To make a very long story short, in the past six months I've gone from being a research assistant to a research/web/admin assistant to web/admin coordinator to web/finance coordinator to being the head finance and admin staffer. It really has been a shift brought on by sheer necessity for organization.
The real irony of it is that since I was a little girl, I was resolved to never have an administrative position. Mostly because I hated talking on the phone and didn't want to deal with stuff like bills and ordering supplies and answering phones (the last of which, fortunately, is not part of my job).
But besides that, I've never considered myself to be an organized person. I can't stick with day timers or other scheduling devices, I'm not good with logistics, I enjoy a little procrastination now and then,and my filing systems tend to be "all my papers are here in one place but not really in any particular order, so let's shuffle through them."
Yet I'm discovering that in the work world, I'm considered to be a very organized person.
This makes me laugh.
Hence, the epiphany: what separates an organized person from a disorganized person? A disorganized person loses and forgets things. But anyone can do that, no matter how fancy and thorough the filing system.
The real secret to "organization" is this:
(1) If it can be done in less than five minutes, do it now.
(2) If it's already been done, mark it as done and put it away out of sight.
(3) If it hasn't been done, keep it right where it most annoys you to have things build up.
And that right there is the only reason I am considered to be an organized person.
This post makes me smile! :)
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