This seems an ideal companion to Getting Things Done. Steve has written about this book in his article

Clean up that mess! (http://www.dexterity.com/articles/clean-up.htm), so if you didn't get a chance to read the book, at least check that out.

I was struck by two things in this book. The Kindergarten model of organization is just perfect. Perhaps because I have a munchkin who just went through kindergarten, I have an absolutely vivid picture in my mind of what Julie is describing. Steve talked about "zones" in his article, but the kindergarten metaphor really stuck with me.

The other thing that really stuck out is the amount of "pre-thought" that goes into organizing. I've been guilty of just getting frustrated with my lack of organization, and by golly I'm going to DO something about it. So I move a lot of stuff and make a lot of noise and at the end of the day, I haven't really fixed anything. By really taking the time to think about what you want out of a space and how to get there, you can come up with an organizational model that sticks.

The time and technology organization stuff at the end wasn't as useful to me, having just reread Getting Things Done. But it does present an interesting "same but different" view at time management.

We've seen a lot of pictures of messy work environments. It would be interesting to see organized ones. And perhaps more inspiring, pictures before organizing as well as after.

Jule Morgenstern also wrote a book called Time Management from the Inside Out, but it's not as good as her organizing book or other time management books.

I wasn't as interested in this book as I was with GTD or the next book Purple Cow (heh I cheated, im already 1/3 into the next book). After learning the whole point of the kindergarden thing where you find a "home" for items I cleaned up my work area (I live in a college residence right now so theres no point in any attempt at organizing anything else:)) The whole GTD "inbox" system had already cleaned up the majority of loose papers but this really drove it home now my desk is spotless (i'll snap a shot and post it soon)

I think this is a book that I will come back to in a few years after I have a bit more stuff / my business is a little more mature.

So far I really like how these books have re-defined these skills that I already thought I had but I was just really terrible at them. After the learning the "why" and a simple effective "how-to" I can't believe how easily these techniques just integrate into my life-style.

More books!:D:D

Man, I'm already behind. I should have taken more of Getting Things Done to heart so I would have this book read by now. :)

The good news I have a hold placed on Indie Survival Guide. I was quite surprised to discover that the King County Library System already has six copies on the shelves! And four are currently checked out. King County Library is the greater Seattle area, but excludes Seattle proper... those snobby Seattlites have their own libraries and don't want to be a part of our club. Anyway, there's six more royalty shares in your pocket, David! :)

Actually, I think it's good to point out that clutter doesn't equal disorganization; if you know where everything is and you put it back in the same place every time, you're organized. It only looks like clutter when your system doesn't try to be outsider-friendly.

The zoning concept that Steve talks about is very interesting, though. I can't really rezone my dorm room though :rolleyes: Basically I have the "bed" zone, the "cabinet" zone and the "computer" zone. And the "roommate" zone, but I don't have to go there often :)

Originally posted by RTF
Actually, I think it's good to point out that clutter doesn't equal disorganization; if you know where everything is and you put it back in the same place every time, you're organized. It only looks like clutter when your system doesn't try to be outsider-friendly.

This is a common misconception about organizing and has actually been proven false in multiple studies. Virtually every book on organizing I've read spends some time in the first chapter to (very convincingly) discredit this belief. People who believe that they are productive in cluttered environments are invariably mistaken, often to their own surprise. Even people who adamantly swear that they know where everything is in their cluttered environment are far more productive in a clean, visually organized environment. The problem is that most of them have never worked in a perfectly organized environment for an extended length of time, so they simply don't know what they're missing. I think I read that on average people experience something like a 25% boost in their productive output when they go from working in a cluttered environment to an orderly one -- the very first day they try this, and for certain individuals, it's much higher. Those who are moderately productive in a cluttered environment are productive in spite of the clutter, not because of it, and they would achieve even greater productive output in a clean, visually organized environment.

Clutter is also a great way to hold back your career if you work with others. I remember reading about how people with cluttered work areas tend to be thought of as less trustworthy and responsible by their bosses and co-workers and they're less likely to be promoted. This is true regardless of whether the boss or co-worker is also messy. To other people, if it looks cluttered, it is cluttered, and this will heavily influence how others relate to you socially in any kind of shared work environment.

But even if you work completely alone, a visually cluttered work area takes its toll. People are more distracted when working in a visually disorganized environment, and a cluttered office requires more mental work to remember where everything is.

One year I had a small extra room in my office suite. The only things in that room were a 6' table, an office chair, and a wall clock. When I really wanted to concentrate, I would go to that room, close the door, close the blinds, and just work flat out with no distractions. I would usually use it for high-level planning and game design work. My regular office was extremely neat and organized, but this room was completely distraction-free -- no phone, computer, etc. It was an extremely productive place to work.

