Don’t Stress Over Being Organized

Organization begins in the mind, and it manifests itself in an organized life. However, “being organized” is a relative term. I mean, how much organization do you need? Can you be too organized?

I think you can. I think disciplines like time management and personal organization can go way too far. No matter how many times I clean my desk, it’s only a matter of a week or two before it returns to its disheveled state.

Am I sloppy? No. I don’t let it get that bad, but I also don’t clean everything up every night as if it’s a restaurant. Work is always in progress, and as one prolific writer once said, “The day that my office is clean and in order is the day they’re carrying out my dead body.”

Don’t Fight Against Your Own Productivity

Having said that, you should work to organize yourself—just don’t stress over it. If you get into a situation where you’re overextending yourself, you’ll create an unnecessary strain that will war against your productivity. Being “super organized” is stressful to me, so I’m willing to live with certain drawbacks in order to do things my way.

Why don’t I want to be super organized? It’s because I’m a creative person, so ideas and concepts are flowing most of the time. If I get too preoccupied with whether every task is marked on a calendar to be done at a particular date and time, then I’ll stifle my creativity. Sure, there are various tools and software applications out there to help me be organized, but I don’t believe it’s necessary for me.

Do It Your Way

I’ve tried several time management—or “to do”—systems, and every one of them felt like I was wearing someone else’s clothes. I’d start to feel condemned because nothing fit me. I thought there must be something wrong with me. This again would war against my creativity. I finally just said, “Forget it. I’ll do things my way.”

For me, there’s still nothing better than my head, a calendar, and a good old fashioned note pad and pen. So long as I can write things down on a list, I always have that pad easily accessible to see what needs doing.

The key is writing things down as soon as they come to mind. If not, you’ll forget to do it later. It’ll take you a few seconds to write down “Buy more AA batteries.” It’ll take you two trips to the store if you don’t.

On Paper Means Off Your Mind

As I said at the outset, organization begins in the mind, so protecting your mind space is more important than where your files are placed. Therefore, try to find the balance for you between being organized and having peace of mind. Again, if you can just use simple tools like a calendar, pen and pad, you’ll be amazed at how much they’ll help you plug the leaks of forgetfulness and keep unnecessary worries off your mind. If it’s written down, it’ll get done. It should then be off your mind.