What?

Many people desperately want to get more organized but can't seem to stick with their organizing plan. That's because at least six major issues generate chaos and disorder in most people's lives. All six issues must be addressed in order to get organized and stay organized.

So What?

Imagine you are planning to go on a trip in your car. You are excited, motivated and ready to go! As you approach your car, you notice it has a flat tire. Then you realize the car is out of gas, the battery is dead, the transmission is broken, the steering wheel is locked up and the starter will not work. How far do you think you are going to get in this car on this day? You are going nowhere until you fix not just one, but six things that are wrong with the car. Any one of these issues will prevent you from making any forward progress in this vehicle. This car doesn't just need a quick fix…it needs a major overhaul. Like the broken car, there are six issues that prevent you from making forward progress on your plan to get organized:

Efficiently handling incoming items (paper, e-mails, voice mails, verbal requests, and things you think of that you want to do)

Prioritizing your workload (making sure you are working on the most important item)

Time management (rational vs. irrational use of your time)

Project management (taking an idea from inception to closure)

Personality issues (understanding how personality attributes impact tasks to be completed)

Psychological issues (dealing with self-defeating and dysfunctional behavior)

For example, you may have the most efficient and effective paper-handling process known to mankind, but it does you no good if your tendency to procrastinate has reached the dysfunctional behavior level. Like the car with six problems, you will get nowhere with your organizing plan until you address all six of these issues. You may be fortunate. Maybe you do not have significant problems with all six of the above issues. But any one of these issues alone can create plenty of chaos in your life.

Now What?

In the broken car example, some of you would have little or no interest in fixing the car. You would just buy a new one and

head out on your trip. However, the car probably ended up in such bad shape due to neglect. Most of the problems could have been avoided with a little preventive maintenance on the front end. If you buy a new car and do not change your preventive maintenance habits, the problems will soon reappear in the new car. Then you are back where you started…with the added burden of a new car payment.

Getting organized works the same way. There are many simple things you can do on the front end to prevent disorganization. Subtract your age from 85. That's how long most of you have left to live. That's how long you have left to enjoy an organized life if you go ahead and learn how to get organized now. Go ahead and do a major overhaul on your organizing plan and enjoy the benefits for years to come.

Remember, there are six issues that prevent you from making forward progress on your plan to get organized.

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