Organization isn't inherited — organizing is learned. That means that whatever disorganized secrets lurk in your past or what a mess you see when you assess your present condition, you can become organized and stay that way for a lifetime.
 | Organization begins in the mind. Once you've got those synaptic connections in place, you can start to see what to do even before anyone tells you. Take a few minutes to get a jump-start on the organizational mindset, as well as how to organize the process of getting organized. After all, how can you get started if there's a mess in your mind? |
Freeing your mind of distractions to get organized
Begin by clearing the decks. Sit back for a minute and close your eyes. Dream up a picture of perfect peace. Do that now, and then come back and read on to the next paragraph.
What did your picture of peace look like? Was it full of papers and old clothes and tightly packed days on the calendar? Probably not. The first thing most people do when they picture peace is let go of all that stuff that seems so important in daily life, and return to a clean, clear state that you may consider original. The way people were meant to be.
What blocks flow? Time wasters, distractions, and frustrations. Items out of place. Disorder, and the disaster that can result when you don't plan ahead. Freeing your life from things and tasks that aren't necessary and streamlining those that are is the best way to attain flow, find fulfillment, and achieve your peak potential. You don't have to become a minimalist (though you're welcome to take that course if it's your way). Bare skin and bones don't make a person. Getting organized is not about stripping away the extra touches that make us who we are. But getting organized will help you enjoy life.
Customizing your organizational system
Organization is a people-based process, designed to make people happy and productive on a daily basis — so do ask "Who?" in all the organizing you do.
 | To personalize your organizing systems, ask yourself, "Who works, lives, or plays here?" What do they want and need? If you're reorganizing your file system, your new setup can affect whoever retrieves or files records there, so you might want to work with your assistant, staff, colleagues, or other family members to design the system together. At the very least, let them know what you've done. If you've just reorganized the pantry, a few labels are worth a thousand words in terms of guiding cohabitants to finding the snack center and putting the potato chips back. Are you single or in business for yourself? Remember that you may also want to set up systems that meet client needs or make a visitor comfortable. |
Getting organized is one of the most personal projects you can undertake in your life. Everyone thinks, acts, and feels differently, and no single system works for every person on the planet. If one way only existed, someone would have packaged it into a pill long ago.
Staying organized after you get organized
Many people are hesitant to put the effort into getting organized because they doubt they can maintain an organized state of affairs. Like going on a diet, why bother if the excess pounds or clutter are just going to come back?
The beauty of getting organized is that it does retrain your mind, and there are no biochemical cues trying to confuse the message. In fact, organization is one of those self-reinforcing pleasures in which a mind and body, grateful for the reduced stress and strain, are eager to explore more. Enter maintenance.
If you follow organizational systems, you may only need to have a major organizing session once a year or less to clean up any given area. A few basic tactics common to all these systems make maintenance easy. Here they are, for the benefit of your newly organizing mind:
- Right now. Clean up clutter as soon as you create it.
- Every day. Spend 15 minutes at the end of each day putting things away so tomorrow is a brand new start.
- The one-year rule. Every time you come across an object or piece of paper, ask yourself if you've used it in the past year. If the answer is no, chances are the item can go.
- Plan and schedule. If a major organizing job arises, don't sit around waiting to have the time to take on a grand action. Break it down into chunks today and write each upcoming task into your calendar.
- Set routines. Establish patterns, from the annual purging of everyone's closets before buying new school clothes and repaving the blacktop driveway to weekly grocery shopping, laundry, or housecleaning on the same day each week, and so on. Clean out the china cabinet and the garage each spring and fall. Write the car's oil changes into your calendar. Straighten up the house the day before its weekly cleaning. Purge a few files every day. The more routines that you can set, the faster and smoother things can go and the stronger your organizational systems can be.
- Share. Remember that maintenance isn't your job alone. Set up systems to share with or delegate to staff, family, and roommates.
The seeds are planted in your mind. All you need to do is fertilize them with all the information herein, and then watch your organized self-blossom forth.
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