Take the Bedside Table Challenge…

Our most recent organizing / life tip published in The Citizen Times on 9/8/12

The bedside table is a small space that makes a big difference. It greets you in the morning and sends you off to sleep at night. It can be a supportive friend or a disturbing energy.

A bedside table can be an upmarket design with drawers and shelves or a piece of plywood on two cinderblocks. It doesn’t matter. What matters is how it treats you. Does it provide you with what you need and think ahead for you? Or is it indifferent and a nuisance?

Getting into bed is a time to let down and relax. When I get into bed, I want to stay there. Who doesn’t want to sink into some peace and eventual sleep?

Here is how my bedside table lets me do that. It has a tall lamp that allows me to read in bed and an iPod on a speaker to play quiet music. Next to the bedside table is a power strip where I can easily plug in my cell phone cord which I keep in the third drawer. When I plug in my cell phone I put it in the same spot every night. I use it as an alarm clock, an emergency hotline, and it ensures that I won’t miss a call from my son who is traveling in Nicaragua.

In the top drawer is a small, square box of Kleenex. I cannot live without Kleenex. In fact the top drawer is where all the crucial stuff is.

There has to be a 3-by-5-inch pad of paper and pencil for when I think of something that has to be remembered. If I don’t write it down it will niggle at me all night, and it is likely I won’t remember it anyway.

I always keep earphones in my bedside table. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and can’t get back to sleep. Then I meditate, read a spiritual book (second drawer) or watch a nature show on Netflix. Earphones ensure I don’t wake up the rest of the house listening to meditation music or the computer.

I also keep a tube of Neosporin and some Band-aids. As a personal organizer my hands receive dings or small cuts during the day, which I tend to when I get into bed.

What do you need beside your bed? Magazines, medications, a flashlight, or a picture of a loved one?

I challenge you to go sit by your beside table and think about how to support yourself. “Think” is the keyword here. Yup, self-care requires thinking. Wouldn’t it be great to go to sleep and wake up knowing someone is taking care of you? When it comes to bedside tables, that someone can be you.

Julia Gunnels of Asheville is the owner of Simply Change, a professional organizing service. Robert Uherka is her business partner. For services, portfolio and other information, visit simplychangenow.net, call 230-2802 or email julia@simplychangenow.net.

No comments yet.

Leave a Reply