Organization saves energy...who knew

I've learned to accept my lack of organizational skills. I marvel at the organized binders that some of my colleagues keep for the paperwork associated with their projects. I have a single folder that I chuck papers into so they don't get lost amidst the other papers on my desk. Another friend of mine has a complicated email filing system that he uses to keep his inbox clean. I just rely on the search function to find the messages that I need. I get by, but I know I waste way too much time looking for things that are scattered all over my desk or computer hard drive.

My utter lack of organization finally got the best of me last week. On my first day back at work after the holiday break, I decided that I needed to prune back my extensive collection of paper piles. I came across this manifesto in one of those piles. The manifesto is a reminder to all creatives (a cohort that I am quick to identify with) that your ideas are worth nothing until they have been made into something that can be shared. It goes on to say that organization allows those ideas to be transformed into something real in the most efficient way possible. Organization saves energy for the creative pursuits that really matter.

The reality of this point came crashing down on me as I took the bias towards action recommended in that manifesto to work on my manuscript. After getting my papers organized by topic, I found a couple of ideas that proved very useful to improving my draft. I would not have found those papers if I hadn't gotten everything into shape first.

That manifesto was written by the founder of a company that runs a website that posts very helpful articles like this one. I need the occasional reminder to just work on something. My paper is almost finished. After getting started, getting a manuscript in shape for submission to the journal is the next hardest part of the process. I keep finding myself working on anything other than the paper. I need to move onto other projects. The sooner I finish up the paper the better. Hopefully, improving my organization will get me to the finish line.