Efficiency Vs Getting Organized

For years I obsessed over being organized. But last year it hit me... I would never ever be caught up with everything going on in my life. I would never be organized. I will bare all... and it will probably change the way you live:

Personal productivity has become all the rage, from Franklin Day Planners to Getting Things Done with David Allen... modern life is so fast paced full with options and choices.

Earlier today I found an article 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 folk with money to burn and no time to... burn it are 1. incapable of knowing how to get organized without help and 2. can appreciate the value of getting that help.

Perhaps you don't have that kind of money, or perhaps you would rather do a few simple thingstake measures right now to get better organized before becoming so overwhelmed that your only course of action is to pay for professional organizer help.

So here is what I personally realized late in 2006. Getting organized is impossible! But even better than that is when I saw that getting organized is not even important.

So let me tell you the secret of what really does matter. Forget about getting, being or staying organized. As soon as you use the kitchen to make dinner, you've messed everything up.

Surely life is meant to be lived, and our environment is meant to be lived in, which means it has to be organized just enough to be functional and enjoyable.

The secret then, in a word, is efficiency. I came across an old 1920s business course on efficiency from the Emerson Institute of Efficiency. The concept of efficiency seems to have been lost until the rise of the latest Web 3.0 technologies 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 way beyond '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".

With his BlackBerry, laptop and mobile phone, demands on his time and productivity exceed the available time.

People still use the phrase ‘organized living’ a lot but what it really should now be is ‘efficient living’.

Organized... or Efficient 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 author like Abrahamson and Freedman say that turning your life over to any "system" has a downside.

Well, what do you think about that? It doesn't stand to reason, it doesn't hold water...

And 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!

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

Please make permanent note in your thinking 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 stay ‘messy’ because you have to prioritize what you do with your time. So my friend, that is the goal of Organized Living.

Article Source: http://www.myaddirectory.com

Read more about stress management and even how to organize small business by Nathan F Shaw.

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