I am addicted to the Home and Garden Channel. I love so many of their shows. But when I see that Mission Organization is on, my heart gives an extra beat. I love being a voyeur into someone else's huge mess. It always looks worse than mine. Then they bring on our hero--a professional organizer--who delivers the disorganized victim from a mire of paper and other clutter and transforms the space to a breath-takingly functional home office, or kitchen or playroom.
I always wonder if you went back in, say, 6 months, would they still be under the spell of organization? I know. I'm being critical. It's just that, every once in a while, when I can stand it no longer, I go on a rampage, and organize myself to within an inch of my life. Then, gradually, I fall back into old habits, and I lose site of the top of my desk.
This has always been a problem for me. Even from earliest days in elementary school. In high school, my locker was always a train wreck. When I went to nursing school, every instructor...without fail...said, "Ms. Bennet, you take good care of your patients, but you have a problem with organization." Thirty years later, I'm still getting the same comments. Today, at my yearly evaluation, my manager said (practically word for word) the same thing.
I look at my bookshelf. I have a whole shelf of books on how to organize my life, how to get rid of clutter, how to organize housekeeping so that everything gets done. Hmm...and next to "You can lose weight forever"...The word "organization" on a magazine cover also makes my heart go pitty-pat and the mag jumps into my grocery cart.
I've tried all of their systems. They all work. And for a while, while the excitement and newness lasts, I work them to their last nerve. Then, gradually...you got it...I fall back into the old habits, and the system just seems to fade out of my life.
I used to say that I was disorganized because I'm creative. It sounded good...and in some ways, it's true. It seems that I have always have about a thousand ideas bouncing around my brain. But, what I've noticed is that the organized people are really the creative ones. Let me re-phrase. They are the ones who plan to do something, put the plan into action, and finish what they start.
In the early 80's, I read a wonderful book called Disciplines of a Beautiful Women by Ann Ortlund. I loved that book. I set up the notebook as she instructed, and carried it with me everywhere. (This was before day-planners were so plentiful, so this idea was revolutionary...to me, anyway.) Unfortunately, I left it wherever I went. Consequently, it had to be mailed back to me from several of the 48 contiguous United States.
I have friends who don't understand any of this. For them, all of these systems are just a natural part of life. You can always see the top of their desk. They always meet deadlines. Their day-planners are things of beauty. They never seem to be struggling. (I know this is my perception. Everyone struggles with something or other.) They never lose that all-important piece of paper. They say, "Leah, all you have to do is just do it!" Yeah. Easy for them to say!
Because of these people, I've developed an unproven theory. It is my theory that the art of organization is hidden in a gene yet to be found. I hope and pray that some scientist is staying up nights trying to find it. It is also my theory that I don't have that gene. Maybe they can develop a drug to help those with the missing organization gene compensate. However, I do have the gene that loves the idea of order and the beauty of an uncluttered life. So, I guess I'll continue to try all of those systems until I find the miracle one for me.
I wish for everyone the perfect organization system to direct their ordered lives.
