Metacognition: Get Organized

      As my mom walks in my room she says, "I think a tornado passed through here." I told her about my assignment and she was pretty relieved some cleaning would finally get done. I decided to tackle my desk as my project.


     My first feeling was excitement. I've always wanted to be organized, and I've re-organized hundreds of times, but it never seems to last more than a few days. I pledged to keep my desk clean and clutter free for as long and I can manage. As I moved old papers, jewelry, magazines and books into piles, that excitement soon turned into dread. That dread only built up more as I opened each of the four drawers and discovered the horrifying truth. I had papers from eighth grade and freshman year in one of them! I was just about to give up and try to organize something else, but I resisted that urge. I knew I would be happy and it would all be worth it in the end. To distract me a little from the task at hand, I blasted some music. My mom didn't even yell at me because she knew I was cleaning.


   I divided things up into seven piles. CD's and DVD's, magazines, books, papers I need, papers I don't need, pictures (there happen to be a lot of stray pictures), and jewelry. By the time everything was divided into piles, my desk was almost clean! I still had my somewhat organized jewelry box, alarm clock and laptop on it. I took them off and wiped it down. I threw out my old papers and put the new ones in a binder. Then I put all of my jewelry in its correct spot in my jewelry box. I also thew out the magazines i was done with and put my old books in a pile to be donated. When I was finished I was left with a pile of pictures.

   That pile of pictures was turned into a collage that hangs above my desk as a reminder of my new (partially) organized room. Every time I see those pictures I'll remind myself that I need to keep my desk clean and clutter-free. If I ever think about tossing some old papers over there hopefully I'll think twice about it now. I'm relieved it's all over and I feel better about doing my homework at my desk now. Having an organized room makes me feel more in control. This time I hope I can maintain the feeling.