Organization is Essential

I think we'd all agree that we need water to survive. We could all make a case that food is necessary. Those of us in the CF community would not do so well if treatments were taken away. I may be reaching here (okay, I'm definitely reaching here), but I'd like to add the act and the finished product of organizing. Mandi and I recently finished an organization project (and by "and" I of course mean, mostly Mandi) and I can't tell you the difference it makes.

I was starting to unravel a bit in the chaos known as my office. I had papers strewn all over the place, used medication vials that missed the trashcan shoved into a corner and documents to be filed were piled a mile (That's some Dr. Seuss stuff right there!!) high all over my desk.

Mandi saw that I was "off" and after working her magic, that has all changed.

I've identified 5 things that are a result of an organized office that I hope convinces you just how essential organization really is.

An organized space re-energizes.

I was really looking forward to get to work today. Instead of worrying about what I was going to tackle first or the order of which I was going to check stuff off the list, I was instead focused on how eager I was to actually get it done. Today, it feels more like an opportunity then work. I'm very curious to see how much more efficient this makes me and how much more productive, as a result of energy, I'm able to be.

An organized desk makes it easier to "check stuff of the list".

One of the biggest keys to getting stuff done and being productive, is to know what actually needs to be done! It's also helpful to have some semblance of order by which things need to be done - whether they are time sensitive or because I need to check off box "a" before moving on to box "b". With most of the stuff that was on my desk put away into their proper places, I am now able to clearly see (literally) what needs to be done.

An organized room helps to "de-stress".

You've probably read in past blogs that I've written that stress is not something that I struggle with often. I have to say though, yesterday I was starting to feel the tightening of my scapula muscles which for me is a sure sign of stress. I didn't know which way was up and which way was down when to turn left or where to turn right, all I knew was the way I was going about how my "office" was running was not the most efficient.

An organized file system makes it easier to pull vital material.

I can't tell you the number of times I've said, “I know I put X,Y or Z in this pile”. I then spend 5 to 15 minutes searching for X, Y and Z instead of actually working on X, Y and Z. If I can save 5 to 15 minutes a day as a result of actually being able to locate various files and documents, I will have an extra half an hour to 90 minutes every single week to get stuff done! I'm practically drooling thinking about it :)

An organized office is nice to look at.

My office now looks like a working environment. It doesn't look like some college kids dorm room or a gigantic “catchall” closet (we have one of those too!). When I walked into the office this morning it just felt nice. It felt more open, more comfortable, and more conducive to getting as much done in a day as I possibly can. Most of us are visual creatures by habit and an organized office is not only pleasing to the eye but pleasing to, I (wahhhhh wahhhhh).

So what about you? Have you organized a particular room in your house lately and also experienced the “organization high"? What did you organize? Any tips you can leave on how to become a better organizer? All tips are welcome as we plan on implementing this to other areas of the house!!!