March 22, 2006
Next
Week I've Got To Get Organized
I’m not
very organized.
My desk drawers are a jumble of papers, rubber bands and partially-eaten
cheese sandwiches. My wallet is bursting at the seams with all sorts of
things, but I can never find my driver’s license, or Social Security
card when I need them. The glove box in the car is empty, but the
floors are piled high with yellowed newspapers, soft drink cups and gosh
knows what else.
Nope. I’m not very organized.
I vow often to be more organized. But then something comes up and I have
to put off until tomorrow (or the next month) my plans to do it.
I guess I’m not very organized because I’m a saver of all things
trivial. A pack rat. I never throw anything away because I really
believe I will someday need all of the things I have.
I have a file cabinet at work and it has several of those cardboard
dividers, you know, the ones with the little plastic clips on which you
can record what is inside the various file folders. Some people write
“Things To Do” and “People To Call” on those clips. To date, I have
filled out only one divider. It is marked “Miscellaneous.”
The “In” and “Out” basket on my desk is half a doughnut box I found in
somebody else’s wastebasket, but I haven’t the foggiest idea which of
the thousands of items in the basket are supposed to be “In” and which
are supposed to be “Out,” so everything is just kind of lying there
collecting cobwebs and dust.
Another reason I’m not organized is that I don’t believe being organized
is much fun.
I’ve known plenty of people who were organized. Most were real bores. I
think being disorganized makes life much more exciting. I mean, hey,
it’s fun to reach into a desk drawer and not know what you’re going to
pull out. It’s a blast finding something in your wallet that you
thought you threw away 11 years ago.
My wife Sally doesn’t share my enthusiasm for things haphazard. Her
motto is “Everything has its place,” and while it isn’t exactly a clever
motto, it seems to work just fine for her. Yes, she’s extremely
organized. And she wants me to get organized, too.
The other
day she bought me a little sign. It says “Get Organized!”
I’m going to put the sign on top of my desk so it will serve as a
constant reminder to me.
Now let me think. . .what did I do with that sign?
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