| As I was giving a business friend a tour of my home | | | | that he's organized enough to keep our home |
| recently, upon entering my tidy home office (which I | | | | maintenance up, our cars well-serviced, and our |
| now refer to as Kathryn Bechen Ink world | | | | checkbook balanced so that we have more time for |
| headquarters since I've written for and consulted with | | | | love, travel, and friends. |
| people from all over the U.S. and as far away as | | | | 5. Being organized frees you to navigate medical |
| Costa Rica), he joked, "Kathryn, you really need to get | | | | challenges with more ease. As someone who's lived |
| better organized!" And then he proceeded to tell me | | | | with multiple allergies and knows others like me, I can |
| how his very young son has to have all his shirts | | | | attest that having my medical paperwork organized |
| facing the same way in his closet and that he certainly | | | | makes it easier to communicate with my doctor and |
| hoped his daughters-to-be would be more relaxed! | | | | for him to adequately treat me, not to mention it |
| While I can see his point, his words got me thinking. | | | | makes the insurance process go more smoothly. |
| What is the benefit of being an organized person | | | | 6. Being organized helps if you're suddenly out of job. |
| anyway? When is organized "too organized?" When is | | | | With the economic times what they are, any of us can |
| being organized a good thing, and when is it a negative | | | | suddenly find ourselves out of work. If your resume, |
| thing? I've been a naturally organized person since I | | | | support papers, and database are organized and up to |
| was a child, so much so that it became a great part of | | | | date, it makes the job hunt much easier and less |
| my life's work, and after years of helping disorganized | | | | stressful. |
| people get organized through my consulting and writing, | | | | 7. Being organized frees you to travel on short notice. |
| here are my thoughts: | | | | When my friends suddenly announced their son had |
| 1. Being organized can hinder and restrict you or free | | | | moved to Southern California and they would be |
| you or to be a better person; the choice is yours. I | | | | visiting soon and would like to get together with me |
| once had a disorganized client contact me nearly in | | | | and my husband, I was able to clear my calendar and |
| tears. Her rigidly organized and meticulous husband | | | | pull off the trip to see them in short order. How? My |
| was furious about her disorder and no matter how | | | | travel checklist form was ready on my computer, |
| hard she tried, she could not please him. By working | | | | along with a list of my allergy requirements needed to |
| together, I taught her what "true organization" is and | | | | book our lodging, and a plastic bin with my travel |
| what it's not. (And I recommended her husband lighten | | | | supplies at-the-ready in my closet made it easy to |
| up, and perhaps get some counseling for his controlling | | | | pack quickly. |
| personality issues which were destroying her spirit and | | | | 8. Being organized frees you to manage your time |
| their marriage.) I taught her that being an organized | | | | with ease. Finding and using a calendar system that |
| person is not about rigid order like her husband's | | | | works for you and your family enables you to quickly |
| controlling perfectionistic ways; it's about systems and | | | | know at a glance whether you can say "yes" or "no, |
| structure so that the beautiful can emerge. That | | | | but thank you for asking" to any request that comes |
| "beautiful" includes both the physical beauty of the | | | | your way. |
| environment, and the inner beauty of the person. | | | | 9. Being organized and teaching your children those |
| 2. Being organized frees you to be kind and thoughtful. | | | | skills gives them an edge in school. When I taught |
| By having good systems in my home and office, I'm | | | | seventh grade as a student teacher, my first mission |
| free to do kind things for my friends and associates. | | | | was to help my students get all their supplies and |
| They say it was their birthday? Off goes a card | | | | papers organized, to free them to learn. They knew |
| because I have some on hand with a stamp nearby. | | | | that they could not to come to my class unprepared |
| They say they're struggling with a staff issue? I e-mail | | | | and as time passed they thanked me for teaching |
| them an article I just happened to see. They say their | | | | them how to get to class on time with all their |
| father just had surgery? When I make cookies, I have | | | | necessary tools and books in hand. And one CEO of |
| time to take them a batch. Being organized in my own | | | | a small business who hired me to organize his office |
| life frees me to think about others and not be | | | | and his whole staff told me that he went home and |
| exclusively centered on me. | | | | taught his son who was going off to college what I |
| 3. Being organized can increase the size of your bank | | | | had taught him so that his son would have "an edge." |
| account. I was paid up to $125 per hour for hours on | | | | 10. Being organized frees you to see and create |
| end back in the 1990's to help everyone from | | | | beauty. Not a day goes by that I don't appreciate the |
| home-based office entrepreneurs to CEO's get their | | | | beauty of the Southern California area where I live. I |
| paper, stuff, and time organized. While organizing his | | | | orchestrated the move across the country that |
| office, I helped a client unearth a very large sales | | | | enabled me and my husband to live in this dreamy |
| commission check he'd lost, saving both his bank | | | | climate, and by keeping our home and my business |
| account and his marriage. One of my organizing | | | | affairs simple and organized, I have time to take a |
| colleagues just had a large warehouse chain purchase | | | | walk in the park near my home, take a tea break by |
| 15,000 copies of her fourth organizing book. Another | | | | the beach, and to decorate my home so that it's a |
| one of my organizing colleagues is now making six | | | | pleasant and nurturing place for me, my husband, and |
| figures a year teaching others how to get their life and | | | | my friends to be. |
| their businesses organized. Enough said. | | | | So, can you be "too organized?" Sure, if you're going |
| 4. Being organized can enhance your marriage so | | | | to be controlling, critical, and mean-spirited like my |
| there's more time for love. My husband, like many | | | | aforementioned client's husband. But if you combine |
| people these days, has a demanding job that at times | | | | your organizational skills with love and caring, you'll |
| requires dealing with challenging people and a long and | | | | realize that the benefits far outweigh the negatives. |
| stressful commute in traffic. By me keeping our home | | | | The choice is yours. Or as my clients have summed it |
| organized and decorated in a comforting style that | | | | up best to me: "You've inspired me to change my |
| nurtures us both, when he comes home at the end of | | | | chaotic life and I'm so grateful; I no longer feel like a |
| a long day at work, to a hot meal I've made for him or | | | | prisoner of my time or stuff." |
| that we quickly make together because our kitchen | | | | Copyright 2009 Kathryn Bechen and Kathryn Bechen |
| and recipes are organized, he feels blessed, and tells | | | | Ink. All rights reserved. |
| me, "I feel like a very loved husband." And I appreciate | | | | |