Write, Breathe, Live

Oh, Yes!

I’m working right now on an article about organizing. In one of my researches, I came across this from the Idea-Pak email that Maria Gracia’s Get Organized Now website sends:

The Infamous Organizational Myth

Myth: To be organized means to be neat or tidy.

Yes, we will admit you can be neat and organized at
the same time. But, there is also a huge percentage of
neat, but extremely disorganized, men and women.

In fact, and this one's probably going to surprise you--
you can be the total opposite of neat (you can be sloppy)
and still be organized!

So, what does it mean to be organized?

Truth: To be organized means:

1) You get everything done when it's due.

2) You find everything easily when it is needed.

It's really that simple.

Keep these two phrases in mind, and you're well on your way
to optimum organization.

After reading this, all I could think about is: “I’m vindicated!”. Why? Because my workplace isn’t what most people would call neat. In fact, my OC hubby (he hates seeing anything out of place) always chides me “How can you work like that?! Look at the shelf of your computer table, can you still find anything there? Your desk is overflowing and there isn’t any space left for doing anything else on top of the table!” My usual answers : “I can work fine, thank you very much! And yes I can find every teeny-tiny thing I need when I need it. Just don’t mess around with my stuff!”

A long time ago, out of the goodness of his heart (or simply because he can’t stand looking at the mess anymore?), hubby re-arranged my things in the computer room without my permission. Needless to say, I almost went out of my mind and told him off “Don’t you ever touch anything here again! Now I’ll spend thrice the time looking for my files!” My hapless and clueless husband could only say “What did I do wrong? Look how clean the place is!”

Oh don’t get me wrong. I am not such the slob you are probably envisioning already right now. I do arrange my tons of files, scraps of paper and tiny notebooks every now and then, in my own sweet time (read: when I feel like it). That way, I still get to know where I’ve put everything and would still find anything when I go looking.

Nowadays, he would simply stare at my workstation, shake his head, look at me accusingly and then go away. Thank goodness! My workplace is still messy most of the time, but I’m happy, because that’s how I prefer it to be.