Poking around and organizing


Calming rituals in my sanctum

I've been poking around the sanctum today, mainly just taking it easy.

Two of my three design projects are in the can and the checks are at my bank. One of them is giving me a bonus, a new iPad when they come out. So I am looking forward to that.

So I've fiddling with bookplates for when I loan books out. Two versions, one under my legal name and one under NeoWayland. I've been pretty happy with the way they turned out, although I'll have to get some smaller Dymo labels for my LabelWriter printer.

Then I got to poking around my Rolodex and updating it. I don't have ALL my contacts in my Rolodex and I never intended to. I do have local businesses, local churches and my suppliers. Yes, local churches. On occasion, they are useful. The thing is, I never finished updating it. It's a backup to my computer, not a replacement.

Let me show how this works. Here's the Address Book entry for one of my suppliers.





A couple of things to notice right away. If it's a company and they have a motto, I usually stick that in the Nickname field. In the Department field, I've put "catalog-058," which tells me that in my catalog file, folder 058 has the most recent catalog from this company. In addition to the Prime Web link, I have links for the supplies I buy regularly from this company. All this is good information, and organizing it is a very soothing ritual in itself.

But it doesn't help my Rolodex.

I have to do custom labels, there's no set template that will give me the information I want. My general purpose label is Dymo 30256 large shipping label. With just a little bit of trimming, a label fits well on a blank Rolodex card. This is what it looks like roughly.





It has the absolutely essential information, including the all important catalog number. The Address Book entry holds all the information, while the Rolodex card is the extract. Time was when I lived and died by my Rolodex and Day Timer, but now all that information is computerized.

Now, what's the point of all this? Well, as I said, it's one of my calming rituals. As long as I don't use it to displace other activities, it helps me keep a handle on my moods. Organizing and maintaining this information helps me stay calmer and more focused. And of course, having the information at my fingertips makes the information useful and practical.

When there are changes, it's a couple of minutes and I have a new label ready to slap over the old one.

Okay, a brief word on catalogs. Catalogs will overwhelm your house if you let them. When I get a catalog in the mail, it goes to my living room magazine rack. After I've read it, it goes to a file drawer in the sanctum. I toss the old one and put the new one in a numbered file. I don't keep all the catalogs I get, just the ones I think might be useful. I have a reputation as a guy with good ideas when it comes to gifts. Reading and filing catalogs lets me do that, even if I don't buy a lot myself.

Posted: Sun - February 28, 2010 at 03:37 PM
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