ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, September 25, 1996 TAG: 9609250027
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BARBARA HEMPHILL NEW YORK TIMES
AT NO TIME IN HISTORY has there been a greater need for organization. The media and our mailbox remind us daily of things over which we have no control but which have a major effect on our personal and professional lives.
Information is accumulating at a faster rate every day. Computers, fax machines, cellular phones and on-line services enable us to do more - and require us to do more. Businesses are downsizing. Executives used to having support staff to keep them organized are faced with organizing themselves.
Home-based businesses, often with no administrative support, are at an all-time high. Dual career couples, single parent families and families dealing with aging parents struggle to cope with the demands of juggling their personal and professional lives.
In addition to the fact there is more to organize, and fewer people to do it, our expectations are continually rising. If I can fax you a question in 20 seconds, why can't you fax me the answer?
In a global economy, businesses face a constant demand for decreasing costs while increasing quality of products and services. The price of failure could well be the loss of your job, or for a business-owner, the failure of a company.
Network marketing companies cite ``lack of organization skills'' as one of the major causes of failure, while Fortune 500 companies are adding ``organization skills'' as one of the criteria included in performance evaluations.
Many people are reluctant to get organized because they have been misled about what it means to be organized.
First of all, organization is not neatness. That old adage ``A place for everything and everything in its place'' is half right. Stress comes not from the clutter, but when we'd like to clean up the clutter and don't know where to put it so we can find it again. Having everything in its place depends on your needs and your personal style.
Organization is not efficiency. Efficiency is the mechanics of a task - the fastest way to get from here to there. But in our demanding world, the real question is ``Should we go there at all?''
If you look at your ``to do'' list one item at a time, you can do each item on it. The problem arises when you are trying to do them all - with continuing new demands and new opportunities.
Organization is not a destination, it is a journey. Frequently people become frustrated because they organize some aspect of their lives - and then suddenly it's all disorganized again.
Organizing is an ongoing process, something we need to incorporate into our lives on a regular basis, such as evaluating your business goals or maintaining your car. Being organized means you have the ability to recover from extenuating circumstances which are inevitable.
Organization is not a moral issue, in spite of what your mother may have told you. Just as some people are born with an ability for athletics or music, some people are born with an ability to organize.
But if you aren't born with that skill, you can learn it if you are sufficiently motivated. You will be motivated when you realize the price you pay for disorganization is greater than you are willing to pay.
Organization in and of itself is of no value. It is simply a tool, but an essential tool to help you accomplish what is important to you. Your definition of organization should be very simple: Does it work? Do you like it? And if what you are organizing - or not organizing - affects others, there is a third question: Does it work for them?
If you have trouble getting organized, you're not alone. An entire profession has evolved as a result of the difficulty people have in getting organized. The National Association of Professional Organizers, headquartered in Austin, Texas, whose members help people organize their homes and offices, has more than 800 members in 40 states and four foreign countries.
So why is it difficult to get organized? Three reasons come up frequently: ``I don't have time,'' ``I don't know how'' and ``I don't want to!''
People often say they don't have time to get organized, yet they waste untold hours looking for what they need. Research says the average executive spends 150 hours per year looking for misplaced information. The customer-service department of an insurance company frequently had four or five people spending 30 minutes or more looking for a misplaced file.
You don't have time to get organized - or you don't have time because you don't get organized?
Unfortunately, one of the major stumbling blocks is that people often don't know how. We certainly don't do a very good job of teaching it in our society! One organizing consultant in Texas said most of her clients were people in their early 30s who didn't know how to manage a household.
But perhaps one of the biggest deterrents of all is ``I don't want to.'' True, it's often boring work, but when the chaos in any area of your personal or professional life feels overwhelming, applying organizing skills will help.
So how do you get organized? Here are some strategies which will help you in organizing your personal and professional life.
*Decide what really matters.
Disorganization is often a result of trying to avoid conflict or reality. For example, if you don't put everything you plan to do on your calendar, you don't have to deal with the reality that it isn't humanly possible to do everything you say you're going to do.
But if you have 25 pieces of paper scattered over your desk because you don't want to face a list of 25 phone calls, you risk losing the name of someone important.
*Eliminate the unnecessary in your life.
Research shows that 80 percent of what we have we never use, but we are afraid to let go of or afraid to go without.
Our stuff is our security blanket - and often hides our real problem. Ultimately, to be organized, you must choose to keep only what you use.
*Choose the right tools.
Eight times out of 10, a stumbling block to organization is not having the right tool. Thankfully, there are more organization tools on the market than ever before - stores and catalogs full.
Select a tool effectively, by identifying the size or amount of what you are organizing, where you will be when you use it and what you need to maintain it.
*Learn how to file.
Information is power - if you can find it when you need it. Eight out of 10 offices have miserable filing systems. If your office is filled with paper, you can be sure the filing system isn't working.
Your home may also be cluttered with paper. As a result you spend precious time and money because you can't find what you need when you need it.
*Ask for help when you need it.
No one is embarrassed to hire a consultant for their computer system or a mechanic for their air-conditioning. Yet people are often reluctant to admit they need help with organizing their home or office.
Hire someone to help you organize one area of your life, and the benefits will carry over into other areas.
Barbara Hemphill is a Raleigh, N.C.-based professional organizer and past president of NAPO. She is the author of ``Taming the Paper Tiger'' (Kiplinger Books, 1992) and ``Taming the Office Tiger'' (Kiplinger Books, 1996).
LENGTH: Long : 126 linesby CNB