Get Organized Or Live With Chaos

Get Organized Or Live With Chaos - By: Nathan F Shaw, Posted on: 2007-09-10

11 years I obsessed over getting organized. Then in 2006 I realized it was the wrong way to go about things. Let me explain, and I am certain it will prove to be well worth your time to know about this:

From Franklin Planners to David Allen's Getting Things Done, productivity and organized living is becoming more and more important and desired because modern life is so fast paced and packed with opportunities, responsibilities, and choices.

And today I read this about a Professional Organizer and her client..

"...together they purged her office of unnecessary clutter, set up a system of file folders and discussed strategies that would allow Mohan to make decisions more quickly. Not only is Mohan's desk spotless, but her files are so organized she can delegate more work to her assistant. The cost of Hemphill's consultation: $5,000. "It was outrageously worth it," says Mohan.

$5,000! And yet still 'outrageously worth it'. See even high powered business exec's with that kind of money to spend on getting organized are 1. clueless about getting organized and 2. are able to see the very real benefit of getting that help.

But maybe your pockets aren’t as deep, or perhaps you prefer to do a few simple thingstake measures right now to get better organized before getting so disorganized that your only option is to pay through the nose for such drastic help.

So here is what I personally realized late in 2006. Getting organized is impossible! And it's also not even important.

So let me tell you the secret of what really does matter. It's not getting or being or staying organized. Simple example: As soon as you use the kitchen to make dinner, you've made a mess.

Surely life is meant to be lived, and our environment is meant to be lived in, which means we should only be as organized as is necessary for our life to be functional, satisfying, and fun.

What I re-discovered at the end of 2006, in a word, is efficiency. I came across an old 1920s business course on efficiency by the Emerson Institute of Efficiency. But we lost touch with that concept in favor of ‘getting organized’. But now after some 90 years, we have come to realize getting organized doesn’t work.

And here's what economist Mark Zandi of Moody's Economy.com said which points in the direction of efficiency as being more important now than 'organized':

"I just can't physically find another spare moment to do more, so I've reached the point where I need to ration what I do, or do what I do better".

The demands on his time exceed the time available in a day, despite his Blackbery, laptop and mobile phone.

I use the phrase ‘organized living’ a lot in my articles, only because the word ‘organized’ is still such a buzz word. But really it should be ‘efficient living’.

Organized ‘efficient’ Living means being efficient enough to get done what you want to get done, find time to enjoy yourself, and let the rest go to hell, for you needn't sweat the small stuff, right?

Through the collapse of the ‘getting organized’ straw man, some have taken up the opportunity to proclaim that chaos is better than order.

The mess-for-success advocates like Abrahamson and Freedman say that turning your life over to any "system" has a downside.

Well, what do you think about that? Well sure any system might have downsides, but what’s the alternative?

Even Abrahamson, the advocate of messiness, knows that he couldn’t get through his week without putting every appointment in his Outlook calendar, which he syncs to his handheld computer AND his wristwatch!

So I admit it sounds cool, that being messy and living via chaos is the solution to the get organized problem of our times, but...

...Always always remember that the true distinction I teach is Organized Living means more about being efficient than getting organized, because chaos really doesn’t lead to success, and getting organized really is impossible.

You need a sensible middle ground of balance between anal retentive 'knowing where everything is' and flexibility of letting some things 'go to hell' because you have to prioritize what you do with your time. That, my friend, is the goal of Organized Living.

Article Source:- Directory Submission & Sexy Deepika Padukone

Nathan F Shaw provides free articles about Professional Organizers and how to get organized.

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