We Bring Order to Chaos

My friends Manisha, Heather & Suzanne proved that cheerleaders are not dumb.  In high school, they cheered, but they were also in:  National Honor Society, Beta Club, Yearbook  Staff, Mu Alpha Theta, and about 50 other activities while making straight A's.  GO GREENWAVE!  I was not a cheerleader (believe me, nobody wanted to see me in one of those little skirts), but I often use "Cheerleader Honor Graduate" to describe my personality.

Everyone who ever worked with me in retail will tell you it is true.  I loved the numbers, stats and systems --geeky.  Once I pulled reports for the week, month, district, YTD or comp it always ended up translated into a brightly colored bulletin board --rah rah!  I love my lable maker -- order. Everything has to be color coded -- pretty.  Most of the major problems of my life have first been addressed with a trip to the post-it, highlighter, colored thumbtack area of Office Depot.

lists of lists was not helping keep linky land in order

Somehow, I thought blogging would be different.  With all the typing and clicking, I just assumed that the structure would be digital.  As I started trying to link up to all your wonderful linky parties, I realized that I would in fact need to impose some brightly colored order to my digital life.

little birdie secrets via pinterest

 


I had already used this Pinterest idea to make a picture frame as a dry erase board. However, there are a lot of parties on Monday and that day alone was taking up the whole frame. I also needed more detail than I could get with the fat dry erase marker. I also needed some of my info to stay put while part of it needed to be erased.

via pinterest

I found this Pinterest idea using an old window frame and paint chips.  I do love me some paint chips.

It lead me to my final board, using a poster frame.  I think the last time I bought one of these it was for a picture of Kirk Cameron.  Each day has its own color of mini post-it notes. On each post-it I can include the name of the site, the name of the party, the day & time they usually post the party. 

All that info stays pretty constant and I do not want to have to rewrite it every week.  So it goes under the plastic -- then I don't loose any of those little notes either.  It also prevents short people at my house from trying to rearrage them.

Then, on top of the plastic I can keep track of two different projects that I am posting all over linky land.  I list what number my project is posted in each party. 

The first week, when I was just sticking my big toe in the water, most of my posts were in the 400 - 500 range.  As I got better at tracking when parties were opened, my latest project is posting in the top 20 or so.  That does make a big difference in how much traffic I've been getting.

Like I said, there are a lot of parties on Monday, the rest of the week, I ended up with a huge empty space on my board.  It is the perfect place for my floating to do list (in purple).  As my ideas go from project, to photos, to writing, to linking, I can move them around on top of the plastic. 

You'll prolly use this idea for some other need, but at least 700 of you also keep track of when to Hook up with HoH. It works great for calendars.  Any time you have to keep some info and wipe away the rest, keep this idea in mind.  When you are checking out all those linky parties, keep an eye out for me. or drop by and  follow visit ready. or like me on facebook. or leave a comment.

i'll be your best friend,

just bec



i'm checking "my blogs" every five minutes while i write this, because two parties should be opening soon.

this one is linked up at:

one project at a time @ a bowl full of lemons  hookin up with hoh @ house of hepworths  100 ideas under $100 @ beyond the picket fence  thrifty thursdays @ tales from bloggeritaville  manic monday @ serendipity and spice  just something i whipped up @ the girl creative  mad skills party @ mad in crafts  show me what you got @ our delightful home  tuesday to do @ the blackberry vine  tuesday's treasures @ my uncommon slice of suburbia  tutorials & tips @ home stories a2z  wild wednesday @ chatty chics  wow me wednesday @ ginger snap crafts