offcntr | Organization (Reply)

Organization is not a major part of my life. I'm scattered. I don't multitask well. I'm frequently forgetful. I make long lists of things to do, then lose them.

Nobody knows this, though, because I overcompensate like crazy. The "what do I gotta load in the van this weekend" scramble has generated a Road Shows Checklist that stays on my computer and has morphed into several versions depending on details like indoor versus outdoor shows, rainy season versus dry. The "what patterns are we out of, now that I'm glazing" discussion has generated an Inventory Tally form that Denise and I fill out as we count pots in the carport a dozen times a year. I've started keeping a running Special Orders file on the computer, keyed to firing date, that I print out and keep handy while glazing and loading the kiln. After years of using a paper record book for taxes, I built an Excel file Business Ledger, with columns for each category on 1040 Schedule C where I record expenses promptly before I lose the receipts. And I bought a four-drawer filing cabinet at Goodwill when we moved into this house, where I stash things like utility bills and gallery sales reports that I used to just stuff in boxes.

I color-code my paintbrush rests. When I set up for glazing, each bottle of oxide and stain has its own matching, colored brush rest, with a hand-made lining brush and one or two commercial sumi-e brushes. I always lay them out in the same order, always use the same brushes in the same colors, so I no longer accidentally contaminate the rutile with the cobalt while glazing.

In the booth, at shows, we segregate the pottery boxes; one set only has load-in, pots that go out on the shelves when we set up. The other set has only restock, going under the counter and behind the shelves. Load-in boxes of bowls or mugs are sorted in the order they appear on the shelves; restocks are alphabetized by pattern. We've even labeled by pattern and numbered the bowl stands on the shelves, so we don't lose track of which bowl goes where.

I spend a lot of time and effort compensating for my slapdash mentality. I can't imagine why people think I'm organized.