I think I will have spent more nights out of my own bed this month than in it. It happens, and I’m really, truly, blissfully happy for the work that’s taken me out of my bed (and will put me in a bed at Linekin Bay resort at the end of the month).
In the great rush to get everything done before I head to the airport (again) to catch the 3:00 shuttle to Chicago (again) I found myself updating my iPhone yesterday.
Tangent! Why is it always a great rush to get out of the house? No matter how far ahead I start gathering stuff, I’m always rummaging or flinging or finding Abby artwork in my purse. I’ve started a packing list for Maine TWO WEEKS before we leave and yet I just *know* there will be last minute scrambling, stuffing, sweating and swearing. Maybe I need to put the 4 S’s of travle on a t-shirt.
Back to the iPhone, I was downloading new albums and making new playlists and it struck me just how regimented I keep my music. I have separate playlists for Abby, Missy, Folk & Acoustic, a couple of Genius playlists (where iTunes picks 23 songs that match your selected song in tempo and/or genre) and now Praise & Worship. I could easily pull together a Showtunes list and possibly a Meditation list. I desperately need a Facilitation list (songs to facilitate by).
And yet I can’t file a piece of paper without being reduced to tears. For paper, I’m a piler. We exist, I swear! We tend to be right-brained and very visual, so having all our stuff out in piles makes sense to us. We can find you any one piece of paper you need in that teetering stack, too.
So here’s what I want to know. What is it about electronic data that makes me so Type-A anal retentive? But God forbid I try and actually put papers in file folders without getting the shakes? Any and all advice welcome, including “Get over it.”
When it comes to electronic data I think it’s because it’s not overwhelming. If it’s electronic you can put it down or turn off the screen. There are shut offs. In everyday life if you are like me, and I’m guessing your organizational style might be close, you have to have all sorts of room to make the big piles and organize and get everything sorted, and if you stop in the middle the mess is actually bigger.
It gets more overwhelming midway through.
If I stop in the middle of a playlist I come back to it and it’s still small and on my computer or ipod. It’s also easy to accomplish one and feel accomplished which is why doing it gives so much pleasure, that and “hello former DJs”. I always put on music when sorting and cleaning it facilitates the process. I dance while sorting mail piles.