When people invent solutions to problems, they rarely have a vision for how their work will effect the distant future. The company that created the idea for putting sniglets of information on sticky notes probably did have some idea how addictive this practice would become for the untold thousands of people who use these products. Unfortunately for consumers, few people who started out using these handy little reminders could envision their workspace becoming cluttered with a cascading waterfall of sticky notes tumbling from the walls, terminals, and file cabinets in office spaces everywhere. Heaven forbid when a member of the cleaning staff bumps the wrong note and sends it to oblivion. Closely related to the unhappy crowd of sticky note freaks is another group of people who jealously guard their compulsion to remain shackled to their favorite form of inefficient organization. For purposes of identification, I will call this bunch the Calendar Heads. Calendar Heads are people who have perfectly good technology sitting right on their desktop, but feel so frustrated with using computers to do anything, they would rather write down all their important notes in the tiny little squares of their paper based desktop or wall hung calendar pages. These folks are a bit more organized than the sticky note freaks, because they have at least some sense of time and date organization when they scratch out their reminders and appointments on a paper calendar. Over time, the speed of doing business causes a Calendar Head to surrender when they run out of room to write, or have to perform the time consuming task of year end paper calendar changing. There is also a problem with turning through pages to search for what happened several months back. When the year changes, the dread of deciding how many months to save from last year's calendar descends upon them. The Calendar Head group that comes closest to being almost organized are people who rely on the various paper based organizer systems. These people have learned the benefits of separating event calendars from appointment calendars, creating a contact and address list, and have the discipline to write down important information in the narrow lines their organizer pages provide for capturing vital data. For some people, there is nothing more gratifying than to ask a question that sends a well equipped Calendar Head frantically flipping through the tabs of a fat organizer book, looking for an answer. Whether you are a sticky note freak, a Calendar Head, or somewhere in between, sooner or later you will have to perform the unpleasant task of weeding out irrelevant information, and reorganizing the trail of data that keeps you in touch with what you are supposed to be getting done right now. Wherever you find a person who feels inundated with details, and unable to keep track of the daily minutia associated with accomplishing tasks, you will also find a person whose system of organization has failed them. Over time, you will also find a category of important information that does not fit into one of the standard buckets of separation, but is nonetheless important for you to track. My personal recommendation is to find a system that allows the advantages of electronic maintenance, hard copy printing of information for off computer use, features that provide more latitude in categorical information design, and a quick way to back up old data while refreshing the system for the coming year. Using electronic organization can help you locate buried information faster than turning pages, and keep you on track. As I worked through these issues for myself, there was a measure of satisfaction derived from moving away from the costly rubber stamp methodologies offered by most current organizational systems. Everyone is unique, so why should we be forced to use the same format for establishing a system of personal efficiency? For more suggestions on how to move from being almost organized to satisfied, you are welcome to explore some alternative approaches by visiting my website. Good time management is a function of using the right tools to assist your efforts. |
