Organizational System

Trusting the System:
Organization has More to do with Consistency than Neatness
By Stacy Strunk

"One of these days, Stacy, we're going to have to get organized." I could tell by his casual tone my boss meant it as a joke, but I took it personally. Although I have never been a neat person, I am always taken aback when someone accuses me of being disorganized.

I'm a slob. This isn't an apology, but an introduction. I feel most comfortable surrounded by clutter: stacks of old magazines and newspapers, trinkets from vending machines and paperback books that are swollen to three or four times their normal size. My need for clutter is something I've struggled against for as long as I can remember.

My slovenly ways aside, I am an organized person. I rarely
lose things. In more than a decade of working in the strictest deadline situations, I have NEVER missed a deadline. And, despite my propensity for getting lost, I am rarely late.

Organization doesn't necessarily mean neatness; it means order. I have found that order is best served by developing consistent routines.

Let us look at an example. Everyone has a system for keeping his car keys where he can find them. Some people hang their keys on a little hook by the door. Other people just drop the keys into the pocket of their jacket before it goes in the closet.

Yet, everyone has lost their keys. In a rush to get the phone, the keys may have been dropped in a pocket instead of being placed on a little hook. Perhaps the keys were left on the bathroom counter instead of being dropped into a purse. In short, keys become lost because systems are broken.

Sometimes, in the name of flexibility, we stray from our personal systems. Straying from the path doesn't mean you're flexible. In fact, in my case, it usually means I'm lost.

Exploration and experimentation are essential in the beginning stages of getting organized. You will, however, quickly learn what works for you and what doesn't. For instance, I live for sticky notes. I would rather spread one long memo across three sticky notes than to put three unrelated items on the same sheet of paper.

Consistency is the key to good organization. To be consistent, you must find a system that feels comfortable to you. If you hate computers, you should not put your entire life into your palm pilot. If you despise clutter, you are not going to live with a system consisting of sticky notes and bar napkins.

If I try to see my office with another person's eyes, I can
understand why someone would assume I am disorganized. The blizzard of sticky notes scattered across my desk certainly looks a little messy. Nonetheless, I trust my system of little, yellow squares. They haven't let me down yet.

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Stacy Strunk's organization skills are always being tested in her roles of mom, marketing executive and freelance editorial consultant. Her writing, editing and Web design business can be found at www.strunkwriter.com.

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