...and scene!

The day Christmas ends;
Decorations are boxed up!
Clean palate, New Year.

The Year Ahead!

It's my lifelong mission to organize EVERYTHING.
The start of a new year presents a plethora of tasks:
Filing away last years crap,
Rearranging the office,
Labeling new file folders,
Marking important dates on the calendar,
OCDing about all of the projects and tasks I NEED to accomplish.
Where most people would spend their weekend enjoying the 75 degree sun in LA; I will be in the house crossing off the checklist!
One "To Do" at a time.
Maybe, (just maybe) I'll let myself go to Starbucks for a mid-day latté...
But not until I create my 2014 spreadsheet, and finalize my plan of attack for a well balanced new year!
#Balance will only come with a serious schedule!

Project!

I love a project.

Today I'm helping my sister-in-law organize her garage.

It's filled with things you think you're going to use again, and never do...

Junk!

And I LOVE to play:

Keep, Trash, Giveaway!

It satisfies my OCD, and gives me a sense of accomplishment!

Plus, it's a free workout.

Random Observation: Vacation

I start off stressed.

On about day two I begin to relax and enjoy the much needed break.

By day five, I begin to get antsy-

On day six, it's full blown OCD!

My mind hates to shut down.

Neat Freak...

I'm a neat freak.
But I'm not a clean freak.
The difference?
Everything I own is organized, stored or displayed beautifully-
But covered in dust!
I realized this fact this morning while I was cleaning for a party.
I'm not as OCD about being clean as I am about almost everything else!
PLEASE don't miss understand, I do not live in filth!
I vacuum, dust and throw away my garbage on a regular basis.
However, I'm not as detail oriented when it comes to spotless windows,
floors or tchotchke's!
I guess it's okay to be a little relaxed from time to time.
Just make sure you don't look to closely at my mirrors or windows
the next time you're invited to my home!

The Fifty Yard Dash!

I woke up feeling a little sad and overwhelmed.

Adamant about not spending my entire day in a funk,

I started writing in my journal.

It's a daily battle for me to remember that life is not a race-

Although, sometimes I think I would accomplish twice as much if I carried

around a stopwatch and a whistle!

Six Word Essay on "To Do" Lists...

I need to stop the OCD!

Organized OCD

I admit it. I am super OCD about organization! I believe everything has a place, and it should be put in it's place when not in use.

I come by this terrible OCD very honestly. My mom drilled it in my head from the time I was eight years old.

...MATTHEW JOSEPH SHAFFER!!!! ....GET IN HERE AND CLEAN UP THIS ROOM! ...AND YOU BETTER NOT STUFF ANYTHING IN THE CLOSET. FOLD IT AND PUT IT IN THE DRAWER OR BIN IT BELONGS IN!!!

...yes mom.

So really it's all her fault! Nevertheless, at almost thirty two years of age, I still stress out if I leave something undone. There are times when I can't even leave the house for a meeting or appointment unless I've properly; labeled, cross-referenced and filed something.

In fact, it's become a game I play. How fast can I: balance my check book, record the earnings in my Excel spreadsheet, label the category, make a note of it in iCal, and file it?

As of this morning, I'm down to almost 3 minutes flat for all daily balance activities!

But, in the grand tradition of trying to release and evolve... I'm forcing myself to relax a bit on the rules of proper organization. ...as painful as it is to see a stack of un-opened, un-filed, un-recorded bills and statements... I MUST REBEL and say NO! Filing is just not that important!

...But what is important is making the new labels for my matching white binders that I store all my important emails in (once they've been highlighted and three-hole punched of course...)

Got to go, the new label maker came in yesterday, and it has a cool new custom color preference!