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by Patty Kreamer
Finally, an Article for the OVER-organized Perfectionist!
Because I regularly work with people that are say, less than organized, I am often directing my prose to those struggling on a daily basis. However, I believe that I am missing an entire population of OVER-organized folks that waste as much, if not more time, than those surrounded by mounds of clutter.
Here’s how you know if you qualify as an OVER-organized type:
· You write and re-write your to-do list every time you cross something off.
· You write an item on your to-do list AFTER you have done it to be sure you get to cross it off and then you proceed to rewrite the list (again).
· You love to do busy work that adds absolutely no value to your daily work.
· You find yourself creating new folders for every piece of paper you receive.
· You continuously rearrange the papers on your desk without acting on them.
· You spend time organizing your pens in perfect descending order.
Do you qualify? If so, welcome to my world.
I started Kreamer Connect, Inc. in 1999 and it took me almost five full years to realize that I waste a ton of time doing things that are completely unproductive. Sure, I feel great doing them, but feeling good and being broke is not the goal (bummer). It makes much better sense to hire someone to do the “feel good work” that draws me in and apply my time to something that is going to actually make me money. So that’s what I did.
Julie Muehlman joined the Kreamer Connect, Inc. team on February 1 this year and I am glad to say that Julie is OVER-organized. But that is a good thing. Her job is to be OVER-organized. After all, if your job is to keep a professional organizer organized, the pressure is on.
But if your job description does not require you to be OVER-organized, then there comes a time when you need to ask yourself, “is what I am doing adding value to my life and/or work?” or if you are a business owner, “is what I am doing making me money?” If you answer no to either question, you are certainly doing things for naught.
So how do you make changes so you can feel organized, but without the wasted time? The answers are simple, but not necessarily easy to implement.
First and foremost, you have to give yourself permission to be less than OVER-organized (that would make you organized minus the OVER part). Like I said, sounds simple but not easy to do.
Next, take a look at those around you that are your opposite. This would include the ones that can never find anything when they need them, couldn’t care less about being perfect (in fact, the word “perfect” doesn’t even exist for them), and they are late no matter what. See how they do it and copy them.
Let’s Visit Perfectionism, Shall We?
Perfectionism is very exhausting. I know—I am a recovering perfectionist. When I was younger, everything had to be just perfect or it couldn’t be associated with me. In fact, (I know I’m going to regret writing this) they used to call me Patty Perfect in high school. If it wasn’t done 100%, it wasn’t good enough!
If this is you, let me tell you, the other side is so much easier. I never realized how exhausting it was always trying to be perfect. I would work on something incessantly and it might bring personal satisfaction, but did little to enhance the value of the project. You can do a job at an acceptable level in a fraction of the time it takes to do it perfectly. In reality, is perfection even attainable?
Perfection:
Demand it of yourself
and you’ll always be unsatisfied.
Demand it of others
and you’ll always be disappointed.
- Author Unknown
Many times the reason a perfectionist is disorganized is that she believes that she can’t get her room or office to look 100% perfect, so why try? But wouldn’t it be better to have an 80% organized office than a 100% cluttered office?
If you find yourself in these shoes, let go of your perfectionist beliefs for a week and see if your life comes crumbling down around your ears. (HINT: It won’t). You can do this by letting things lie where they are without constantly straightening them; returning a library book after its due date; handing in a report after your first draft; organizing a room for only one hour and being happy with the results. As a recovering perfectionist, I find it liberating to not always strive to be perfect. Give it a try…you’ll be amazed at how much energy you will have for things that you didn’t before.
So what can I say here? Here’s to complicating your life?
Nah…Here’s to simplifying your life.