Originally posted by Dexterity
This (clutter doesn't equal disorganization) is a common misconception about organizing and has actually been proven false in multiple studies. Virtually every book on organizing I've read spends some time in the first chapter to (very convincingly) discredit this belief.

On the other hand, the authors have a vested interested in stating that their book is for *everyone*, not just those people who *want* to get organized. And by quoting whatever studies provide this convenient (for them) finding, they can then prompt those who liked the book to recommend it to their friends who *look* disorganized (whether they are or not).

Organization is simply a system of arranging things, whether those things be tasks or objects. There is no Uber Organization Scheme that provides Ultimate Productivity. Witness the changes that factories have been making in assembly lines, moving away from the highly structured systems that came out of the Industrial Revolution to the more decentralized put-stuff-where-its-needed approach.

As for "visual clutter"...that's going to be very different for everyone, just like "audio clutter". Everyone has their own "background filters". I can ignore the TV, no matter how loud it is, so long as I can't *see* it. Moving images catch my eye. In a similar vein, my wife finds lyrical music distracting but can easily ignore TV audio.

Some people like wide open spaces. Some people like close, comfy confines. Some people like the world divide into neat little boxes. Some people like a more random/organic arrangement.

In organization as in anything else: Find what works for you and do more of that. Find what doesn't work, and do less of that.

-David

I might be a bit late coming into this, but I've kinda been absent around here for a little while (which I'll explain momentarily) and am still playing catch-up. I've got a little story, but...WARNING...LONG POST AHEAD.

I finished this book about a month ago. As I was reading the book, my initial reaction to it was "great...I've purchased the 'Captain Obvious Guide to Things I Already Know'". A lot of things that she mentions are pretty obvious. Of course I know my problem is that papers don't have a real home, or have various, inconsistent, makeshift homes. Of course I know I don't have convenient storage, that's why everything is sitting on my desk...it's convenient. Of course I know the reason I end up in mess is because I don't put things away every day. Most of the important stuff I already knew, so why wasn't I following it?

I started thinking about the first couple chapters. This stuff obviously works (according to some of the testimonials I'd read), so why wasn't I following it. I realized I had convinced myself that even though it seemed like a good idea, I had made concessions which I always thought I'd be able to get by with. Yes, it would be nice to have a place to store stuff, but that costs money and I can get by with what little I have for free. Yes I can buy some organizing folders, but making 5 stacks of paper is free. Yes I know there are dishes sitting in my kitchen sink right now, but it won't matter if they sit there overnight and I take care of them in the morning (except that in the morning I realize the dishwasher is full, so I have to empty it first, and...oh that's too much time, I'll get to it all later on). I thought it was all right to make that one small concession, and that I'd be able to recover from there. But everything always snowballed. There was room for 5 piles of paper, but no room for that 6th one, so I just combined two of them, then before long it became a matter of "well its already mixed up, I might as well just make 1 big pile so I have room for something else". The kitchen sink still had yesterday dishes, so I could just stack a few more in there and get to it all at once later on. And so on.

So I tried an experiment. I started with the kitchen sink. It would cost me nothing but time to try and keep it clean. So, once the dishwasher finishes, the next time I walk into the kitchen I empty it. Everything that doesn't need to be soaked goes straight into the dishwasher, and no matter what, the sink gets totally emptied before I go to sleep. I kept it up for two weeks and it actually felt good to have a clean kitchen. There were times when it was late, and I was tired and wanted to go to sleep, and I almost said "I can get to it in the morning", but I reminded myself and cleaned it up right away.

So it actually worked. I just had to do what I knew I needed to do, and not make any excuses. So my next task was to organize my office. I realized I needed to actually spend some money and buy some furniture and office supplies. However, I figured since I had to move some things things around, and before I moved in this new furniture, I wanted everything to be right (I'm going a little aside from "organizing" here, but it's part of my story so deal with it :) ). The carpet in the room was a bit thick with extra padding. As a result, it formed little divots where the wheels of my chair sat (even with those thick plastic chair mats), and it made it difficult to sit comfortably. So to make things more workable, I needed new carpet. And since everything else was already being cleared out, it was time to paint the walls and make things more inspiring. I went from a bland beige to a two toned grey ragged finish (they grey makes it look more office like, while the ragged texture makes it more visually stimulating but not distracting). Doing all of this consumed Thanksgiving week, so I had no computer at all (hence my falling behind around here). So anyway, back to the organizing part.

