About Jesus Steve Sweetman
So You Really Want To Be Organized.
Disclaimer
In writing the following I have no specific people or person in mind. But if the shoe happens to fit, you can wear it. Just
remember, I didn't buy the shoe for you. It's your shoe and you
are responsible for it. I take no responsibility for the actions that someone might take after reading these pages. I am not liable for some old sentimental artifact that might find its way into the trash bin. I am not liable for the arguments that may occur due to the fact that one party in the family can't find his or her socks anymore, after someone has put them back in the dresser drawer where they belong. Let the reader bear the brunt of his or her choices after reading these paragraphs.
My hope is that this will be a light hearted attempt at encouraging the reader to believe that an organized lifestyle is a real possibility.
Introduction
How do you feel when you are around that person you know who is so very well organized? Do you feel envious? Do you feel inadequate? How about, just downright nasty and spiteful? You know, you've heard it said, "that guy is so organized that it
is disgusting." He has that Kenny Rogers hair and beard. There is not a hair out of place. Wouldn't you just love to get a finger or two in that hair and mess it all up real good.What about that guy who is always on time? You agree to meet him in a certain place, and of course he always beats you. By the time you get there you already have your list of excuses at your finger tips, ready to use in your own defense. Then when you do, the words sputter out like a baby slobbers pabulum. The
words just don't sound right, do they. So you shake your head and laugh it off with that nervous laugh you have down so pat.What do you think when you go into Mrs. Tidy's house? Maybe you wonder where to sit. You wouldn't want to put a wrinkle in some nice smooth cushion on the sofa. What you probably think and feel is just a little envious. Right? Now come on, admit to the fact that you would love all the extra room that tidiness brings. As a matter of fact it would make a good excuse to go out and buy new furniture. First of all, with the junk gone you would have more room for that new chair. Second of all you certainly would need that new chair since after taking away the clutter you would actually see that old chair. You would then notice that the chair is in bad shape. You just haven't seen it lately due to all the mess. Mrs. Tidy's house now does make you feel a little envious, doesn't it. Or should I say, it simply makes you jealous. Or maybe you just prefer the sloppiness of that place you call home.
What about that guy who always keeps his car clean. It is fifteen years old and you can't understand why it looks in better shape than your new car. If you could only find the time to clean your car then maybe you would see the original colour that has long escaped your memory. You think to yourself, "where does he get the time to keep that thing so clean. The guy must sleep in his driveway in order to catch every speck of dust that falls from the sky on that shiny exterior. You certainly aren't going to get that organized are you? Besides, it is only a car. What's a little dust, and dirt, and mud, and road salt. By the way, what's a little rust, and a hole in the fender. The dirt and grime does a good job at hiding all that in your car
anyway. I wonder if the holes would appear so soon it you would
clean the car more often. Probably not, eh? It's most likely General Motors fault for building a cheap car that cost so much to buy and maintain. Passing the blame on to them sounds like a good idea to me. They get a lot of blame these days. What's a little more.How do you feel when you get up late in the morning because you didn't set the alarm? You start on the fast track as soon as your first foot hits the carpet. You run to the shower, tripping over your shoes that you left in the middle of the floor the night before. You say a nasty hello to the first kid you see on the way to the bathroom. You strip yourself as quick as you can while turning on the shower. You jump in the bathtub and let out a horrendous scream due to the boiling hot shower water. You scrub yourself clean as you hear your neighbour in the next apartment singing while he takes his shower. You think to yourself, "what's wrong with that guy? This is no time of day to be singing." Then you get out and put your clothes over that half wet body. With your hair still wet you rush to the kitchen and prepare a cup of coffee, a slice of toast, knowing that there is no time to eat, so you take it with you. You hope your hair is dry by the time you get to work. If you are a lady you are in a real bind. You want to hit all of the green lights, but you need a few red ones to give you time to put your makeup on your face.
You finally make it. You're briskly walking down the hall, saying a hasty hello to everyone you pass by. You flop down on your chair at the desk and sigh, and say, "I made it." And so you did, but where is your mind and what shape is it in to work. You might as well be working on a merry-go-round, since your head is spinning in circles. The thing that really bugs you though is the guy next to you. He is sipping his morning coffee he picked up in the snack bar at work. He had time to get a nice hot cup. You still have that cold cup of coffee you brought from home.
You're lucky it didn't spill in the hastiness of life. Oh well you did get to work. That is the important thing. That's life.
