Using The 1st Organize Skill
Asking Questions For Organizing Home & Career
Notes from August 06.
Last week a very productive lady (we’ll call her Jane) emailed me about her problem of disorganization in her office.
What really caught my attention was this:
“I’ve read many, many organization books, and am still having a problem seeing my way clear. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated?”
Jane has read ‘many, many organization books’? So this really does beg 2 questions:
‘What prevents a productive person from getting things organized even with lots of information on how to get organized?’
And the other side to this curiosity
‘Why are those organization books so ineffective for people that otherwise are indeed very productive?’
Jane wrote:
“Do you have any brilliant ideas for organizing a multi-use space that’s just too small for everything?
I have a small office/sewing room. My stuff is all piled up because there really isn’t a space (s) for it to go into.
I have a plan for getting my filing done – bringing in outside help so I have to keep moving forward – but the books, the fabric and sewing stuff, the office supplies? are everywhere.
I’ve built a just-below-ceiling wall mounted bookshelf along one wall, and that helped, but there really is more stuff than space.
Any great hints to break it down and make it more manageable?
I’ve read many, many organization books, and am still having a problem seeing my way clear. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated (or point me to an article if that’s easier).
By the way, I am a new subscriber but have enjoyed what I’ve seen so far.”
My reply to Jane is mostly [tag]questions[/tag] to ask her to clarify and expand on her situation.
If you are the ‘analytical’ type, you’ll be right at home with this case study.
If you’re not a typical analyzer, then you need to pay extra attention because it might reveal a weakness you have.
I suggested possibilties, and asked questions about there suitability.
Please note that Jane is not a client, and I would never take this approach with an actual ongoing client. Nor is it anything in the slightest like the process in The Efficiency Factor (solution to modern-day organizing).
What this demonstrates though is this key skill-set for getting organized – asking questions.
My reply to Jane:
Dear Jane,
Hmm interesting challenge. That you’ve read a lot on organization already I’ll try to suggest some unusual ideas if I can for you?
Lets see.
Small room, not enough space for the amount you have.
Questions I would ask you:
Do you feel you need all that stuff?
Do you need access to all of that stuff at the moment, or could some be kept there and some be put away for later?
Do those things need to be in the one room, or some of it moved out to other areas of your living space?
Could you chuck out things of low monetary value and then buy them as and when needed?
Would that feel like a waste of money or is money not the issue but more the emotional attachment you might have for those things?
Could you ask a friend with space to hold a box of things for you if they have a loft or basement with some space?
Could you build a low level false ceiling as extra storage space in that room?
Fabric and sewing material can take a lot of space because of air, can the stuff be squashed considerably into good holding packages thus reducing it’s volume?
Please answer me those questions with genuine consideration and explanation, try not to make it too long though
Then from there I would ask you about the importance of the various projects that are ‘contained’ in that room.
What is important to you about them all?
What significance are they for you?
What do they give you or allow you to have/experience?
Essentially, why have you got all that stuff anyway?
I would not settle for your initial surface answers. I would ask you further:
What is important to you about ‘that’?
What do you really want to achieve with it all?
Then from there I would ask you about
What does Jane really want for herself, 5 years from now?
Are all of those things in your room still included?
What about the rest of your home, your lifestyle?
How do you want your life to be organized?
What place do those things in that room have in your life now, and future?
end of reply email
Can you see how my reply to Jane was a big bunch of questions?
I didn’t really give advice on getting her room organized. I simply asked questions for clarification and expansion.
The answers Jane would think of would either help me gather more information and insight into her situation so I could then make another reply to her, or Jane would begin to see some possibilities her self because of those questions.
“The quality of life you experience will be directly related to the quality of the questions you ask.” – Dorothy Leeds
Where should this go?
What is this for?
Why do I need to have this here?
When shall I do this?
What do I need to do first?
Who? What? When? Where? Why? How?
I recommend you try out all the questions I’ve given you in this email for any areas of overwhelm, frustration, dissatisfaction and pressure? or areas of disorganization, in YOUR life (not just your home either).
See if the clarification and expansion helps you find solutions. I can guarantee you that it will.
Asking questions is the first of the four core skills for organized living:
Asking And Using Questions to Get Organized
Listening to Get Organized
Talking to Get Organized
Acting to Get Organized
Yours, questioningly
PS. If you want to do a little case study of a situation you’ve had or are struggling with right now then contact me.
PPS. Central clarification/expansion questions are inbuilt into 7 Step Formula for How To Get Organized Now at www.OrganizeDr.com
“I am busy working on the gym website thanks to the info you sent me, a great help thanks. Still to be kept secret, I think you have hit a nail on the head with that one.” – Lee Holt, UK, 2000
Lee, are you still there? It’s been 6 years since you I gave you that stuff. I hope you’ve made your way over to my new www.OrganizeDr.com site. Would love to hear from you.
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