Paralyzed by Disorganization?
- Have you ever felt stuck because you are so disorganized?
- Rather than filing papers, do you put them in a pile on the corner of your desk?
- Do you dread the mess you will encounter when you open your your file drawers?
- Do you look at your computer desktop and shudder?
- Do you spend just about as much time looking for files as you do actually getting work done?
If you shuddered knowingly as you read those questions, then read on. Because you can get help. And life on the other side of disorganization feels better! Much better!
Help Getting Organized
Early this spring, I knew I couldn’t keep functioning in my state of disorder. And finally I set out to do something about it.
After years of promising myself that I’d get everything organized, I finally admitted that the task was beyond me. I simply couldn’t do it.
So I hired an expert organizer to help.
Three Mornings and a Miracle!
On three Monday mornings in April, Erica the Spacialist and I sat together and cleaned out my files.
First… the paper files.
We sat side by side. She handed me one file after another to go through. We made piles for the shredder, the recycling and the trash.
It took hours, but we weeded the paper I had saved over years down to two scantily filled file drawers. Each folder had a name I would naturally remember. We put one plastic bin with years of tax returns in the basement and that was it.
Only the Essentials
Then we sat together at my computer and created a simple, intuitive online filing system. Turns out that my life fits tidily into five primary folders. Yours probably does too!
Here are my folder names. And inside each is a tidy group of sub-folders with current projects!
- Personal
- AKA – Try This
- Capital Campaign Masters
- Train Your Board
- Other Professional
We put everything that didn’t fit, wasn’t current or was no longer relevant, into an archive folder and took it off the desktop.
We finished up by organizing the book shelves and my actual desk top, putting cords and receipts and supplies into bins and drawers.
Again and again, Erica asked me, do you use this? Will you use this? Can we get rid of it? We threw things away and gave things away and organized what was left.
Finally Free to Think
Now, with my life more organized than it’s been for decades, I’m overwhelmed with a lighthearted sense of being free to think.
- I seldom hunt for a file.
- I don’t let paper pile up because I don’t know where to store it.
- I no longer dread opening the file drawer.
- My computer desktop has no clutter.
- My mind feels both more in control and more free.
- I have more time and less frustration.
Why oh why did I wait so long to get help?
ThisAre you weighed down with clutter?
Notice how much time you spend looking for the right file. If you find yourself hunting several times a day, then you’re not functioning at top capacity. Perhaps it’s time to do something about it.
Perhaps you can tackle your disorganization without help. But if you’re like me and you just can’t discipline yourself to clean out the clutter, find someone to help you and get it done.
Let me know in the comments below how you deal with clutter and what plans you might make to clear it away. Or,gather up your notes and march over to Facebook to share your ideas about getting organized there.
Copyright: frannyanne / 123RF Stock Photo
