Productivity Portfolio

I always knew this day would come. It does for all of us. It's also funny how we rationalize events. I figured I had more time to visit because last week I purchased plane tickets to visit him for his 85^th birthday. Three weeks ago, he asked me to order him books by James Joyce for an upcoming class. Since no one can really comprehend James Joyce in less than five years, I figured we would have many more laughs.

Personal Organization Systems

I also know people organize in their own ways. I don't believe you can implement an organizational system if the person isn't willing. My father was a great example of this. When I was 7, I asked my mother what I could get my father for his birthday. Her suggestion was to clean up his basement workshop. At 7, this suggestion sounded good as socks and ties were boring.

Let's just say that mothers don't always know best. I distinctly recall my father's reaction to my gift. He was glad to see his “little girl” spend the time to clean up his workshop which was no small feat. He was also glad I listened to my mother's suggestion. The problem was I broke my father's organizational system and he was lost.

In his trademark kind way, he explained that while I knew where to find all his tools, he did not. He also asked me never to do that again. I think it took me several days to find where I put his wood plane as I didn't know the tool by that name. To a seven year old, wood planes should have propellers and wings and not knobs and a sharp blade. Many years later, I would draw upon this experience when teaching others the value of speaking the same language.

Less than ten years later, I experienced a similar frustration when my mother would “clean” my room while I was away. I think she stopped that practice about the time someone told her how much my baseball card collection would've been worth. In retrospect, I should've labeled the many shoe boxes with something like “investments” or “college tuition fund”. To be fair, I don't think anyone in my family realized the value of that collection unless they asked the Vivian boys who were honest traders on many of my early trades.

Problems with my Organizational Systems

Although my systems have gotten better over the years, I still find gaps. (Speaking of the same language…that's my way of saying mistakes.) In preparing for my trip, I noticed certain tasks were easy. Packing wasn't an issue as I have travel lists on my computer and PDAs. I also found the contact information for various people with ease. But there were little things that drove me nuts.

The first item I noticed was I kept tripping on cords from my desktop computer. Are the cords new? No. Are the cords in a different place? Not really. Have I ever tripped on these cords before? Not that I recall. All the same, I tripped no fewer than three times on either the mouse cord or headset cord. While I could chalk this up to emotional stress, the solution is to get some cable organizers.

The second item is I can't find my clip on sunglasses. This is a case of a little thing becoming a big thing and making me say many four letter words which aren't good. Since I will be doing 1600 miles of driving, it would best that I find them. I thought I left them in the car glove compartment. This is one case where I wish an item was embedded with a RFID tag. I'm also mad I never found the time to get newer prescription sunglasses.

And let's not forget keys. Here I'm faring a bit better as I have keys. The problem is I have everyone's keys. I threw most of them into an ornamental wood bowl. Someplace in that array of 26 sets, I'll find the ones I need. It's funny how they all look alike, but are different. Some I did identify right away such as those belonging to old boyfriends so we're down to 22 sets. Mathematically, this is progress.

On my return, I should institute a new rule that if friends want me to hold a set of their keys, they need to properly label them. Maybe, I'll suggest they all get a “bump key”.

These are just a few of my observations from today. I've made a note to fix these shortcomings on my return.

A Starting Place – Life Organizers

One of the first places I'll check on my return is LifeOrganizers.com. I first saw a reference to this site by Marylaine Block who writes NeatNew and Exlibris. This is a great newsletter targeted to librarians and info junkies. I can't say I fit into either group, but I do enjoy her findings. She described Life Organizers as

“A rich resource of office and home organizing articles, tips, and fresh, ideas on how to get rid of clutter from every part of your life...the garage to your filing cabinet to your spiritual matters!"

The site is organized by categories which are displayed along the left side. Clicking a category displays a listing of numerous articles. The articles tend to be short and informative. Many of the articles are contributed by consultants or members of professional organizations. A sampling of articles includes:

• 10 Easy Steps to an Organized Home Office
• Paper and Mail Clutter
• Manage your Desktop Computer Cables
• 50 Organizing Ideas
• 6 Keys to Respecting Your Time

Going through the articles did reveal some gems and links to vendor products. It's one of those rare sites where anyone can benefit. One pointer is the “home” link on the left doesn't get you back to the home page like most sites. Instead, it takes you to the page for organizing your home.

As a final tip, call your dad. If you can't think of a subject, ask him if he has ever read James Joyce. Trust me, it won't kill you and you can always blame me. Even my dad would approve.

URL: http://www.lifeorganizers.com/