Really that doesn't have to be life. There are some things that we can hopefully learn about life to help us out and not feel so frazzled and bent out of shape. How many nasty and regretful words have you wished you hadn't said because you were in a big hurry and didn't have time to think about what you were saying. There are some practical suggestions that can help us all out concerning these matters.
First of all some people are predisposed to tidiness and
organization. It's simply in their genes, so it comes easy to them. For the multitude who do not have the right genes there is still some hope. It
just takes some thinking and
learning, and trying, and trying again. It can come.Let me end this chapter by saying, a cluttered brain leads to a cluttered lifestyle. It starts in our thinking. Unless we clean up the clutter and excess activity in our mind we'll have a hard time being that organized person we so desperately want to be. We can't be organized when our brain is racing in all directions. When our thoughts are scattered from one end of our brain to the other it's tough to put life into perspective. We don't need to be thinking of a thousand things at once. We need our brain to be focused. We need a sense of clarity and direction within our head.
So what does an organized person like, and what does he hate, and how does he operate? What can we learn from him? Are there any tips or hints that he can give us? Let us take a look at such a person. Let's see what we can learn. There has got to be some clues for us. Well, there are lots of things to learn. So let's get underway. Ready or not, here goes.
(a cluttered head makes for a cluttered life)
Chapter Two
An Organizer Loves Garbage Day
If you want to know when garbage day is in your neighbourhood just ask your friendly Mr. Organizer neighbour. He never misses that day of the week. As a matter of fact it is something he plans for a couple days in advance. He is in love with garbage day. The only day he likes better is Christmas and once that is over he can't wait to get rid of all that wrapping paper and boxes and general Christmas clutter.
If garbage day falls on a Friday, then you will see him scampering around like a busy squirrel gathering nuts. He looks high and low for any piece of junk that he can get out in a bag by the side of the road. He never waits until the last minute in fear missing some important junk to trash. Com Wednesday he is in the basement, the attic, the back yard , and even tempted to hop the fence to get the neighbours trash. He packages everything in large bags and neatly places them on the side of the street before dinner Thursday night. Never will he wait until Friday morning by chance the garbage truck beats him to the curb, resulting in him being stuck with that junk until next week. Come Friday morning bright and early he takes one last look around. He empties the waste paper basket in the bathroom, the one in bedroom, and the one under the sink in the kitchen. What a feeling of liberation he has once that last bag is out by the side walk. Then he hears the truck roaring down the street and gives thanks to God that another day has come to release himself of all the unwanted garbage in his life.
Yes the organized person loves garbage day. How do you feel about garbage day? Maybe you miss it most of the time. Maybe that's the reason your basement smells so bad. Maybe that's the reason why mice have made an upstairs apartment in your attic, with no intention of paying any rent. Maybe you have never been asked to state your feelings about garbage day. You say that you don't have feelings concerning garbage day. Then maybe it's time to develop some feelings.
(accumulate should be a four letter word)
Chapter Three
An Organizer Hates Household Clutter
Have you ever gone to the kitchen to find a spoon? You open the drawer and see none to be found. You glance over and down into the sink and see them all there, dirty and stained. You say, "oh no not again. I hate having to get my hands all wet just in order to wash one spoon. After I dry my hands they feel so dry I have to go all the way upstairs to try to find some hand cream to put on them". Half the time the hand cream is no where to be found.
How many times do you walk by clutter hoping someone else will pick it up for you. Yet every time you walk by it is still there. Others just ignore it like you. So you do finally decide to pick up that old newspaper and notice that it is a week and a half old. You think, "that paper is last week's. I am amazed that someone hasn't picked it up by now."
Then the worst of all happens. You have five minutes to get out the door and head down to the bank and you can't find your bankbook. Your desk is a mess. It looks like the garbage truck had unloaded its trash on top of your desk. You go searching for the checkbook and you can't find it anywhere. It's not where it is supposed to be. Of course you always put it in the same spot when you're done with it, right? So it's your wife's fault. She took it and never put it back and so you get mad at her. Then a humungous fight breaks out and the kids are in the background taking bets on who will win the fighting match this time around.
So there you are. Time is up and you are now late once again. Doesn't that make you feel just great? You're late. Your wife is mad at you and the kids are now fighting over who won the bet. You slam the car door and as a result a bunch of old papers fall off the dash board, one of which is your checkbook. "Oh, that's where I left that stupid thing." You finally get to the bank and the teller says, "hi, how are you doing." You reply, "just great". What a joke. If it wasn't so pathetic it would be worth laughing over.
Well Mr. Organizer can't stand living in clutter. When he uses something he puts it back immediately so he always knows where it is.
