I know, I know.
You would spend more time with those dearest to you, you would update your resume, you would pursue your dream, you would volunteer more, or you would [insert any other thing you desire to do but haven’t] …if you had more time. So much to do, so little time.
Truth be told, we all get the same portion of time each day. It’s how you allocate your time that permits you to get to the things you desire to do.
And, if you haven’t already recognized it, being disorganized costs you time. Time you could be using for that goal you set, but are having trouble figuring out how to fit it in.
Being disorganized has a negative impact on what you accomplish daily. If left unaddressed, disorganization can make living the life you desire to live more arduous.
Here are a few of the time hemorrhages caused by disorganization.
Lost Or Misplaced Items
If you had put away a dollar every time you had to look for your keys last year, how much would you have now? $12, $24, $130, or maybe, $365? Here’s a better question. What could you do with the time you spent looking for the things you’ve lost or misplaced? Doesn’t amount to much time, you say? Let’s explore.
According to a national survey, the average American spends 2.5 days each year searching for lost or misplaced items. Broken down by the hour, for a better perspective, that’s 60 hours per year. Will it take you 60 hours to update your resume? Over three years, it amounts to 180 hours. In five years, a total of 300 hours will have been lost on looking for things you can’t find. Doing a quick review of your goals, what on the list could be accomplished in 60, 180, or 300 hours?
It’s true. Everyone misplaces things from time to time. But, when it's become a common occurrence, it’s probably time to take a good look at your organization.
Now that you know the problem, here is a solution.
Know where your things are at all times by creating a designated place for them. When all your items have an assigned space, they become easily accessible and readily available when you need them. That, also, is dependent upon you returning the items to their designated spaces when you’re done with them. It may take repetition to become a habit but commit to putting things back where they belong.
Disorganized Schedules
If you find yourself consistently wishing you had more time to do what you really desire, it may be time to examine the way you organize your schedule.
Not having time in your schedule to get to the things that matter to you most can be a signal of many things. Below are just a few:
Absence of routine
Inability to say no
Too much time on busy work
Overcommitting to more than your time allows
Not delegating
Overfilled schedules take away the control you have over what happens with your time. Before you know it, your time has leaked away, without you knowing where the time went or what you spent the time doing. Being overextended also creates feelings of overwhelm, exhaustion, and sometimes even failure, when you’re unable to complete all you committed yourself to in a day.
That was another problem. Here is another solution.
Be Guided by Your Priorities.
Stephen Covey once said, “The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.” To do this, identify what your priorities are and block off time in your day for those things. With any remaining time, plug in other things on your to-do list. Not the other way around.
Also, to get to your priorities, it may be necessary to say no to some things. Saying yes to one thing effectively means you are saying no to something else. Don’t let your “no” be to the thing that matters most to you.
Time Wasters
Time wasters are those little (or not so little) things that creep in and steal your time. You know the ones…procrastination, distractions, interruptions, and the like, which suggest your time may be disorganized.
Time wasters are enormous time bleeds and they hinder you from completing the things you need and want to do. When you procrastinate on a project, for example, you delay starting it (put simply), and by doing so you extend the time it takes to complete it in the first place. Then, you rush through the project to make up the time or you miss your deadline altogether because you ran out of time. And here they come, those feelings of overwhelm, exhaustion, and failure.
Time wasters creep into your day for various reasons. It could be that you feel overwhelmed by a project, you are distracted, or you could have a fear of failure. Whatever the reason for their existence, leaving them unchecked does more harm to your time than good.
Here are some solutions to that problem.
Start by identifying what your time wasters are. Once you know what they are, it’s necessary to examine why they are, so that you can nip them in the bud. You can also try the following to plug the time leaks in your day.
Avoid the sense of overwhelm that causes you to procrastinate by breaking your projects into smaller, more manageable pieces
Lessen the impact of interruptions on your day by building time in your schedule for them
Guard against distraction by turning off the notifications on your electronic devices
Eliminate the time you allow for time wasters by implementing a routine in your day
Your time is not a replenishable commodity. Once it is spent, it’s gone. Being disorganized is a huge expense to your time and can steal the life you desire to live. Make room in your life for what matters to you most by getting organized today.
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