I had my whole morning planned a few weeks ago. I was going to do the one thing I really hate...returning items. It's a personal failure when I purchase things I don't really need, it means I succumbed to my dark side again, my excitement for a good deal or love of shiny new items. I was going to return items that go as far back as Back to School shopping. My reasoning for procrastinating is admittedly, not reasonable. One, standing in line equals a waste of time. Two, explaining why I bought 15 notebooks from Target when my kids only need 3 each... it's embarrassing. Lastly. returning my 9th pair of black boots made me sad, I really, really love boots. There are no winners when I have to return.
I was also going to return an EPIC fail, a $500 dollar fail. Earlier in the fall, I purchased what I thought was the coolest, right out of the stylist magazine, leather jacket. It was fabulous when I tried it on. I bought it so fast you would have thought other people around me were trying to steal it. I declined the store bag, tore the tags off right off (mistake #1) and wore it for the rest of the day. As soon as I got home and my bathroom mirror that tells me no lies, showed me the truth. I looked like I was going to a Bon Jovi concert....15 years ago. It was ridiculous. The leather was so brittle that it made a cracking sound when I walked around (I pretended to not hear this in the mall) and the inside of the coat was lined with a thick sheep skin. Another return! Even worse, I threw the receipt and store tag inside my purse earlier in the day without ever going back to retrieve it. The reason......the Bon Jovi bomber still hangs in my closet.
On my 'Day of Returns', I went into my wallet to look for this particular receipt and tag and as you can probably guess, they were gone. Now I dreaded the day even more. A return without the receipt is usually unthinkable in my playbook but this was $500. I had to try. Knowing honesty is the best policy I told the sales lady the truth. In retrospect, I should have kept some details to myself.
It didnt work out so great. Not only did I not get to return the jacket but because I wore it that day in the mall, I would not get a store credit. I begged, I pleaded......the answer was no. I walked away feeling really stupid. That afternoon I re-evaluated my entire organized lifestyle. On my drive home, I decided my purse and I would have an organizational play date.
Forever I have heard that I should dump my purse out every night and tidy it up. I read I should putting my makeup back in it's makeup bag, put new change in a change purse, get rid of all unnecessary receipts or file those I may need in the future. I brought out all my cute little bags I have collected and finally put them to use. I was going to give this a try. I organized everything including my business cards, my to do lists, even my earphones and charger are in their own respective little bags. Then all those little bags went inside my tote. It didn't matter what I threw in my purse during the day, it will all get looked at again. I was going to do it for one month, the time it takes for a new habit to begin and reevaluate.
Now, one month later which included the holidays and a 10 day trip to New York, I am happy to report that my new organizational tool has worked wonders and I feel so relieved with something that always seemed so insignificant. While in New York. I always had the tickets I needed for the next day packed in my little notebook, my extra battery charged and my wallet put back together again. It was one less thing to worry about in the mornings.
I'm not going to lie: it takes discipline, I am tired at night too. But staying organized takes discipine doesn't it? In about 5 minutes, you will have your purse put back together again and you won't have to worry about the movie stubs, candy wrappers or napkins you needed just in case. It will have found the trash can. In the morning you will know where your keys and sunglasses are. It's a great way to start the day. Give it a try and let me know what you think.
I have included photos of little purses and what's inside them so you can how I organize things, what's included and not included inside my purse. I get these little bags from stores like Nordstroms (Gift shop) or Papyrus and they usually don't cost more than $10. Two of the bags are fro. car wash that I loved in Arizona and a few are from my favorite market in Phoenix called AJ's. If you live close to these, check it out. I always loved there new designs and especially their clearance racks!
Take Away: Try organizing your purse for 30 days straight and see if it helps you manage part of your life.
Judy.