Intentional Organizing
By Patty Kreamer,
CPO
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
˝ 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:
1.
Get Ready: 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.
2.
Get Set: 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.
3.
GO!: 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:
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!
Patty Kreamer, CPO, owner of Kreamer
Connect, Inc., is a Certified Professional Organizer, speaker,
and author of “…But I Might Need It Someday!”
and “The Power of Simplicity” available at
www.ByeByeClutter.com.
