On the Cusp

There was one table left beside the cream and sugar station with a lone chair as its companion when I arrived at "my" Starbucks with my laptop slung over my shoulder around noon. The cushy chairs at the back, the ones I'd taken over when I did my book signing here, were all available, but today I was here to work.

The spring semester is drawing to a close, and I can feel the shift in my priorities. Class planning is still at the top of the list, but with only one class left before finals week, it doesn't feel as urgent. Writing is finding its way back in, and as much as I enjoy teaching, I am looking forward to readjusting the balance for a few months, putting my writing first instead of squeezing it into nooks and crannies.

Today is a social day, too. I met out-of-town friends for breakfast at Panera (rather than at my house which is suffering from end-of-semester paper clutter disorder) and am meeting another friend -- a retired teacher -- for lunch in less than an hour. I do some of my best work in these in-between time slots. I know I have a deadline and that increases my determination to accomplish something so I can check it off my list and enjoy my social engagement without that nagging feeling that I should be doing something else.

I was a little worried that the transition out of spring semester and into summer would be challenging -- that I'd decide I deserved a break before moving into summer writing mode and I would lose valuable writing time to the need for downtime. Fortunately, a succession of writing events -- Lancaster Christian Writers' Super Saturday in April, my writing retreat last weekend and the Pennwriters retreat in two weeks -- are creating a smooth transition for me, along with a delicious sense of anticipation. Coming home from the retreat to an article sale (an article I polished at the retreat), a guest blog post (also polished at the retreat) and the news that I'd won a free hour of author coaching in the drawing I'd entered on Super Saturday certainly didn't hurt my motivation.

Leaving a sure thing for the promise of something new two years ago is one of the scariest things I've ever done. I knew I could do the work-at-home thing -- I'd been doing it as a writer for years -- but there were so many unknowns, including the question of whether I'd maintain my momentum or fall prey to a leisurely pace that hindered my progress because the time pressures I was used to had been lifted.

The pace in the past year has been far from leisurely, and most days, I like it that way. I achieve balance most weeks, too: a combination of writing, teaching and seeing friends so I don't become a hermit or a workaholic. I am, however, looking forward to the longer stretches of time that summer affords, knowing they will allow me to think rather than just to do. I have a number of writing projects cooking, so to speak, and I need some quiet time to decide where to turn up the heat and what to let simmer.

And this time, I'm not in a hurry to get out of the kitchen.

On Organization, Right-Brained Thinking and Office Supplies

Two weeks ago, I had the privilege of speaking to the Lancaster Christian Writers group on the topic of organization. They were a warm and enthusiastic bunch, and I had a wonderful time.

Among the resources I shared was one of the books that had ushered in a paradigm shift for me, Organizing For the Creative Person: Right-Brain Styles for Conquering Clutter, Mastering Time and Reaching Your Goals, by Dorothy Lehmkuhl. Until I read this book, I'd never considered the notion that people who are right brain dominant organize differently than those who are left brain dominant. Silly, really, since I'd been an educator for years, and firmly believed that different kids had different learning styles and that we could maximize what they learned by using those styles to their advantage. Still, I'd never made the leap to different organizational styles.

But, after I read that book, I sure did. I embraced that concept not only personally but professionally, cooking up style names designed to make organizational concepts fun and accessible for kids, and, as it turns out, adults too.

Then last weekend, I came across a nugget of information in a document I'd downloaded quite some time ago. Smead (the office supply company) had created a document called 100 Ideas for Better Organization. I'd been reading it in bits and pieces, but when I arrived at idea #72 last weekend, I stopped short.

There it was again. Right brain organizing.

Turns out that the need to leave things out in plain sight (one of the personal styles I discuss in my classes and presentations) is connected to right brain dominance. According to Idea #72, the right-brain-dominant person is stimulated to thinking and doing by the things they see.

Well, what do you know? My messy desk has more to do with the dominant side of my brain than my need (?) to operate in chaos.

But, as you can imagine, an office supply company doesn't put out a free publication without taking advantage of the opportunity to advertise their product. In this case, however, I was appreciative, because their "hints" and "suggestions" fed into my mission. When I talk to people about organization, there are two things I want them to know by the time they leave:

• you aren't broken or flawed or somehow inferior if you struggle with organization and
• you can turn your styles into assets.

More than halfway through my free download, I discovered that not only was my need to leave things lying out a reflection of my right-brained-ness, but there were office supplies geared to people like me. And you know what that means?

I'm not alone. Better yet, I'm a target market - one who can turn her styles into assets.

Well, that may be the nicest thing an office supply company has ever said to me.