Sometimes I forget that I’m a neat person at heart.  I look at my kitchen counter and see recycling that hasn’t made it outside, plant information tags that may or may not correlate to what’s currently alive in the yard, and lots of other stuff that shouldn’t be in a kitchen at all.  I internally shake my head and forget to factor in the things that show the other side of me.

I have an alphabetized movie collection that’s divided into general, TV, and children’s sections.  My closet is arranged by clothing type and subdivided by seasonal appropriateness and color.  Ooh, aah.  You get the picture.  I’m an average person organization-wise.  There are super tidy spots here and there, and there are a few areas that could best be described as controlled chaos.  The chaos just sticks out more than the control, you know?

Then I remember that I’m a neat-freak right under the surface.  Today’s neat-freak reminder came when I opened my new desk drawer.  I was essentially squatting at a desk for the past week and a half, and today is my first day at my long-term desk.  That means that I have access to lots of computer files now that will help me do my job.  Oh, and I get to reorganize everything.

I originally wrote off the reorganization excitement as some smaller piece of my penchant for decorating.  Then I opened the desk drawer.  It looks like my miscellaneous desk drawer at home came to my office, reproduced like rabbits, and built bunny tenements in the drawer.  Not a clear mental image?  Just imagine every type of office supply in one drawer with nothing to divide any of it.  Throw in some velcro, a few small instruction manuals, and you’re almost there.  No, this isn’t about decorating.

The person who had this job and desk last did a great job with organizing files and color-coding paperwork.  It’s kind of impressive, actually.  I haven’t ever in my life seen as many color-coded tabs as exist in the files that now belong to me.  But the desk drawer has to change.

I’m pretty sure that if someone moved into my house as is, they would feel that way about my kitchen.  There isn’t much of a system.  Stuff just ended up in cabinets when I moved in, and now it makes sense to me.  Of course the napkins and the food processor are way up high over the fridge.  Why wouldn’t they be together?

Anyway, I’m not talking trash about my former co-worker’s organizational skills.  We just have different pockets of chaos.  In the paperwork organizing, color-coding department, this woman will always have me beat.

So what about you?  What are your pockets of organization and chaos?  (I wish that was a literal question.  I want to meet someone with “pockets of organization” and “pockets of chaos.”  How cool would it be to have “pockets of chaos”?!  It would be like a mobile version of Pandora’s box.)