I need to organize my vanity so chose this picture for inspiration for this post. I recently got new IPhone organizational software (yes, seriously) and was inspired to write this for the AutoFocus Yahoo Group I moderate. Can you relate to my Organi-Craziness? If so, how do you cope with it?
I think I have some of your predispositions, just not to the same
degree. I LOVE anything organizational–books, systems, products,
software. I'm in hog heaven when I buy them and get them set up. During
this process, I imagine how "perfectly" it will work for me. I will be
so productive, meet all my goals, and be so orderly. Then sometime
after I've used it for a while, it gets boring or tedious. So I don't
use the system as described. I get upset with myself for "failing" and
I commit to using it more perfectly the next day. Then as time goes on,
I use the system/approach/product less and less or even less like I'm
supposed to. Soon I feel overwhelmed by the backlog of not only tasks I
haven't done but organizing rules I haven't followed. That's when I
decide that it isn't me, but the system that's at fault. I hunt for a
new system and start the whole process all over again.
This is how I'm dealing with this predisposition at present:
I acknowledge my need for frequent change. I have to change things up
(buy new containers, use a different schedule, etc.) on a regular
basis–not because there's anything wrong with me or the system, but
just because change keeps me motivated.
I acknowledge my desire for perfection will never be met. I would love
to have a day with no interruptions. I'd love to have a time management
plan that works out exactly as I conceive it. I would love it if I
never grew lazy. It won't happen! Enough said.
I acknowledge that having a lot to do is what gets me up in the
morning. Nothing would be more depressing to me than not having enough
to do. If I had my whole house organized, all my projects were caught
up, and I was right on schedule, I'd probably drive to the nearest
bridge. Just kidding! But it really would suck the joy out of my life.
I thrive on lots to do.
I acknowledge that I can't do it all. I love AF's no-guilt approach to
letting tasks go. There's no hour-long session of wracking your brain
to determine what's most important, what needs to be pruned from your
life, etc., etc. These less important tasks simply get dismissed by
default.
I acknowledge that I will continue to be tempted to continue in my
crazy organizational cycle. I am a very creative, productive person who
sometimes wastes time by going off on the latest organizing tangent. If
that's the worst thing I do in life, I can live with it. My goal isn't
to never go organi-crazy again; it's to keep these episodes shorter and
less frequent. That's a non-perfectionistic goal I think I can achieve.
I hope something in my approach strikes a chord with you.
Melanie, my dear one, if you couldn’t find a new organizational tool, it would cut your shopping trips in half at least. What fun would that be? That would be the “Lost Chord.”