I sit here with an Arizona Iced Tea bottle, 2 cups, 5 race sign up sheets, a to-do note card, and a pen strewn across my desk. Organized? Not so much. But hey, life can be chaotic sometimes and letting it be so is a-okay. This becoming a habit is definitely not what I am promoting, but trying to neurotically control everything in life will only make you hate life a lot more.
Breathe. Sometimes, even I forget to just breathe. I am looking at these things sitting on my desk knowing I could organize and/or rid them in about 2 minutes, but I have the urge to write a post, so I am letting them bake in the light of the fluorescent bulb for a tad longer. I think you should just take the 2 minutes and organize it 9 out of 10 times, but sometimes you just have to let it go and come back to it later.
I will not suggest this often. I have grown to address the things I should and need to right away so that I do not have to deal with them anymore or dwell on consequences. But very rarely, we need to relax, know everything will work out one way or another and just say, “No Worries.”
LifeEx Action Steps:
- 90% of the time, organize and address clutter or issues as soon as possible
- Ask yourself how much NOT doing ‘this’ action will affect your day
- Be honest with yourself. Stop putting 90% of organizing off by referencing it as your 10%
Have a great day…
Dave Damron
LifeExcursion
I’m from New Zealand and we have a saying, “She’ll be right, mate!” It is our way of saying don’t worry about things. They’ll work out okay. Sometimes we, trying to be organized, end up creating more stress for ourselves. Like you said. Just breathe.
.-= Gordie Rogers´s last blog ..How To Stay Motivated. =-.
I agree with your thoughts and am interested in that NZ take on ‘No Worries’
I want to STRESS that this should only be the case here and there. Organization is GREAT and should be implemented often. Just wanted to make sure we all know the diff.
Thanks for commenting Gordie
Dave
LifeExcursion
Sometimes organizing can feel an awful lot like procrastinating
I like the idea of just staring at it for a bit … do I really, really need to fix it right now?
In my 10-year-old’s words: “Just chill!”
-naima
Hey Naima—
I agree, but like I said to Gordie. we should remember that organizing is MUCH better than not. I say implement organizing more often than not, but don’t let it kill you.
Thanks for commenting
Dave
LE
Simple and to the point. I like it. I’m a big fan of being organized. I actually have an apartment in LA where my friend lets me stay when I surf, but he’s completely disorganized so I always try to do all my work while I’m at my parents house.
I hear ya. Sometimes being an organized individual makes you realize the problems that are friends and family have and how they could solve so much stress.
Thanks for commenting Srini
Dave
LE
Good article Dave! I have been trying to “go with the flow” more lately, as Derek Sivers’ blog post also suggests:
http://sivers.org/dont-fight-it
Even though discipline is great, sometimes it just doesn’t pay to go against what your instinct is urging you to do!
Cheers to the moment!
.-= Wendy Lynn Staats´s last blog ..Fitness and Drumming =-.
Thanks for commenting Wendy…
Your key point….SOMETIMES…..
Dave
LE
Like you said, it’s good to take a small break once in a while. You can come back refreshed and in a better state of mind.
.-= Ken Kurosawa´s last blog ..How to Increase Your Reading Speed and Retention =-.
Thanks Ken for taking a look and sharing your thoughts.
Dave
LE
“Ask yourself how much NOT doing ‘this’ action will affect your day” …needed to read that today.
I was just hit with the reality of 80/20ing organizing. I’m a clean freak…but I’m waking up to the fact that making sure that everything is in its exact place, all the time…going the extra %20…might actually be killing my productivity despite it’s aim. If my organizing and cleaning prevents me from actually getting things done…it’s not actually accomplishing the end goal of what is meant to be done by organizing and cleaning…which is making things better so you can get stuff done. Find the balance…nice.
Thanks.
.-= Robert´s last blog ..How to Reboot your Brain and Regain Life Control =-.