Let’s get organized

ILLUSTRATION BY: STEPH BRAVO

DO YOU waste time every day because of disorganization? Do you spend time looking for a misplaced file, an overdue book, a check you have forgotten to cash? Have you missed an examination or an important meeting? Do you make your group mates wait for your part of a paper? Do your colleagues have to stand in for your no-show?

Many people struggle with disorganization, which may cost you your grade or your work. Disorganization also causes stress—on you and those around you.

Productivity declines due to disorganization. Take a look at the traffic situation today, or the government offices when getting a document, and we get an idea of what disorganization can do.

Every class has its share of organized and disorganized students, as much as a school has its share of organized and disorganized teachers.

There are students who habitually submit late papers while there are those who never miss a deadline. There are teachers who habitually submit grades late while there are those who are advanced in their work.

If you are among the disorganized, make it your resolution this year to organize your life better—your time and space, your things and papers, your schedules and events.

Here are five simple ways to start:

1. Calendar your activities. Time is the stuff of life, but we all have limited time. Each activity worth your time should be scheduled, which means any activity not worth your time should be ignored.

Think Facebook. What goes into your appointment book should be honored. Not showing up at the last minute and offering a flippant excuse by text is rude. You are not being considerate of other people’s time when you cancel a long scheduled meeting at the last minute. Not showing up in class is unprofessional.

Time management is life management. If talking to your children is important, put that in your planner. That is the power of a calendar.

When I need time for myself, I decline other unimportant, time-wasting engagements by saying that I cannot fit them in my calendar. We should not allow others to dictate how we use our time.

2. Put things where they belong. I teach four courses on two days—two courses on Tuesdays, two on Thursdays. So I use two different bags, which simplifies the task of putting in and getting out lecture notes needed for the day each time.

I require students to submit their papers only in class, so that the papers will get into the right bag. Otherwise, students may feel they can hand in late papers anytime, anywhere, making the teacher worry that they may be misplaced.

There should be a place for every one of our possessions and papers. We have strong memory for location. I love boxes and organizers. Each piece of stationery paper is properly stored, every piece of accessory is inside a Ziploc, every shawl is folded in the right drawer.

Every paper of my student is in the right file. Every subject has its own folder. This saves time that I use to read.

3. Do not welcome distractions. In this age of digital media, not having ADHD is the exception. ADHD (attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder) is considered the syndrome of this era.

Amid the information overload, what is important and what is not? Amid the social media frenzy, who gets your attention and which activities should order your day? Are these people and activities important or urgent? Do they count in the grand scheme of things?

People check Facebook, Twitter, e-mail, texts, Viber, etc., hundreds of times each day. Shifting attention from the task at hand to these distractions costs much mental energy and time.

Multitasking does not work. People just want to be distracted. To stay focused is a challenge for many who do not want to control their environment and they are the ones who wonder how the day has gone.

4. Take notes. I write on low-tech notebooks a lot. I have all kinds of small notebooks—in my bag, beside my bed, on my desk, for my lectures, for my writings, for students who come for consultations, for different kinds of meetings.

Nothing is more helpful than unloading these thoughts on paper, to conserve my mental energies for other more important incoming information.

In the restaurant, when I order, I write down the items we want and their numbers so I do not have to remember when the waiter comes. I give the list to the waiter so he does not make any mistakes.

I write down plans in my notebooks and I break down tasks to their component parts—when waiting in traffic, or waiting for a long-winded speaker to end his/her piece. I also note down lectures I listen to and books I read.

All these save me from having to burden my short-term memory with thousands of details. Notes are our memory aides.

5. Simplify. Facts are many, but principles are few. If we know something very well, we can explain it in a few words, or in much detail for a book, to a child or to an expert.

Simplify does not mean simplistic. Give the big picture first. If someone wants to know more or when he/she is ready to know more, then give the details.

I have heard many kinds of talks—some are so bogged down by nonessentials that the big picture is lost.

But more important than ideas, life is to be lived simply. When one has learned what is essential, there should not be too many things or people that really matter. Do things that matter. Connect with people who matter.

We do not have to be all over the place to feel good about ourselves. We matter—for ourselves, to our loved ones, our family and those we are responsible for.

The writer is a professor of Educational Psychology at the University of the Philippines and a motivational speaker. E-mail her at [email protected].