, and I'll have my little nook for productivity again, even if it's just a dedicated chair in the corner!
ReplyDeleteSometimes you have to try things a couple of different ways before you get it right. Congrats on the baby and good luck on creating a "nook" for you.
DeleteHow thought provoking ! I had this vivid recollection of my kindergarten teacher dividing the class up and giving us different shaped 'bricks' to play with !
ReplyDeleteWhen I'm at home - my sofa in the bedroom is where I tend to work from (although more often that not, I'm propped up on the bed working) ... My bed is king size which means I have more space to spread my things / lie down and catch up on reading etc
Stopping by from the UBC FB Page to show some comment love :)
Dazediva, I know a lot of people that work on their bed, for some reason it works for them and if it works that is all that matters. When I work on the bed I tend to drift off to sleep :) Thanks for some UBC FB page comment love!
DeleteToo funny. I think another thing that we can learn from our Kindergarten teachers is that everything has a home. Like things belong with like things. In my house I have my office, my kitchen, and my bedroom. LOL.
ReplyDeleteJoanne, that is true. I often talk to my clients about finding homes for their items so they know where to find them when they need them. I use the Sesame Street song - Which of these things belong together - a lot to illustrate my point. Thanks for your comment!
DeleteNeat idea - I spend too much time in the same one chair for everything. I'm gonna think on this one!
ReplyDeleteJeanne, I am glad it got you to thinking. I, too, had the same chair and realized when I was supposed to be focused on my quiet time, my computer would be too near and I would want to just check one more thing and it interrupted my flow. Thanks for your comment and have a great day!
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