Getting “Organized”

Neal Steiger

When I got home from the first audiogram after my second cochlear implant was activated, I was on cloud nine. My speech recognition had gone up again, and I now understood nearly everything I was hearing. What a difference those implants have made in my life!

But when I needed to find a part for one of my processors, I realized I had a little chaos on my hands. I now had two company-provided backpacks filled randomly with replacement parts and accessories. And when I needed to find one of those parts, I had to rummage through them until, inevitably, the part I needed was in the very last place I looked. What a mess! I needed a solution.

A brief trip through the Internet helped me find a small parts organizer for under $12. With the help of a hand-held labeler, I was able to organize and identify about 15 drawers for my over-the-ear processors, about half that for my one-piece processors, and about the same for parts that fit either.

Now, whenever I need a specific item, I can find it at a glance. I even have a drawer with a map of my items, including part numbers, if I have to replace them. People think I’m so “organized,” but the truth is, because I am by nature so disorganized that a simple trick like this fools everyone else into thinking I am.