Actual photo from my desk. "Organizing from the Inside Out" remained buried in clutter. Photo by my good (and non-judgmental) friend, Elizabeth Iwamiya.
For many years (forever?) I’ve been stymied by how to create and keep order in my studio space where I do my visual art, writing, and design work. Most space organization methods have not worked for me. I wrote about this dilemma in Minimalist Lifestyles & Artistic Flotsam: How To Deal.
Apartment Therapy: Not just for Apartments
So far, the most helpful resource in learning how to wrangle my creative supplies and projects is the information found in Apartment Therapy, by Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan.
Not only is Apartment Therapy a practical guide for eliminating clutter, it also happens to be a great read. Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan’s work was born out of living in typically small New York City apartments where he worked as a Waldorf teacher.
In Waldorf education, (which also inspired some of the concepts I wrote about in The Creative Entrepreneur) the environment for learning is crucial. The emotional and spiritual aspects of the learner are supported by a well-designed and ordered physical environment. Gillingham-Ryan adapted these concepts to healthy home design.
We can adapt them to creating healthy creative studio spaces that support our whole being in creating the work that we want to do.
Outbox Magic
There is a concept in Apartment Therapy called the Outbox that I’ve been using to keep my studio and supplies in shape. I have found that a well-ordered studio and workspace is crucial to cultivating the focus required for completing projects. It is something that I constantly have to work at, because I am not at all naturally organized or neat. I work messy. I tend to get wildly disorganized and quickly overwhelmed by the tide of flotsam that I collect for my mixed-media work. Picture: no surface area to work on and piles of paper.
The Outbox is something I use regularly to clean up the beach, so to speak, so I can actually have a clear table to work on and find the supplies I need instantly.
Try using an Outbox when you are:
- feeling overwhelmed by your physical space,
- experiencing lack of focus,
- or feel stuck on a creative project.
What is an Outbox?
Essentially, it’s a container that holds everything that you are considering subtracting from your space. Gillingham-Ryan calls call it “a halfway house for your clutter, where things go to sit while their fate is being decided.”Here is how he describes the very smart underpinnings of the Outbox:
“The Outbox is your ally as you proceed to remove clutter from your home. it works because it uses a two-step process that allows you to figure out if your need something without having to decide what to do with it immediately.
Most clutter clearers will tell you to sort through your belongings and remove a certain amount to the garbage, to recycling, or to a giveaway pile. This is a first-generation clutter-clearing approach. It focuses mainly on identifying clutter that will immediately be taken away. The problem with first-generation thinking is that it doesn’t take into account that there are two problems: how to sort out the clutter and how to detach from individual items. Separation anxiety is the far bigger problem.
When faced with two anxiety-provoking decisions—where something should go (its value to the world) and whether one can separate from it (its value to the owner)—most people get stuck and simply hold on to things as a default. Second-generation clutter management unhitches these two stressful decisions. it deals with separation first and decides how and where to get clutter out of your apartment later.”
Brilliant, isn’t it?
Try this in your own studio (or equivalent place of creating. The kitchen table?) Right now I am traveling, so my studio is portable—just one suitcase—and I work on the floor of wherever I am sleeping.
Go through your studio or projects with a box or a bag labeled Outbox.
Put in it:
- unfinished projects
- supplies you don’t like
- supplies that don’t work anymore
- supplies you’ve been meaning to donate
- anything not related to your work: decorations, knickknacks
- anything broken, ugly, not useful
- anything that adds clutter, rather than clarity
Remember, the Outbox is a holding area, not the garbage. You don’t need to decide what to do with the item, the only decision is: Outbox or not.
As you are considering what projects and supplies go into the Outbox, be aware of:
- How the object makes you feel. Consider letting go of anything with negative associations.
- Ask yourself: Do I use this?
- Ask yourself: Do I love it?
Some radical considerations:
If you haven’t touched a project for x amount of time (you decide on the x factor, six months, one year, five years….) consider whether or not you really intend to complete it now or within the next 3 months. If not, put it in the Outbox.Results
Over the past couple of weeks I’ve done a major studio clean out, and put my knitting and crochet projects in the Outbox. (Not touched in 2 and 8 years, respectively. Ouch.) Why I dragged them from San Francisco to LA for my artist’s residency is a question I cannot answer.Would I love to knit? Yes, Someday. But Someday does not seem to be anywhere in the near-enough future. After a couple of weeks in the Outbox, the supplies and yarn were donated to an artist who wanted them. Previously, I kept them out of the feeling that I should get around to finishing them…in my spare time. Spare what?!
Unfinished projects are a huge drain on creative energy.Other items that ended up in the Outbox and ultimately donated:
- Oil sticks (haven’t been painting with oils and won’t until back in permanent studio. Yes, they’re expensive and unused. Oh, well.
- Bag of decorative paper: cut my stash in half to lighten up. I still have probably too much to use in this lifetime.
- Colored ink pens: Because 99 percent of the time, maybe 99.99 percent of the time, I use the same brand of black pen that I’ve used for 20 years. I like the idea of colored pens. I buy lots of them. I don’t use them. Why carry them around?
- A very fancy Gocco-type printer. Gift of former boyfriend. Too much association. Also, it was from a trip to Japan, and I never got around to having the Japanese instructions translated.
I could go on with this list, but it gets more embarrassing and boring at the same time. You get the idea. Try the Outbox and see what happens. Let me know. I hope you’ll post some of your own examples of what made the cut.
p.s. If you are wishing you could have inherited any of my discards, please sign up for my email newsletter. I’ll periodically list Outbox contents available.
Go gently with the Outbox. And enjoy.
Resources:
Apartment Therapy: The Eight-Step Home Cure
Apartment Therapy Presents: Real Homes, Real People, Hundreds of Design Solutions
Apartment Therapy’s Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces
Related Post:Artistic Acts of Generosity: Your Supplies
Shares some ideas for what to do with your Outboxed supplies.
Related posts:
Howdy! I’m Lisa Sonora Beam, author of The Creative Entrepreneur. I teach people how to get unstuck and use their creativity to make a living doing what they love. 
{ 6 trackbacks }
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Lisa,
So many people don’t realise that their spaces actually block their efforts at success – it’s like swimming against the current with blockages and obstacles everywhere.
It’s helpful to realise that our places are the result of who we used to be, but may not be reflective of who we want to become. So it’s great to hear how you are going about re-organising the vibes of your home.
I look forward to the next instalment
Marlowe
Love the new website – much quicker to load and easier to read. Going to instigate an Outbox myself. Thanks.
Also at last have launched my new business although website is thrown together just now ……inspiring and helping people to write their family stories and their own, in a form that suits them best – journals, photo albums or electronically.
Lisa,
as usual, information and people come into my life at the right time.
Since the first grade i’ve been creating in a messy environment – my first grade teacher told my mom she always knew where i was because of the mess around my desk!
I do love to have my eclectic things around me. Plus, it doesn’t help that i’m addicted to office supplies! But it does create anxiety when there’s too much stuff!
So I’ve been moving things from place to place trying to figure out what to do with them since downsizing from a 4 br house to an apt! and having a hard time detaching from some. The outbox is a benevolent first step… i can do that. Very practical and do-able advice. And perfectly timed thanks!