one way to get organized

i'm not a naturally organized person. i have some system of organization but it generally involves piles and zones and a decent memory of what i've done with things and quite frequent prayers over something that i've once again misplaced. and i like keeping things because i think they might one day be helpful; since i've been in school most of my life, this tends to result in having a lot of papers. and i love books and can get them fairly cheap much of the time, so i have a phenomenal number of those, too.

i still tend towards numerous piles and papers in random places and am a bit of a pack-rat but a couple of things have forced slightly more organization:

- the biggest is probably moving. there's nothing quite like having to put everything into boxes to encourage cleaning up and throwing things out (it also helps me remember what books i have and for what use they might be helpful). and since in the last 6 months i've flown across the ocean 3 times (once more still to come), lived in 2 different places (neither of which contain the majority of my books and paraphernalia - which are stored at my parents) and semi-moved each of those times - including a couple of trips to my parents to move some of my stuff around, i feel forced a bit more organized. if nothing else, i'm getting really, really good at packing and knowing what i really have a problem living without (and discovering what i'd forgot i owned - and realize i don't really need).

- another big one is sharing space with other people. when my messiness starts negatively affecting somebody else's life, then i should do something about it. and if my room can be visited by anyone, then it has to be in a certain state where the chairs can be sat upon, i can make a cup of tea (without surreptitiously having to check the cleanliness of the mugs first), and i can provide a comfortable space where my visitors need not be completely distracted by my piles.

- and the last has to do with frustration. after losing and misplacing my keys for the ka-zillionth time, they are now on a lanyard (the official name for the cloth string that you can hang around your neck and attach things to) - and no matter where i am, there's a place where they ought to be (and if they're not there, the lanyard helps me find them). i'd still have to say it was one of my more useful ideas that i've come across.

i don't think i'll ever qualify as neat (although i'd probably qualify as clean when it comes to kitchens and bathrooms and other spaces that have to be shared and where there's a potential for lots of nasty germs). but i am getting more organized - or at least more competent and versatile in my semi-organization :)