I figured since everything was out of the room, my goal was to not return anything into the room until it had a proper place, so I spent this whole last week getting organized. Back to the book, I needed to tackle the issues of not having homes for things (nor the room to make homes), so after figuring out roughly what I had on hand, I went and bought a nice bookshelf and 2 drawer filing cabinet. While I was at it, I thought about one thing mentioned in the book...you need to make things fun and visually interesting. I'm really a practical type of person, and if something gets the job done thats good enough. But as I went through the stores looking at things, I made it a point to really think about just how I would feel to have something in the room. Would I actually like the way it looks, or would it just be there. So with that thought, I deviated from my normal behavior and spent money on some nice furniture that actually looks good. So now with my new bookshelf, I actually have room for my collection of books. My blank CD's (and related accessories) are in one spot instead of in various spots across my desk. Things that go together (like my mail envelopes and my return address labels) are in the same spot (which only makes sense). Etc.

With a filing cabinet that can hold all my papers, it was now time to organize that mess. I looked at my old filing drawer, and compared it with some of the suggestions in the book. I realized my folders used to be all that ugly green (they were the cheapest ones I could find...that practical part of me being cheap again). I also realized that (just as was warned about) it looked ugly because the tabs on the folders were all over the place from being rearranged 100 times. So I sat down, grouped all my papers into 5 categories (money, medical, home, other personal, and business), went and got 5 colors worth of folders, and put everything away. Each colored group stays together, and the tabs for each groups are offset, but all folders of the same color have the same offset.

Yesterday I started thinking about the things I'm currently dealing with (bills that are to be payed at the end of the month, notes for my different projects, etc) and how to organize them. I went out and bought some desk trays (again, since it's going to be right there in front of me, I resisted the urge to buy cheap and got some nice looking ones instead) and some manila folders, so now the plan is when I finish one task it all gets put back into it's folder and into the tray.

So I've been living with these new organizing items from anywhere from a week to a day. No long term "stress" test obviously, but for the first time ever, I actually feel good about everything. We'll see how things end up in a month or two. Right now, I've got about 90% of everything back in the room (actually to be more accurate, I've got about 30% back...60% I realized I honestly didn't need or more appropriately belonged in another room). Also, by reorganizing my office to be able to handle being the "paper center" of the house I've been able to clean up the dining room in the process (which was where I usually piled up papers I needed to do something with in the near future, like bills, receipts, etc). If I can find some old pictures of my office before I started (I should have taken some before I emptied it but I didn't think of it) then maybe in a few months (after I've put things to the test) I'll post some before and after pictures in the desk pictures thread.

So, if you are still with me here (sorry if you got bored), a few comments about the book. First of all, even if I had already known everything in the book, I think this book helped show me those things I know do actually work if I just get off my butt and follow them. If nothing else, the book motivated me to do what I already knew deep down I should do. But in fact, there were a lot of valuable things I didn't know or realize, such as the importance of making things fun and visually interesting, grouping and color coding different types of folders, avoiding the "miscellaneous" classification, and not getting distracted by reading that old magazine I found in the pile. About the only major deviations I made from her plan of action was to combine the sorting and purging step, and I also didn't official estimate of the time. I had a rough idea that I could get everything done over a few weeks, and I knew I could afford to invest the time, so I skipped that step even though it had the catchy "secret weapon #2" label.

Thanks for recommending this book, Steve.

Wow... great story, Ron. Thanks for sharing!

You're absolutely right that most of the book is obvious. But when you read the obvious in one book about the same subject, you get a big injection of the obvious, which helps you make new distinctions and also to become consciously aware of what you already know. I really like Julie's SPACE acronym (sort, purge, assign a home, containerize, equalize), since it gave me a step-by-step process for thinking about organizing. The "equalize" step is often the most difficult. I handled that one by making it part of my weekly review from the Getting Things Done book, so once a week I re-equalize my office if needed.

That was interesting what you said about going the extra mile to make your office look more attractive to you. I didn't take that advice, so my office is very functional but also very ugly -- a mish-mash of shades of grey and brown. My desk is 10 years old but looks like it's 20 years old. I sort of wonder what effect it would have on me if I bought some decent furniture. So I'm very interested to hear how this decision affects you down the road.

Thank you Ron, you just reminded me why I love in this place.

I think all success is based on changing ourselves, seeing the world in a new way. Your story is like the Matrix classic: "Don't bend the room Ron, bend yourself". It got me immediately thinking along the same lines as Steve, could I maybe make the office more alluring, more pleasant for the eye. Why haven't I done it already? :)