I can still remember Sharon a colleague at New Zealand Couriers walking into my office, seeing the paper and piles everywhere and boldly proclaiming she had no idea how I could find anything or how I got anything done.
It was my first office, and on reflection, to call it organised chaos was gross misuse of the term. It was anything but organised.
I took this photo of my desk one evening after four days of unexpected and intensive investigation into deep dark hole of bad stuff. In amongst the crisis, things started to pile up and I reverted to my naturally messy state of operation.
I have learnt over the years that messy is very unproductive.
- A messy desk leads to a cluttered mind.
- A cluttered mind leads to heaps of ‘open-loops’. Things that are not captured in a place I trust.
- Open-loops lead to a greater feeling of stress and pressure, as I am subconsciously aware of all the commitments I am missing.
- Stress and pressure, burn energy at triple speed and make me unproductive.
It has taken me a full 10 days to get my systems back on track with my GTD system. Inboxes empty, tasks captured, notes reviewed.
The difference in the clarity of my mind is undefinable.