PBIS: Organization

Sample Lesson - Introduction

Lesson 1.01: Your Room

 

"Hey, where do you keep your terrifying bloodshot eyes?" "Right behind the weathered brick wall of the Bastille."  (Source)

There's a place, Shmoopers, that's so terrible that only the bravest dare speak of it aloud. Monstrous things are found there, and few who enter ever make it out alive. Half dragon's hoard, half death match, it gives up its secrets only to the most intrepid explorer—if they can make it past the booby traps to that far distant corner, the bedside table.

We're talking, of course, of your own personal kingdom: your bedroom.

Just because you can sit on your bed and hold dominion over all you survey doesn't mean you should just pin a "Keep Out!" sign to the door and let there be chaos. Organization, or a lack of it, can have serious effects:

• Perhaps you do your homework in your room and you don't want to keep getting distracted.
• Perhaps you'll have visitors—friends or members of your family.
• Maybe your house will catch on fire and you'll need to grab your dog and your computer to escape in time.

Well, uh, maybe not that last one. We were getting a little morbid, there.

You may well want visitors to think of journeying into your room as an epic adventure, but better. (More because of your amazing taste in posters than because there's so much stuff everywhere that it's one long game of "The Floor is Lava.")

Not that that wouldn't be fun occasionally, but we bet your carpet's lovely as well.

Sample Lesson - Reading

Reading 1.1.01: Organizing Your Room

Part of making your space your own is being able to fill it with your things and put up your posters and decorations. Organizing your bedroom is a way of asserting your autonomy—which is to say it's part of growing up and being able to shape your little corner of the world.

That's not the only thing in play, though: by now, you've probably had your own bedroom (or at least your own space in your bedroom) for several years. What really counts as leveling up is putting your bedroom in order. It doesn't just have to have your things in it. You've got to optimize it.

In other words, now that you've got autonomy in your space, what are you going to do with it? Keeping everything in its rightful place is a really good way of showing that you've gotten more mature and responsible. It makes you look like a boss.

Think we're pushing the point a bit? Let's talk about how this works.

An Oasis of Calm

You have homework, and the older you get, the more there seems to be. A tidy bedroom minimizes distractions, so you can get homework out of the way quickly. Let's face it, there are enough distractions on the internet when you're trying to wrestle with algebra. Try not to have an entire roomful of them as well.

Then, as soon as you've done your homework, you probably don't want to look at it anymore. You want to relax and think about anything but work. If your room's organized, you can put all your books out of the way and have space to think about other things. A tidier space creates a calmer atmosphere, which affects your ability to concentrate, as well as how stressed you are.

So having your room organized lets you concentrate on work, put it away, and then concentrate on Netflix instead. You actually get more out of both of those things. Plus, you finished your homework in record time.

Where My Stuff At?

Have you ever had that moment, where you're looking for a t-shirt or a game, and you're not sure if it's around here somewhere or you've lent it to a friend and forgotten about it? Never have that feeling again.

We're serious. If you know where you keep it, you can find it quickly, and you'll find you lose far fewer things. Shirts are always on this shelf, so you know where to find them. If they might be in this pile, or that drawer, or behind that cupboard, you could spend ages looking for them. Way more effort.

If you often find your stuff is strewn about your room, it's easy for things to lose parts or get broken by accident. Ever opened a game case to discover the disc is missing? A person who's organized knows that's never going to happen to them. Looking after them shows respect for the person who bought them for you—whether it's a relative, or something you saved up for yourself. It shows that you appreciate the effort and money that went into getting the thing for you.

And wouldn’t you rather play your games when you want to play them, rather than waste time looking?

Blitz it Quick

Organization isn't just about knowing where things go, but also actually putting them there. Set aside twenty minutes, once or twice a week, and just go for it. Set a timer. If you can work it into your routine, it becomes a whole lot easier. Do it on a Friday afternoon to kick-start you into the weekend, or a Sunday afternoon so that even if you had a lazy weekend, you still did something totally productive with your day. Twenty minutes is no time at all: so little effort, so much smugness afterwards.

As if you didn't need another reason, studies have shown that people who can exercise a little bit of self-control actually do way better in the rest of their lives. Twenty minutes a couple of times a week may not seem like much, but it gives you a chance to overcome the desire to procrastinate. The more you practice that, the more you'll find you're awesome at stuff. Go on. Science says it works.

And do you want to argue with science?

Get a Game Plan

We're not suggesting you become a whole new person overnight, but here are five things you can do right now (assuming you're in your room; if you're not, this might get a little awkward) to help you organize yourself:

• Make your bed. We know you're only going to get back into it later, but this one's symbolic, too: it reminds you that you care about how your space looks—which is part of the point of being organized.
• Pick all your clothes up off the floor. If shirts could speak, they'd tell you they miss the closet. It's their home.
• Empty the trash. The easiest way of putting things where they're supposed to go.
• Pile all your school books and notes on the desk. They're much easier to find when they're all in one place.
• Take all the mugs and plates and empty soda cans back to the kitchen.

Can you feel the smugness rising already? It really is that easy.

Sample Lesson - Activity