Organization:
Organization is something that I think most people take for granted. For example, when you walk in the front door after a long day at work, are the keys left in a jacket pocket? A purse? Hung on a hook? Or, who knows what was done with them? When you go to get your mail, do you bring it inside and then add it to the growing pile on the kitchen table or the coffee table? Do you open it all and then stack the open envelopes and letters in a pile after barely glancing at the contents? Is your refrigerator full of old and new food alike, mixed with take-out containers, tupperware and ziplock bags? How about the closet, that space between your bed and the floor, or that shelf you can barely see in the top of your cabinets, are they full of miscellaneous junk you didn't know what to do with? And the car, is it pristine like the day you bought it? Or is that another clutter story?What is organization?
I have come to realize that organizational skills are exactly that: skills. They require work in order to maintain and, usually, effort to conjure up.
Once I have finished organizing a room, drawer, or shelf, I can't explain the sense of self-satisfaction and pride that I feel for my job well-done. I know where everything is and everything that shouldn't be there has been thrown away; like those receipts from 2010 that I kept incase there was a chance I wanted to return something on my grocery list or Walmart trip.
I also feel like I can breathe and think more clearly after de-cluttering and/or organizing even the smallest aspect of my life. It's a stress relief that I can only explain by saying that it's one less thing on my mind and my bagillion to-do lists. This satisfying feeling that allows me to relax a bit, also gives me a feeling of success and confidence that the next task is only a little bit of time and effort away from being done.
What is success?
In my opinion, the ability to stay organized is essential in order to gain, maintain, or even raise one's level of success. What do I mean when I say success? Well, I mean success at maintaining a stress-free lifestyle, a punctual lifestyle, a "kicking-ass-and-taking-names" kind of lifestyle, where an opportunity isn't missed because of a forgotten meeting, or a lost piece of paper, torn out of a notebook, holding the key to your future. I mean the ability to accomplish the tasks you set for yourself in order to take pride in your handwork and effort, and to sit back and relax at the end of the day feeling as if all of your boxes have been checked and nothing was left undone. This is what I mean when I say that having the skill to be organized directly correlates to one's success in life.
Areas where organization can improve success:
Health & Fitness-
Believe it or not, but the more organized a person is the better their health and fitness will be. This is not a scientific study, but in my opinion, makes a lot of sense. Although, I am not saying organization is an absolute in becoming healthy and fit, I do feel as if it is vital to ensuring success in health and fitness goals.
Let's take into consideration an individual who hasn't had 100% success at starting, keeping or maintaining a healthy and fit lifestyle, such as, for example, ME!
I have tried several different "diets" and "cult workouts": the rainbow diet, a vegan diet, a vegetarian diet, Beachbody meal plans for T25, P90x, and more. I have read articles in magazines such as Fitness Magazine, Abs Guide, Cosmopolitan, Self, Women's Health, and FitPregnancy. I have subscribed to Youtube channels pertaining to circuit training, yoga, pilates, or exercise in general, in an attempt to supply myself with everything I would need to be a healthier, happier me!
I went so far as to keep a journal where I compiled all my notes and research from the above diets, workouts, magazines, and youtube channels. I designed full proof plans in order to "snap back after baby". However, every time I finished all that handwork of organizing information and writing out a schedule, I never implemented said schedule of information. My brain was on overload!
My living room was a mess, I didn't know where my yoga mat was, my fridge was in desperate need of an overhaul, I didn't have the right food containers, I needed to go grocery shopping, I didn't know what to buy for food to prepare the healthy meals, I didn't know where my blender was, did I have a blender? I didn't have five minutes to do my quick Youtube workout, because I needed to find all those other things and do all that cleaning and sorting through things in order to get set up. By the time I was done cleaning and organizing my kitchen so that I was ready to make that healthy, protein shake some French lady recommended me on my subscription, I didn't even feel like working out.
If this sounds anything like you or someone you know, which I am sure someone out there can relate to this, then you know that a week or so of organizing and sorting could easily of made me more prepared for these life changing steps was taking towards a healthier me. If I had taken the time to not only do all that research, but to also sort out and organize my home in addition to my thoughts, my success rate would have been a lot higher.
It is overwhelming to make lifestyle changes like health and fitness and the rate of success is directly related to how prepared the person is for that lifestyle change. Being prepared means being organized and ready for what comes next. . .
Work & Education-
It isn't a surprise that it is important to be organized in the realm of work, it sort of falls into the category of work ethic.
*Thanks Google.com!
Having said that, think about your job, whatever it may be: Subway Sandwich Artist, College Dorm I.D. Checker Person, Office Clerk, Teacher, Banker, Teller, Cashier, Shoe Saleswoman/man, Pharmacy Technician, Grocer, Substitute Teacher, T.A., Student, Airport Ticket Counter Agent, Sales Clerk at a department store, Grocery Bagger, Resident Assistant, Tutor, Translator, Networking Support Specialist, Technical Support Specialist, Customer Service Representative at a Call Center, whatever....
The majority (but not all) of those jobs that I listed, I have had.
My point is that, regardless of how prestigious or lowly a position you held, the skills you possessed in staying organized played a very prominent role in your success at that job. Were you able to keep tasks organized by priority and length of time needed to complete?
While working and prioritizing did you have a clear sense of the tasks that would need to be done at a later time? Such as, restocking or refilling in order to make progress continue smoothly.
Did you arrive to work on time? Or were you regularly late? Did you have the appropriate number of alarms set? And, were they set for times that left you with an adequate amount of time to start your day?
Did you often find yourself without the appropriate work clothes? Did they need mending? Purchasing? Laundering? Ironing?
