We are bombarded with so many factors that perpetuate disorganization. Computers, fax machines, cell phones, and online services allow us to do more and require us to do more. The speed of the microchip is doubling every 18 months, with no end in sight. There is also a heightened sense of urgency due to heightened expectations. If I can email you a question in 20 seconds, why can’t you reply to my email as quickly?

However, it is not as gloomy as it may seem. In fact, I can help you learn how to use organizational skills to survive, and even thrive. You will streamline all aspects of your personal and professional life simply by applying these skills. If you have been reluctant to organize, you may have been misled about what it means. Let me clear up any misunderstandings!

Organization is not neatness. You know that old adage “A place for everything and everything in its place.” It’s the right half. In my experience, stress comes not from clutter, but from wanting to clean up clutter and not knowing where to put it. A place for everything is crucial. Everything in its place depends on your needs and your personal style.

The organization is not efficient. Efficiency is the mechanics of a task, such as “What’s the fastest way to get from here to there?” If you look at your “to do” list one item at a time, you can do each item on it. The problem arises when you try to attack them all at once.

The organization is not a destination, it is a journey. People often get frustrated because they organize some aspect of their lives and then all of a sudden everything is disorganized again. Organization is a continuous process. As our lives change, so do our organizational needs.

The organization is not a moral issue; despite what your mother told you. it’s an ability. Some people are born with it and some aren’t. But anyone can learn it, if they are motivated and have the right teacher.

So what is organization? Ask yourself these three questions. Works? Do you like it?” And, if what you do affects others, “Does it work for others?”

If you’re having trouble getting organized, you’re not alone. In USA Today, a survey of 3,000 people cited that aside from losing weight, getting organized was their top priority. However, we continue to apologize. If you don’t have time, is it because you are wasting it unnecessarily by not being organized? If you don’t know how, have you ever taken a course on organization? If you don’t want to, is it because you need to try another approach?

It’s time to break down the barriers that prevent you from getting organized.

Here are some ideas to get started:

1) Decide what really matters

Identifying a few things that are really important to you can serve as a great motivator to get organized. Many companies have mission statements posted on their walls. Try writing a personal mission statement.

Grab a pad and pencil and find a quiet place. Make a list of 10 things you love to do. (If eating and sleeping are two of them, write down 12!) I tried this exercise and was surprised and saddened to find out how hard it was to even think of 10 things I loved to do. Most of them were simple, non-monetary things like “going for a walk in the woods” or “having dinner with my daughter.” And most of them, to my dismay, had simply been “too busy” to do. Ask yourself a tough question like, “If you only had 6 months to live, what would you be doing?” If you’re not doing it right now, why not?

2) Eliminate the unnecessary in your life

My favorite chapter of Taming the Paper Tiger is “The Art of the Trash Can®”. Research shows that 80% of what we store we never use. But we’re afraid to let it go, afraid that we might need it again. I have never met anyone who said that their problem is having too few things. Things are our security blanket. However, all the things in the world will not fill a hole in the heart. An old textbook adage from the 1600s said, “Have nothing in your house that you don’t know to be useful or think beautiful,” and I’d like to add, “or love.”

The theme of letting go also prevails in our offices. An important step toward better organization in the workplace is a file clean-up day. I orchestrated such a day for a major association in Washington, DC several years ago. A gentleman in the office was horrified at the thought of getting rid of the boxes of papers they had accumulated over the last 15 years. On my follow-up visit several weeks later, that same gentleman came up to me, “I knew,” he said, “we threw away those old records, and sure enough, someone called me and asked if we had them.” “So what happened? ” I asked. He paused and a slow smile spread across his face. “Absolutely nothing,” he replied, “absolutely nothing!”

When you’re trying to decide whether to keep something, ask yourself, “What’s the worst that could happen if I didn’t have this?” If you can live with the results, get rid of them!

3) Try something different

I think it was an old Burma Shave sign that said “Pick your grind carefully. You’ll be in it for the next 30 miles.” Some of us have been fighting disorganization for 30 years. Even when you go out, it’s so easy to get back in! It’s easier to keep doing the same thing than to change, even when you want to change. But if you keep doing what you’ve always been doing, you’ll keep getting what you’ve always been getting.

4) Ask for help when you need it

We often do ourselves a terrible disservice by assuming that everything is competitive rather than cooperative. Recently, in my own home, I frantically ran to get all the garbage out before the garbage collectors arrived. I assumed that my husband could see my frustration and would help me. Finally, as he walked to the door, he looked up and asked, “Do you need any help?” “Not now,” I replied dryly. He replied, “Why didn’t you ask?” (I reminded myself that this is the same man who can trip over three pairs of shoes and not realize they’re there!) It’s a sign of ignorance not to.

5) Eliminate perfectionism and procrastination

I have always been the great procrastinator. Then I had the opportunity to work with an art therapist. He had put off creating art, feeling that he couldn’t express himself in the way that he really wanted to. One day the art therapist said, “Today I want you to draw an ugly picture.” I thought for a minute and then felt relief. Anyone can draw an ugly drawing, even I can do that. I started to draw and for a moment it looked pretty, and I started to panic, “maybe I can’t even do it right”. Suddenly, I realized that what I had always called “creative procrastination” was actually fear. Fear of not being perfect. If I put things off long enough, my fear of not doing it will be greater than my fear of failing, so I will have no choice but to do it.

6) Choose the right tools

My father used to tell me, “Half of any job is having the right tool.” Probably 8 out of 10 times, one of the biggest obstacles to organization is not having the right tool.

Consider what happens when you don’t have the right tools in the office. In my experience, most offices have lousy filing systems. How can I say? It’s easy: just walk down the halls and check out people’s workspaces. If they are full of paper, I can guarantee that the filing system is not working.

One of the biggest mistakes in disorganized homes is not having a “home office,” a place (that you like!) to manage life’s affairs.

7) If a system isn’t working, don’t try to fix it, start over

Photographs? filling system? (No, this is not a bug, just something to think about!)

8) Manage your “to do” list instead of letting it manage you

In my early days as a professional organization consultant, I was convinced that if I got organized enough, I could do everything on that list. I now take comfort in a comment made by a colleague: “A creative mind always has more ideas than the physical body is capable of carrying out. The only people who complete their ‘to do’ list are dead.” When you get off work at the end of the day, identify the three most important “to do’s” for the next day, and get them done!

9) Clutter is Postponed Decisions®

I learned this from clothing closets! How many items you find in your closet because you haven’t decided if you’ll ever use them again: “Maybe one day I’ll lose 10 pounds!”

Have you ever walked into your office one morning and said, “Okay, I’m going to clean up this mess today?” You pick up one sheet of paper, then another and another, and before you know it, the stack on the left is now on the right. There are three options with any piece of paper: File, Act or Throw!

10) Forgive yourself when you’re wrong and move on

Human behavior is not like computer software. It can not be installed. It has to be nurtured.

It always amazes me how much we can learn from children. On a flight from Los Angeles to Chicago he was sitting next to a six-year-old boy who was traveling alone. He was doing his best to entertain himself and he was really being very nice, but I often wondered, “How much longer is it going to be?” After what seemed like the 100th time, I replied, “Just 30 more minutes. It’ll just take patience.” He looked at me innocently with his big brown eyes and asked, “How long is patience?”

You have already taken the first step towards a more organized life by reading this article. But be patient with yourself and others when it comes to getting organized. Like a puzzle, take one piece at a time. Organized life in a disorganized world may be just a few more pieces of the puzzle. And then before you know it, you can see the whole picture more clearly.