Orderliness

vs. confusion

Organizing my thoughts and surroundings for greater acheivement

To practice Orderliness I will:

• organize my work area for efficiency
• pick up after myself
• put things back where they belong
• spend time planning
• order my thoughts to communicate clearly

“Orderliness: Start with the Calendar”
-Jill W Tomey

Orderliness is such a hot topic these days with the glutton of de-clutter books and methods available. These focus on pitching things you do not need and organizing what remains. To approach this from the quality of Orderliness, there needs to be a first step of deciding priorities so that the pitching and organizing can support values and goals.

For example, if the plethora of sports equipment in the garage is unmanageable, perhaps the first question is to look at the schedule and determine if the kids need to be involved in every sport. Looking at what you can eliminate from the schedule can help determine what items you should keep. Do yardwork and gardening take time away from family activities? Choosing a simple, more maintenance-free design may be what gives priority to the family. If exercise is a priority, does it have a place of preference in the order of your day or is it something you try to fit in? The same could apply to meditation, home-cooked meals or special time with a loved one.

To find out about what your schedule says about your priorities, look at where you spend your time. Take a week and be aware of where your time is spent. Total up the hours doing things aligned with your values versus all that filler stuff that is so easy to get caught up in. If the filler stuff is taking away time from priorities, it is time to make the hard decisions that will reduce the time spent on time-wasters. Be careful not to eliminate downtime and true restful relaxation.

This month, use Orderliness to declutter your schedule and your stuff to make time for what you really want to do.