The Organizational Neurosis at Work

I have what I like to call (laughingly, but relatively accurately) an organizational neurosis. What this really translates to is that I like things neat and orderly. Which is not, mind you, to say that you will not find plenty of places in my house where things are chaotic. But still. I make my bed as soon as I get out of it. My books are alphabetized by author if they're fiction and shelved together by subject if they're nonfiction. (I did grow up in a library, with a librarian mother, so that may have had some influence there). Most things have their places. Whether they end up in them is an entirely different matter, of course.

My organizational neurosis actually works quite well for running a shop with 50 artists in it. The scheduling alone requires it. But I also find that I can tell A) when winter is coming and B) when I'm stressed by how much rearranging and organizing I start doing.

Apparently I don't do spring cleaning and clearing out nearly as much as I do it in fall. Probably because I know that I'm about to be stuck in my house with all the crap all winter long. *snort* But lately I've been really wanting to reorganize some of the trouble spots, including the space in my office/dining room where the swag and giveaway supplies had outgrown the shelves I'd been keeping them on, and the upstairs "craft/crap/catchall" room where I need to make a clear enough space for the guys who are installing the new windows to actually reach said windows.

So I started out by bringing an extra shelf unit down from upstairs and arranging all the swag on it and the shelf that was already in place.

It didn't work perfectly, but it worked. Good, right? Nope. Here's where the "neurosis" part comes in. Not only were things not fitting on the shelves quite right, but the two units didn't match and the black metal one didn't go with all the other wood things in the room. It kinda made me twitch. If this had been back in my "I'm broke so I'll suck it up and make do" days (you know, last week), I would have just learned to live with it. But I got a nice royalty check, so instead I ordered two new matching shelf units and redid the whole thing.

Luna and Angus helped, of course. If by helped you mean got in the way and made an even bigger mess.

 Look at it now. Isn't that better? Ahhhhh.

The unit on the left side has my "brag selves" with all my own books on them, plus some bundled goodies ready to give away. The bottom shelf is my Llewellyn-related giveaway items. Then the unit in the right has all the giveaway stuff and postcards/bookmarks/magnets, etc. for the Baba Yaga books and Veiled Magic.

Yes, I AM going to be doing a lot of giveaways, why do you ask?

Now all that leaves is the room upstairs. Oh, brother..

The boxes are all empty and waiting for me to use them to send things out. The rest of it is just...stuff.

The heaps are semi-organized. Not really. Save me.

Hopefully soon I'll be reporting back with pictures to show you how this space has succumbed to the organizational neurosis. And a new window.

In the meanwhile, check back on Tuesday, because that's when my next giveaway will go up, three weeks before the release of VEILED MAGIC. Since we're at that time of year, this one will have a Halloween theme. Here's a sneak peek at one of the prizes...

Hi! Aren't I cute? Boo!

So tell me, do you prefer things organized and neat or are you happy with chaos?