He washes all the dishes after every meal, I mean every meal, not every fourth meal. He is always cleaning off the kitchen counter. He is always cleaning off his desk as well. He even cleans off the unwanted information on the hard drive of his computer. He says, "clutter is clutter, no matter where it is."
He can't stand walking by things on the floor. You know, like shoes, pillows, toys, TV guides, last nights snack, dirty socks, used tissues, fuzz balls, and all the rest. There's always some piece of something to pick up and return to its place.
By in large the guy has everything in its place most of the time. The question I'd like to ask you is, do you have a place for everything? Do you have a place for anything? He has a place for his toothbrush, and it's not on the sink. He has a place for floppy disks, and they're not scattered all over the desk and office. He has a place for the latest newspaper, and a place for the old newspapers. He keeps all of his photographs in albums, not stuck in envelopes all over the house. He even has the photos numbered along with the negatives for easy access when reprints are wanted. He has his white socks on one side of his drawer and brown socks on the other side. He has the extra rolls of toilet paper in arms reach of the toilet in case of a crises when the spool runs dry. Get the picture? He seems to have a spot for anything and everything. He hates clutter. He loves tidiness. He just loves to be able to sit down and rest knowing that all of life is in its place, or at least that part of life that he has control of. There's little or no frustration because of missing things he needs. He could walk around the house with his eyes closed because he knows where things are.
What a peaceful and tranquil place he has to live in. Can you see out your kitchen window or does the mile high stack of dishes block your view of the sun? Can you walk out your side door without tripping over boots, shoes, coats, hats and last night's pizza box. Maybe it's time to knock the pile of dishes over into a sink full of water. What do you think?
Chapter Four
The Organizer Loves Wet Hands
Most of us don't like wet hands. Well the organizer either likes his hands wet or else he is constantly putting hand cream on his dry skin, that got so dry from being wet so often. His hands are wet because he is always cleaning something. He cleans the dishes. When he's finished that he cleans the toilet, the bathtub, the floors, the children, the cat, the dog, the car and the driveway. Everything in sight that is worth cleaning is cleaned. He will look at that dirty old car in the midst of a cold winter day and say, "that thing needs to be cleaned". So to avoid frostbite he puts on plastic gloves and gets to work. He washes as fast as he can since the water tends to freeze on the car soon after he applies the sponge. He just hates it when his wife takes the car out just after being cleaned and goes through the deepest mud puddle in the city just for the fun of it.
Talk about dishpan hands, well this guy has them. He's a prime target for one of the TV adds. The choice is between wrinkly fingers or dirty dishes. He takes the wrinkly fingers.
At least he has clean hands as well, even though they are cracked and dry and ready to flake away if he doesn't get something on them fast. That's why he has some hand cream on almost every floor of the house. Actually he'd prefer a second tap at the sink that was hooked to a large container of petroleum gel. All he would have to do then would be to turn the tap and out comes creamy moistness for his parched hands.
So if you ever shake the hand of Mr. Organization and wonder why his skin flakes off as you squeeze his hand, you will know why. It's because his hands have spent too much time in water. That presents us with this question. How wrinkled and dry is the skin on your hands? You say that your hands are nice and moist and smooth. Then how many dirty dishes can be found in your sink at this present moment?
Chapter Five
The Organizer Hates Spending His Weekend Cleaning
You're probably asking, how can this be so? You probably think this guy is cleaning all the time, but he knows something that you might not know. He knows that if you clean and pick up after yourself regularly then you don't have to spend hours on end, all at once doing what should have been done over the last month. Like, if you take the ten minutes to wash dishes after every meal, you won't be stuck doing that for an hour every four days. Mr. Organizer likes things clean. He likes clean dishes, but he really doesn't want to spend an hour or two at a time doing it. He figures that it is more tolerable spending ten minutes, four time a day than two hours every other day. You are more motivated to clean a small stack of dishes, than a stack as tall as the CN Tower. The CN Tower stack is very overwhelming and as a result doesn't get done.
This is the reason why he stops and picks up that dirty sock that's in front of the TV. If he waits to do it later, there's more to pick up. It's not just the dirty sock anymore, but it's the other match to that dirty sock and maybe even underwear as well. Why would underwear be in front of the TV you ask? I could only guess why. Other than maybe an obvious reason, in an unorganized house things seem to appear in all sorts of strange places.
