Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Organizationally Challenged

I’m trying to become more organized in my life- and that’s not easy for me- it really isn’t - AND IT NEVER HAS BEEN.

But as this life continues to get busier and the stress levels continue to fluctuate (and tax season is like, next week) I need to get my crap together!

I haven't reached hoarder proportions and I'm not dirty.

Howard Hughes I’m not. You won’t see me walking around using Kleenex boxes as shoes or instructing my friends to use 15 tissues when opening the front door to my domicile.

I’m clean, and I like being clean. I clean my bathroom every Saturday, I’m a firm believer in closing the lid on my saline solution and putting the cap back on my toothpaste when I’m done –some might even say I’m a bit militant when it comes to those things.

I’m a laundry technician (I really like doing laundry and am quite Type A when it comes to temperature settings,) and I have a thing about washing hands. Now there’s a STRONG possibility that the washing hands thing is related to testing my blood sugars. BUT I also think dirty hands are gross- unless you’re gardening or working with your hands at the moment.

I need to develop some organizational expertise when it comes to my immediate surroundings.

So I’m taking the time to pitch, purge, sort, file and discard. Some days I get a lot accomplished, and other days (nights during the week) I barely scratch the organizational surface.

What does this have to do with diabetes? Well, in my quest for a firmer grasp on efficiency, I’ve found and noticed a few things related to life with diabetes.

  1. Going through old handbags that I plan to donate to Goodwill, I’ve found spare infusion sets and unused lancets
  2. Speaking of lancets, even though I stopped ordering lancets with my testing supplies 2 years ago- I have 17 boxes of unopened lancets (each containing 100 lancets for a total of 1700 lancets) at my disposal. Anyone need a box?
  3. I found an extra box containing 250 test strips in the back of my closet that are still a few months shy of their expiration date. How the hell did I miss not having them? Those vials of strips have moved to the front of my test strip drawer. Yes, yours truly has a desk drawer that is completely filled with testing supplies including lancets and test strips in chronological order according to expiration date. For an organizationally challenged person- I have my good moments~
  4. On the inside, side portion of my bedroom closet I have two shelves out of 6 ( they resemble cubbyholes) for my pump supplies. This works well in theory, but I still have 2 boxes of infusion sets on my bureau. I need to get in the habit of keeping ALL said pump supplies in their designated cubbyholes.
  5. I have an insane amount of shoes in my closets- and I can’t bear to part with a single pair- even the ones that kill my feet or aren’t deep enough for my customized orthotics.

So does anyone have any organizational issues or suggestions?

Your issues and or advice don't have to be diabetes related, but on the flip side, it absolutely can be.

BOTTOM LINE: I’m open to any and all suggestions and will take extreme comfort in knowing that I’m not the only person out there who suffers from a chronic lack (inconsistency might be a better descriptive) of organization.

6 comments:

Cara said...

Um, I'm probably one of the most disorganized people you will ever meet. Until I hit my phases where certain things have to be perfect (i.e. my cake decorating supplies, my diabetic supplies, and my shoes).
As for tips...I don't have any. But I'm totally gonna keep checking this post to see if anyone else has any.
Oh, and I have a plastic 3 draws cart and a whole drawer in a dresser dedicated to diabetes supplies... and the bottom drawer of my fridge (for sensor and insulin). And I still have 2 boxes of supplies that sit on top of my dresser. I thik we have a clutter issue. ;)

jpnairn said...

I wish I was half as organized as you sound in this post.
I don't think I should even get started describing how disorganized I am.

Anonymous said...

I have more lancets than you, Kelly. That's one reason that I started making Ninja Lancet Stars and Ninja Lancet Numchucks... Ok. I'm going to go organize something now.

Casey said...

I have no idea..... I have my shoes organized and have agreed to the rule that I can't buy a new pair unless I get rid of an old one.

D supplies are EVERYWHERE. I had a box in the closet. I outgrew it. I now have the closet box, the box of test strips on the chair, and random stuff in the bathroom. Insulin, of course, is in the butter compartment. Except for the backup pens... they don't fit with the box.

I did just go through all my clothes and took what didn't fit or was no longer "cool" to good will. that helped the closet!

Like, Cara, I plan to check back!

Becca said...

I am so disorganized with my diabetes supplies, but I got in a fresh box of pump stuff yesterday so maybe I'll try to set-up a drawer!

I was in a house that was very cozy last week and it has me inspired to do some redecorating and organizing this weekend...if I come up with good tips I'll come back. :)

Anonymous said...

I admire you for trying!! All my diabetes supplies are stuffed in the closet. Some have infusion set boxes that are full, half used, or empty, and just thrown in there. I need to get it under control!!!!