While at work, it is important to make sure that you know where everything is that you might need to efficiently and effectively do your job. If someone calls Subway, you're the artist, you take their order, but then as soon as you hang up the phone have no idea what you did with that piece of paper, well in that situation you're SOL, my friend. So, being organized at work can assist you with all of these things in a work situation.
In school, if you are a student or you have children who are students, it is a common saying that being organized paves the way to success for students.
- Keeping a planner or date book where assignments can be written in.
- Buying as many forms of sticky notes as possible to mark important pages in books, notes, handouts, etc.
- Keeping a pencil bag for writing utensils, a bag for books and binders
- Using tabbed-inserts in binders and notebooks to separate out subjects, projects, homework, etc.
Being an organized student allows for a more successful and beneficial time spent studying for homework, presentations, quizzes, exams or tests. It also creates a less stressful experience as a student. Often times when students feel "out of loop" about what is going on in a class they do not pay attention to any of the new material, because they are working so hard at trying to track down or keep up with lessons previously taught.
Making sure that due dates, test dates, days off, long vacations, and any other time-related information is noted and accessible will ensure that the student is never lost and always prepared for what is coming up next.
In addition to having this information available, making sure any paperwork that might include such information is also put in a safe place where it can easily be retrieved and consulted, like a syllabus or course description.
Social & Romantic Life-
If you are constantly struggling to remember where you are supposed and what you were supposed to be doing, it is going to be really hard for you to maintain any kind of social life. One minute you will be hanging out with friends, having a good time and then it will hit you that you had an appointment to be at that just happened to fall at that exact moment in time.
Or, you might accidentally tell your friends that you are free for the bowling social on Friday or cocktail party Saturday night, when actually, you have a date with your significant other at <Insert fancy five star restaurant name here/>.
Another scenario is that you are constantly having to call your best friend, your work buddy, your brother, whoever, to cancel because you forgot or didn't realize that you had this other thing going on when you said that you were free to do something for them or with them.
Often times, your family and friends are only going to let this slide so many times before they are no longer available to you. And your boyfriend is only going to let you blow him off so many times before you run into him at the mall after your hair appointment with his arm laced around some other girl while she shops.
Because, lets face it, if you can't keep our obligations straight, how are you going to keep your friend & family time or date time organized?
These kinds of incidents are likely to occur when you lead a disorganized lifestyle.
And there's more . . .
Because of several online articles, top 10 lists, and random motivational quotes online, as well as some of my own personal experiences, I started to see there was something to be said about being organized. Below are a few of the articles or quotes that I have read and found helpful or interesting.
Setting Goals and Being Organized
"An organized person is in control of their life. If you make a habit of writing down your daily goals, and organizing them into a schedule you are taking an enormous step toward becoming a proactive and responsible person."
BEING ORGANIZED MEANS BEING IN CONTROL.
14 Reasons to Get Organized in 2014
- SAVE TIME
- ELIMINATE STRESS
- SAVE MONEY
- GET UNPLEASANT TASKS DONE MORE QUICKLY
- HAVE MORE TIME TO DO THINGS YOU LOVE
- BE ON TIME. . .
21 Habits of Highly Organized People :
-Habit #4: Everything In Its Place
"A place for everything and everything in its place."
-Habit #21: Avoid Negative Thoughts
"I am an amazing person. I can do anything I set my mind to."
Not only is an organized person less likely to feel lost, but they are more likely to feel confident. This seems a bit like common sense when you really think about it. If you can't find things, aren't sure where you are supposed to be when and at what time and for how long, if you are missing deadlines to hand things in and get things done, your life is going to feel a bit discombobulated; soon you will have the worst case of disorganization-induced stress that you have ever experienced, and your life will be like a never-ending nightmare of one failure after another.
All the while, this headache could have been avoided had you taken the time to write down appointments on a calendar that was strategically placed on a wall that you look at often or pass regularly.
Ultimately, had you organized your life, your life would've been so much easier.
Essentially, the answer to having more confidence is to get organized. When you stop questioning your schedule and forgetting things, you can feel certain of what is coming and that certainty (or confidence) will be reflected in your mood. Thus, by being in a better mood and taking charge of these situations that normally would seem like the end of the world, you are able to handle more and get more done, ultimately resulting in further success in whatever it is you are doing.
Why am I talking about organization in my first-ever blog post?
Well, the answer is simple: I am a firm believer in organizing thoughts in order to sort out and organize other aspects of one's life.
I have been thinking about how to get better organized for a long time, mainly, because I can't start anything before I feel like I am 100% ready. And to me "being ready" means "being prepared" which means "being organized".
Therefore, after years of off and on again writing in a journal or a diary, recounting my thoughts, my day, my goals, my accomplishments and overall sorting and organizing my thoughts, I have decided that maybe my techniques for sorting through my thoughts might be helpful to someone else. For example, my excessive long-term, short-term, right-now to-do lists, which I find extremely helpful, may help someone else, as well.
And on a more selfish level, sometimes the things I need to sort through are things I feel like I cannot possibly be going through alone. So, maybe if I put it all out there, someone might be able to relate and give me their own feedback on the same (or a similar) situation.
So, with that said, I am in pursuit of accountability in my quest for organization in all aspects of my life in order to be a more successful person for my two and a half year old daughter and my second daughter, who will be born in March.
By writing this blog where I discuss, dissect, and most likely over-analyze whatever it is I've been most thinking about, I may be able to mentally organize, allowing myself to become more organized in a more everlasting sort of way. In turn, those who might stumble upon my blog may also find some in-site into their situation, be it one of a similar style.
Thank you for sticking with me through this first one, and hopefully, you'll be back!
:)
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