Is it really important to “manage your workspace”? I think it was Thomas Leonard, that said “space management is more important than time management.” We can’t actually “manage” time, no matter how we use it, or how much we squander it. But, we can and must, manage our space…our personal environment.
You will find this to be a key to highly effective people. They “set themselves up” for success… by surrounding themselves with the situations, tools, ideas, even the people, posters, music, furniture and toys that “drive” them in the direction of their most important goals. You will also find that it is not “chance” or “luck” that every single day… their environment “happens” to place them in precisely the direction they intend to go!
Too many of us live in the midst of clutter, chaos, and confusion. We get up early, work hard, and are busy in our eagerness for success. But do we permit our efforts, and our results, to be undermined by whatever “happens”? That is not success! Are you starting to see that “working hard” and “being productive” are not the same thing?
One could argue that to meet your needs of “outside” necessity, you need to be in harmony with your “inner” self. Conversely, you can only adapt to your inner world and harmony with yourself, when you are adapted to your environmental conditions. It was a ray of light, when I figured out, that I can only achieve peak performance, fulfill my potential and know my inner peace… when I live in harmony with my surroundings!
And yet, many of us work in surroundings that are determined by our employers, by “urgent” emails and phone calls, by the news of the day or whatever interruption is placed before our productivity. Even little things like messy desks, unreliable computers or inadequate lighting distract us. That is no way to organize your life or achieve your dreams!
The two things – organized space and high productivity – are connected. And here is the GOOD NEWS…You can control that! I hear you saying…but I am not a neat freak! Ok, neither am I. There is a difference between “controlled chaos”, and some of us LIKE to be surrounded by our books, papers, and files. (I happen to have a love affair with “sticky notes”! LOL) If you can still “put your hands on what you are looking for”…then it is controlled chaos! The point is to create the precise environment that allows you to be your most productive. It is “YOUR” environment, so create it, and keep it at the level that supports your important projects.
To Your Success…
Judy
6. November 2011 at 11:06 am
Hey Judy,
I am a very neat, tidy and well ordered person. The one exception is paper. I definitely fall into your “controlled chaos” category I think.
I like to be surrounded by my reference books, files, paperwork – all piled high and all within arm’s length. I know that if I throw a sheet of paper out that I will (almost immediately) need to refer to whatever vital and important information was written on it!
Anyway, it works for me.
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