I've been trying to implement Mind Organization for Moms, a brain-freeing organizational program from the Power of Moms, for over a year now. If you're interested in learning more about what it is, click
here.
One of the hardest things for me was trying to decide where to put my 'machine'. It seemed as if it was just scattered all over the house. One component that I particularly struggled with was the 'cubbies for my Current Projects'. I bought these wire shelves and assembled them and they lived in the computer/family room for a while and then moved to a corner of my bedroom. I liked that when they were in my bedroom they weren't visible to everyone who came into our house and weren't an eyesore in my family room, but I didn't love hauling my inbox (which lived on my kitchen counter) up to my bedroom to process when I held a weekly review. Which didn't happen weekly by any stretch of the imagination. It was all too disjointed to be efficient.
I looked at photos and videos of other people's desk setups and longed to have a little desk in my kitchen/dining area where I could keep all the components of my machine, since that's where I spend 90% of my day. Unfortunately, my kitchen/dining area is too small to put a desk anywhere.
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My wire cubbies in my bedroom corner. They were full!
They worked well, it was just inconvenient to try to do my office work sitting on my bed,
away from all the chaos stuff going on downstairs. |
One day as I was looking around at my space my eyes fell on this old antique desk that used to be my great-grandfather's desk. My parents brought it up from the ranch at Verdure to their living room and used it as a decorative piece of furniture. Since we moved into this house, we haven't used it for anything either. In fact the doors were hardly every opened and it still had lots of my mom's knick-knacks in it.
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| Great Grandpa Joseph Franklin Barton's postoffice desk |
I opened the doors and studied the space and pondered the possibilities. After taking some measurements and researching letter-trays I realized I could fit my entire 'machine' into this desk. I got really excited and began clearing out the knick-knacks. On a trip to Provo I picked up the letter-trays I found that would fit and some very cute file-folders for my weekly review folders. Then I came home and got busy.
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With doors open you can see the whole setup.
I did leave a few items that mean something to me as decorations. |
This desk was used by my great-grandfather when he was the postmaster at Verdure, I believe, so it has all these built-in cubbies. This is where Curtis and I decided to put the incoming mail, as well as cubbies for things to be paid, to be mailed and receipts of bills to file. I have also designated one cubby for social correspondence and one for agendas for our Family Home Evenings. There are still many available if I find a need for them.
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I feel so organized when I look at my labeled cubbies with papers in them.
I remember playing post office in first grade and loving to put papers in the cubbies. Now I get to do it for real. :) |
I have put my main inbox (Red floral box) inside this desk. I love that I can quickly open one door, put items in it and close the door to hide the pile. Yes, it's really piled up right now, but I've been busy on vacation and potty-training James. On the two shelves below my inbox I have placed 6 stacking letter-trays from Office-Max. They fit perfectly and I have a small space on the side for storing other items or for a decoration.
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I used sticky labels to label the sides of my stacking trays. The top one holds my M.O.M. printouts and info and extra file folders, etc. The second one holds my cute, new weekly review folders and the printout of steps to a great weekly review.
The third one is my beyond cubby, currently holding church job info and stuff for my nail business.
The fourth one is for my personal projects and education. The fifth one holds a folder for each of my kids and for things we're working on to improve the spirituality in our home. The sixth one is for home management and family systems. |
This is how I made my inbox. I looked for a cute one for a long time, but just couldn't bring myself to fork out that much money for one. So one day I got the idea to use a cardboard box from my food storage room and cover it in cute paper or fabric. I chose to use fabric since it's easier to stretch and bend around the box. I covered the sides first and then the bottom of the box. I really like how it turned out, and it cost me nothing!
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| Used a green bean or corn box... |
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| all covered! Not too shabby! |
There are a couple of drawers in the lower part of the desk. In the left one I keep my punched 3x5 cards that I use in my planner for my Immediate Next Actions list, some post-it notes and a stapler. In the right one I store my business cards and other items pertaining to my nail business.
Below the drawers is a shelf that is perfect for holding my Tickler File. I use a black plastic accordion file. It was the only place that it would fit and the doors would shut.
Below that shelf is the space where I put my planner when I'm doing a weekly review or any other papers that need immediate attention, such as the DIY Summer Camp papers I needed to implement this week. There is a wire file holder there (placed on end) that holds my Some Day and Incubation files and some sticky labels. This is also where I store my 3-hole punch.
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| ready for a weekly review... |
On the desk front, that folds down, I taped my laminated copy of the M.O.M. workflow chart to remind myself what questions to ask when I'm processing paperwork. I like that it's right there when I need to look at it and I don't have to try to pull it out of whatever safe place I may have put it in, never to be found again.
When I need to do a weekly review or other desk work I simply grab a kitchen stool and bring it to the desk. I have an extension cord hidden behind the plant so I can plug in my iPhone if I need to use it while I'm working, or for music.
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| much better than sitting in a corner of my bedroom too far from what's going on... |
The only thing I don't have here is my filing cabinet, but that's in my laundry room which is only a few steps away. It works for me.
Well, that is my desk with my M.O.M. machine setup and it's working marvelously. I feel so thankful that I finally realized I had the makings of a perfect place for it right under my nose, in a place convenient to the way I live my life.
Good Things:
feeling like my brain CAN still work
connections and ties to my ancestors. Love them!
Power of Moms website