Clutter likes clutter. Where one piece of clutter is another one will soon follow. It's like cancer. It seems to spread so rapidly if not taken care of immediately. So where are your dirty socks? Hopefully they're in the hamper. Or do you have a laundry hamper? Or maybe you have one but no one uses it. The instructions for it are quite simple. One, open lid. Two, throw dirty socks inside. Three, close lid. Four, when full, or when you run out of socks, whatever comes first, wash clothes.
Understand? It's not too hard. I know in this high tech world a laundry hamper is extremely low tech, but it still has its usefulness in today's world. Try it and rediscover the joy of clean socks and a tidy floor.
Chapter Six
The Organizer Loves His Watch
You can ask Mr. Organized what time it is and he can probably tell you without looking at his watch. You ask, how can he do that? It's because he is always looking at his watch. When you ask him for the time, it was only three or four minutes ago when he last looked to see what time it was. So when you ask him, he already knows.
His watch is one of his prize processions, and God forbid that it ever breaks down, especially if he has an expensive one that he can't throw away. Either he'll buy a cheep back up or ask for a loaner watch when his is in the repair shop.
The time factor is important because in his mind he has it all worked out. That is what time he needs to get up. How much time he has to drink his morning coffee before he takes his shower. Then how much time he has to eat before leaving the house. He never waits for the last minute. He most likely leaves a little early in case of some unforeseen event that would slow him down. So you can see right from the beginning of his day the time factor and his watch plays a very important role in his daily routine. The last thing he does at night is to check his alarm to make sure it is set for the right time. And by the way everything is pretty well set out and ready in the evening for the next morning. The coffee is all ready to go. His clothes are out and ready to wear. All is in place for a smooth transition between sleep and work.
So he sure loves that watch. That is why for the most part he beats you to that appointment. How is your watch? Is it reliable? Is it on time? It's probably at least three or four minutes out, isn't it. Check it out and see. Three or four minutes means a lot if you have to catch a bus . If you miss the bus, then you are really in hot water. It means you wait for another half hour for the next bus. Most people don't have an extra half hour to spare in the morning.
Chapter Seven
The Organized Person Hates Procrastinating
When do you start your income taxes. Do you wait until six hours before the midnight deadline? At six o'clock you go searching for your receipts, records and tax forms. Of course it takes you an hour to find them all. The receipts are in some shoe box that you thought was under the bed but has long since disappeared. The tax forms aren't in your desk drawer where you are sure you left them. And the rest of the paper work is scattered between the office, the kitchen and your bedroom. Well you finally retrieve it all into one place. that being your desk.
Now before you get started, you decide that you can't do anything until your desk is clean. So that takes another fifteen minutes.
Then you look at the tax form and wonder if it is similar to last years. Well, there has been sufficient changes to warrant getting the guide out. So there's another hour gone, trying to figure out how to do your taxes. At this stage it is now eight fifteen and time has not stopped ticking away. It takes you one half hour to do the rough copy, then another fifteen minutes to do the good copy.
It is now nine o'clock. You go to the living room to get your wife's signature and of course she won't sign until you explain every last detail, as if she really knew what was happening. It makes her feel better anyway. It doesn't make you feel that good because you want to get this out of the way. By the time your explanation is finished it's ten o'clock. Every thing is ready now. All you need is the stamp, but where are the stamps? Who knows where they are. Those things are so small they are always being lost. This is no time to lose stamps. The post office is closed. The drug store in closed and it's now ten thirty at night. After finding another stamped envelope that should have been mailed days ago you steam the stamp off it and glue it on your tax return. It's lucky you knew where the glue was. Now everything is ready to go. It is eleven o'clock and you know you can't drop the envelope in the mail box. It has to be stamped with today's date and so you hop in the car and head directly to the post office without stopping along the way. You end up at the post office at eleven forty. How close you've cut it. At least it got done in time. The only problem is that because of the last minute rush you made some mistakes and you realize after you could have gotten two hundred and three dollars and sixty four cents more. What a downer. What you could have done with that money.
There is no way that Mr. Organized would have done that. His tax return is done by the end of February, or the middle of March. After completing the rough copy he lets it sit for a few days in case he remembers something that he forgot. Then after he's satisfied it's done correctly he puts it in the mail. The best part of it all is that he gets his tax refund by the end of March. Isn't that nice. I guess organization does have its rewards after all.
Mr. Organized likes being at rest within himself. If he has something to do he's got to get it done. Once it is done he feels free, and at liberty to do as he pleases without a burden
over his head, so he can enjoy life. Now what do you have to do today? Is it today's work, or is it yesterdays work? If it is yesterday's work when are you going to do today's work.
continued on Next Page
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