17-25 Organize
Key files, family pix, and favorite songs are on your PC... somewhere. New software can help track them down. -David LaGesse
25. Learn to file really well
When Brooklynites John Hessler and Katia Sainson first talked about moving in together in 1992, there naturally were some issues to address. "We had passionate discussions about whether or not I was organized enough," Sainson says. "He said, 'I don't know if I can commit to you.' He was worried about how I kept some of my books piled on the floor." Hessler was also baffled by his girlfriend's bookshelves, which were arranged in chronological, rather than alphabetical, order.
The two eventually overcame their differences. Now married, they moved to a two-bedroom apartment in Baltimore six years ago. Their expansive book collections, which total nearly 5,000 volumes, remain separated, but Sainson no longer piles hers on the floor. And Hessler has learned to leave her stuff alone, at least in theory. "I realized I can't control every aspect of these objects," he says of his wife's books, as he reaches to straighten the only book in her home office that's slightly askew.
It may seem like a minor sticking point, but for Hessler, 44, organization is a way of life. As a cartographic technician for the Library of Congress, Hessler spends his days mostly alone and very content in the bowels of Washington's massive library. He files maps, atlases, and globes that librarians have pulled out for the researching public. The library estimates it houses 5 million maps, but no one knows the exact figure since only about 200,000 have been cataloged since an electronic filing system was implemented in 1970.
Hessler starts his days early, usually rising by 5 a.m., and he tackles them efficiently from the moment his eyes open. Within 45 minutes, Sainson says, Hessler has risen, showered, dressed, made the bed, had a cup of tea, fixed both his and her lunches, and made a quick trip to Starbucks for their coffees to go. He's at his desk by 7:30 and hits the shelves shortly after settling in.
Mapped out. A stack of maps, individually sandwiched in what look like massively oversize manila folders, awaits him on a rolling cart in the main filing area. The basement that houses the maps division is a space the size of three football fields with a sea of dark gray filing cabinets. Each cabinet has five drawers, which hold as many as 50 maps each, and cabinets are stacked five high. The filing system is primarily organized by geography: by country, then region, then counties or states, and finally cities, with each section in chronological order. But the place can't keep up with the changing nature of the world. Maps of Vietnam are still housed in the "French Indochina" section, Russian maps in the "U.S.S.R." area. Treasure maps, maps of unidentified places, and fantasy maps all have their own sections.
But the rare-maps vault is where Hessler spends most of his time, and it is where his job really intersects with his passions. Behind an unmarked door, a room kept at a cool 61 degrees is home to any map, atlas, or globe deemed "rare" by a designated committee, mostly items older than 200 years. If there is such a thing as the rare-map guy in the U.S. government, Hessler is it.
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