;

Take Responsibility for Being Organized

by | Dec 13, 2014 | Columns

A weekly column on Fredericksburg.Today by Linda Clevenger, Organization Direct.

Life may not seem fair but it is as simple as asking yourself this question: Am I responsible for my actions, reactions and the outcome?

When it comes to being organized, there is always a certain level of responsibility for everything that gets done and everything that doesn’t gets done and, as a result, becomes unorganized. Blaming your results and lack of organization on your circumstances and things that you cannot control is not an acceptable answer. When you look at the “reasons” that you are unorganized do you include yourself, your thoughts and your habits?

This may hit some of my readers hard. This is a reality check for many. We have all been there before. Last week we talked about Self Management vs. Time Management and that we can only manage ourselves. Not only are we in control of what we do (and how we do it), we are also responsible for our attitude toward getting it done.

You have heard the term that you will “reap what you sow.” This means that you need to be sowing habits, actions, attitudes and decisions that will help you receive the results and outcome you desire. This means asking yourself the question, “Am I responsible?”

Being a farmer’s daughter, I knew that every spring my dad would be planting the corn harvest. He knew how to plant the rows, which direction the field should be plowed, and everything about what it would take to make the harvest as successful as possible. However, not everything was in his control. He could not control the weather. And what this meant for him is that he had to watch and listen to the weather forecast and be able to recognize whether he needed to work 15-16 hour days to make sure that the corn was harvested at the appropriate time. When it rained, he may not be able to get into the field to harvest his corn. He took responsibility for his actions and did what it took to complete the harvest.

Do you take responsibility for your actions and staying organized? Waiting around for someone else to do it is not an option. We can lead our employees and family members by our example. Doing nothing is not an option.

Life isn’t easy. There is so much to do and usually too little time to get it done. So here are my recommendations:

Prioritize what is truly important. Procrastination is not an effective and productive use of your time.
Develop systems that will help you save time and money. Maybe there is an “app” that can help you cut a few steps out of the process and streamline your system, which will save you time, money and energy.
Create habits and take responsibility for what you have to do every day. Everything isn’t going to be “fun.” However, I promise you that taking responsibility to develop productive habits is much easier than trying to play catch-up when things are so far behind that you just don’t know where to begin.

If you need assistance with anything that is mentioned, give me a shout. I will be happy to talk to you about it further.
Read Linda’s previous columns on Fredericksburg.Today.
Columns on Fredericksburg.Today are recurrent features on specific topics or by regular contributors.  Guest writers present their own point-of-view and may not necessarily represent the viewpoint of Fredericksburg.Today.

Thank you for reading.  Follow Fredericksburg.Today on Facebook and Twitter, too.

Subscribe To Daily News Updates

Join our mailing list to receive the latest news from The Free Press

You have Successfully Subscribed!

Share This