Time Management
Intentional Organizing!by Patty Kreamer
You walk into your office and you're not sure which paper-covered object is your desk. Just last week you cleared all of the papers off of your desk (and you were so proud!), and now it looks like a cyclone has hit. Sound familiar?
We are living in such a high stress, fast paced world, and this can result in clutter in our lives---both physical and mental. Many areas of our life are the same way. We make a quick attempt to put a bandage on the problems of life, but the results are only temporary.
One of the common threads that runs through these areas of our life is simple. We have not assigned a home to most items. Take, for example, a glass. You always know where to go for one. Why? Because when you moved into your residence yesterday or 40 years ago, you assigned the glasses a home. End of story. Sure, the glass might be on vacation for a while…in the dishwasher, the living room, the sink, or on the table, but it always seems to make its way home.
Why do you suppose the same is not true for your papers? One reason may be that you were never taught how to file or organize your papers. Do you recall a class in school called Filing 101 or Logical Organizing 201? I don't!
So is it possible to get organized if you have always been the pile, don't file type? Fortunately, the answer is yes. To be successful you must make the commitment to getting organized; this includes realizing the need to invest time (and perhaps money, if you choose to hire a professional organizer).
The good news is you will get a HUGE return on your investment. The amount of time that you put in initially will seem like peanuts when you compare it to the time that you will save in the future. You will need to look for items less and be able to file things in their "home" automatically. And the stress of having to look at those piles, not to mention shifting them from spot to spot? Gone!
If you think that having to look for papers is not a big deal, think again. If you spend just 5 minutes of each hour of an 8 hour day looking for things---papers, emails, a Word document, your glasses, that proposal that you must submit by 3:00 p.m.---that adds up to OVER FOUR WORK WEEKS A YEAR! That's expensive! If someone makes $15/hour, that's more than $2400/year thrown down the drain. Can you afford that? Didn't think so.
Normally, when you decide to "clean up" your office, you go in with the idea that putting things away is the answer. The myth is that being organized means being neat and tidy. The truth is, being organized means being able to find things when you need them.
For example, you get a phone call at 2:00 in the afternoon from your boss. She says she needs to meet with you in 10 minutes…and now for the bad part…she wants to meet in your office!! What's the first thing that you do? You shove all of those piles of papers into any open space that is hidden (under the desk, in the file cabinet, in the credenza—you know the routine).
In 9 ½ minutes, your office looks pristine. No traces of clutter anywhere. (Just pray that nobody has to open anything with a door on it.) Now your office looks neat, but is it organized? I think you get the point.
So now you want some answers. There is a 3-step process to getting organized. They are:
Look into
Look around
Look OUT!
Look into: This is when you have to take a good, hard look into yourself. This simply means asking yourself why you are the way you are. Some examples may include: You were brought up in clutter More stuff than places to put it People around you are different Don't like your area The list goes on. Many of these are easily fixed. Others may require some soul searching to overcome.
Look around: This is so simple but rarely done. Look around your office and ask yourself if it is set up logically. Are you able to move around easily and access those things that you use daily?
If you have your file cabinet across the room but access it daily, you need to move it closer. If your chair is up against the wall, why not turn your desk around so it is against the wall, freeing you from the trap?
Take the time to map out your office. Many times we take over someone else's office and don't change a thing. It's easier to change things around while your "stuff" is not in the room. Think ahead.
Look OUT!: Now that you have asked yourself why you are disorganized, moved your office to a more logical setup, it is now time to dig in and get organized.
Earlier, we mentioned how you storm in one day and clean up your office or room and it looks great for a week. That is because you went right to step 3 and skipped steps 1 and 2. Most people do. If you skip any of these steps, success is less likely to occur.
Long-term results are what we are after. So the next time you get in the mood to clean up a room, don't forget to:
Look into…
Look around…
And Look OUT!
This may apply in more areas of your life than you realize. Diving in can be dangerous, so take the time to put some intention into your organizing adventure or any other adventure, for that matter. The results will be longer lasting--Good luck!
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Patty Kreamer, TimeFinders, Inc.,www.timefindersinc.com
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