The “A” Word

Most disorganization comes down to one small word – and I’ll tell you what that word is in a minute.

First though…

Where to Start?
Karen looked at me and sighed one of those bone-tired, weary, overworked, overwhelmed kind of sighs.

We were sitting in her office for our first organizing session. Throwing her hands up in resignation, she said, “I don’t even know where to begin.”

As I surveyed her office, I could see that far from “beginning” she’d basically just stopped.

She’d stopped filing, sorting, or even opening her mail.  The piles were growing. Stacks were getting frighteningly high. Magazines and business journals lay strewn about. She even had a small collection of shoes heaped in the corner of her office.

Seeing all of this made me wonder what sort of disarray lay in wait for us on her laptop.

Electronic Clutter Grows, Too
“How many files and folders do you have saved on the desktop of that laptop?” I asked.

Averting her eyes, she wrung her hands and said, “So many I can’t even see the background photo I put on it.”

Questioning her again, “How many emails do you have in your inbox?”

Scrunching up her face, she admitted…

“Well over 6,000 and that number grows daily.”

Somewhere between a little clutter, some disorganization, too many clients this year and too few clients last year, Karen gave up. She got overwhelmed, tired, frustrated, panicked, and in the process began to feel a bit hopeless.

In a word, she’d gone into “avoidance” mode.

“A” is for Avoidance
But in avoiding all of it, she had only caused it to grow. And grow and grow and grow. Soon, it was totally out of control and she felt unable to get a handle on it again.

If you can relate to Karen’s story and/or feel like you’re constantly struggling with disorganization, you’re probably in avoidance mode, too.

Here are the top five ways I see people AVOID:

1. Piles appear – whether it’s snail mail, email, files, or magazines, anytime a pile develops, it’s a sure sign that a decision hasn’t been made.
2. You start cleaning off your desk, floor or credenza, but quickly grow bored or frustrated with the process and quit.
3. Rather than being systematic, creating piles, and sorting carefully, you just start pawing through piles, tossing stuff here and there, and sighing dramatically.
4. You try to muscle through alone, ashamed of the problem or feeling unwilling to ask for help
5. Technology serves as a great distracter – a ringing phone, the ding of arriving email, or any random thought that takes you to the internet serves to distract you  and helps you avoid the process of getting – and staying – organized

The goal of getting organized isn’t just to be able to see and use the top of your desk or be able to walk across your office floor without crunching through papers or having to hop over piles. It isn’t necessarily even about being able to quickly and easily find a document (paper or electronic) without having to embark on the “The Great Search.”

Those are just by-products of good habits, focus, and maintenance of an office space. Those are by-products of making decisions and ending AVOIDANCE.

So, what IS the goal of getting organized?
Well, I think it has a LOT to do with you what you’re avoiding in the first place.

And once you’re ready to tackle that question, call me to help you figure it out. Getting – and staying – organized will be a breeze once we figure that out.

A Partner
Use the OTHER “A” word – accountability. Try some accountability calls for 3 months and see how YOUR business changes for the better! angie@mattsonbusiness.com or (704) 553-8082