Two Amazing Tools

Ah, this post is going to combine organizing and crocheting!  First, the organizing.  I'm convinced that my brain is a reflection of my physical world, and frankly neither is looking very pretty these days!  So, of course, I'm always searching for that "perfect" filing system that's going to solve all of my problems for me :-)  I always like to say that I am a responsible person but not necessarily the most self-disciplined.  So, I need a system that doesn't need a lot of daily monitoring.  And I need some catch-all types of folders or boxes or something.

I read an article recently in The Washington Post (I haven't been able to find it online; it's from the Local Living section on February 17, 2011) about how to find a place for every document.  Featured was a filing system by Freedom Filer (http://www.freedomfiler.com/).  It's a color-coded system that's based on filing by dates and years, and it includes guides for how long certain types of documents need to be retained.  I got it in the mail a week or two ago and finally got to setting it up today (I'd been waiting to finish our taxes in order to take advantage of that portion of the system).  What a great feeling to gather together all my/our tax stuff since 1987 and file and archive it!  It's now in two files boxes in the same place, out of the way but accessible if need be!!

Now, I'm setting up the monthly bills portion of the system.  I really feel it coming together and taking a heavy weight off of my shoulders.  In this supposedly paperless world of ours, I feel snowed under by even more of it!  I'm also really starting to embrace this "let it go" philosophy -- that is one benefit of computerization, you can just about find anything you might need if you happened to throw it away (or you can just scan it in), so it's just getting easier for me to throw things out.  Whew.  More to come as I really solidify the system.

Ok, so now for the crochet part.  I've come up with a really fun summer tote bag, and pictures will be posted as soon as I find the perfect handles for it (I'm really thinking that I need either lucite handles or leather straps to make it sturdier than crocheted handles would be).  I've also been organizing the yarn stash as I plan new projects and found a great app for my new iPad (a birthday gift from the hubby :-).  It's called Ewe Stash, and so far, it's fabulous!  It lets you plug in all the necessary information for a particular ball of yarn and take a picture of it too.  It's going to be so great to have all of that information all in one place (it's got a spot for your own notes as well, so I'm thinking I'll be able to plug in where the yarn is physically located also).

Ah, it was nice to take this break, but the organizing isn't going to do itself unfortunately (wish there were an app for that!!), so back at it I go!