Tuesday, March 5, 2013

The Art Room

Today is the day I'm going to begin to organize the art room.  What I've done so far:
1.  Listed all that needs to find a home or be done
2.  Breaking #1 into what needs to be done for each item listed
3.  Gathering organizing containers, labels, paper for a list for what is inside drawers
4.  Broke room into four sections

Now, today, I am going to break the art room down.  This is my favorite part, since I am a "pile person."  I will begin with one section of the art room by:
1.  Separate into piles to determine which items are on the shelves in section 1
2.  Lay a labeled paper on top of each pile as to what each item should get filed into
3.  Put each pile in containers
4.  If more than four items in a container, create a list of what will be in that container and put it in the container or if the container is big enough, post the list on the front outside of the container to see at a glance, what is inside that container or where to refile the item I'm using. 

You see, in number 4, the line of "post the list on the front outside of the container to see at a glance, what is inside that container or where to refile the item I'm using" is vital because when I take something out of a container and use it, I may not remember when I come to put it back, where I got the item from!  Short-term memory loss is not the end all of life, but it must be organized and clearly labeled to be productive.

Now, one thing I have not mentioned to date, is something that my husband's heart doctor told me a couple of months after getting out of the hospital from the Encephalitis, and that is, "you will have to find new ways to remember because most likely, your memory will fail you.  Since you have no insurance, you will have to do this yourself, so you need to find new ways to remember.  Write things down because it uses a different part of the brain.  Do puzzles, new projects that you've never attempted before and don't get frustrated, keep doing them until you remember because you will begin to build new pathways around the old pathways that have died."

I have followed his advice and what is interesting about what this doctor said, is that, at that time, we had not yet figured out that I had short-term memory loss.  So I began to write things I didn't remember after I began noticing that I was losing many things and realized I didn't have a "retrace my steps" memory. I also discovered that when I read a book where I need to remember what I'm reading, I write down the main points and I seem remember them or at least remember I wrote them and can look back.  When I read the Bible for a Bible study, I have to write the Bible verses I read for that study so I can remember.  During Bible study, I have to write anything I want to remember and I seem to remember them later.  So when I'm redoing the art room, making the lists of what is contained within a container, is for more than just having a list to see, but also helps me to remember what is in there.  So to all you with short-term memory loss, there is hope, you just have to find new ways to remember.  Now, if you're writing notes for your memory, make sure you get one notebook to write it in or one notebook per room to write it on, because writing on loose sheets of paper will cause a new problem,  losing the loose papers!  So use a notebook, or if you want to use loose sheets of paper, get a 3-hole punch and a 3-ring binder to put your notes in so you can find them later.  Keep the notebooks and the binders in the same place at all times, so you can find them.  And if you find yourself saying, "ahhhh, I'll remember this," then say to yourself, "NO YOU WON'T! NOW WRITE IT DOWN," because you WILL lose the item! hahaha!  I speak from experience and those are the words I now say out loud to myself several times a day! hahaha!

Well, it's off to the organizing races!  Hope you all have one awesome day!
LuAnn Marie

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