On Getting Organized

Anyone who knows me well knows that I fight a continuing battle with the agents of chaos that spring from the implements of life around me. There is, I suppose, a part of me that longs to be one of those Mac-using Feng Shui masters who can live in simple elegance, but, unfortunately, I can't even manage to keep my desk(s) neat. I've looked at several different solutions to the problem:

I could take the POV of some organizational gurus who tell us now that if we cannot deal with something in 15 minutes that we should discard it or let it go -- pass it on to the next person -- dismiss it -- destroy it -- end it. The people who say this kind of thing apparently don't worry about the possibilities that a) Not everything can be dealt with in 15 minutes; b) That human life is about serendipity and that things that are useless now may become invaluable in the future; and c) a system like that assumes a sort of life where you aren't continually compiling and digesting new ideas, reconsidering old ideas, and thinking through the implications, discord and harmony of that which is new and present and old and that which is messy and neat and ordinary and beautiful. I had a friend who went from being a humanities scholar to being a lawyer and he told me, "One of the best pieces of advice I ever got was to throw out all of my books. If I hadn't done that one thing, I would have never achieved happiness." Perhaps that is what I need to do, but I am loathe to do it. Instead, I'll look for other directions.

I could also hire someone to organize my life for me. I will do that if I ever get rich enough to do it. So, barring some amazing change in life circumstances, the Pepper Potts and/or Mary Poppins plan is on hold for now. (Now, how many times do you get an Iron Man and a Disney allusion in one sentence?)

My solution right now -- and it seems to be helping -- I'm blogging again aren't I? Is to use an online organizational tool called Backpackit and Google Calendar to eliminate at least two of my physical organizational manifestations: the persistent day planner/calendar and my thousands of to do lists. I'll keep you posted as to how it works, but as of day 7, it seems pretty miraculous. Now to clean up the rest of the office!