Are You Organized?

While you might not like to answer this question on a daily basis, what happens in a job interview for example? How would you respond?

There will never be the right answer that meets everyone’s needs but would you admit your faults to a prospective employer, knowing that if they offer you the job they will quickly see the areas you are lacking in organizational skills. Alternatively, will you tell them the truth? What is one’s perception of organization to another person, where you might feel that you are perfect someone else might see it as disorganized? How do you deal with the feelings of organization and your skills?

Being organized

For some, being organized reflects in every area and if one area is not perfect then they are not organized. I have lived with this for many years, if I couldn’t be perfect in every area of my life it meant that I have failed, it has taken a lot of time to realise that there are some areas that I can excel at and others I am not so good at.

So, in the interview would I admit I had flaws? Yes, I don’t think everyone can be perfect, but I think I would choose the words used to describe them very carefully. If you are not good with communication and forget to call friends back, is this detail something you would tell a perspective employer?

Do you want to change

Do you want to become more organized and better at dealing with things to make life smoother? It is not an easy process and if you are planning a change at work, going slowly with each step will allow time for you to adjust to your new regime, too.

• Finding the system that keeps you up to date and informed is the first area you need to master. Finding a system that you can work with is a challenge, it must enable you to work and meet your needs adequately, if it doesn’t work then the system is not for you. Some people work completely with an online system; I find that I need the hand written form or I just feel lost and completely unprepared.
• If you have heard the phrase of multi-tasking then it is a concept you need to throw away, it is not a way to achieve more but can give you the option to mess up more or provide less than adequate results.
• Learning to put the important tasks first and then reward yourself with the simple requirements. This ensures that at the end of the day when you are most tired or too motivated to leave that you are not trying to deal with a difficult task.
• Set goals and organize how you want to succeed in your life. This will allow you to focus on the things you want to achieve; it is possible to have long-term to the short-term goals and re-assessing them will allow you to focus on what is important. It might be a long-term project or your career plan.
• Knowing what you need to do each day is important, make a list and know your own limitations too. If you need to delegate then this is fine, it shows you are in control.
• Organizing your desk: this is personal and it will take time to get it right but a desk with piles of paperwork cluttering it makes you look untidy and unorganized, keeping it controlled in a system that works is important. Use files or desk drawers until you have your system in place.

Therefore, by thinking about where you need to focus attention in areas you are not quite organized, can have an impact on improving your current abilities and skills, ready for that question on how organized are you?