It’s difficult to find areas where work gets done in a silo apart from others. We live in a highly collaborative world and the dependencies we have on other people to provide an answer, give input or confirm information makes responsiveness important.
The neat thing about today’s systems is that we can all tailor our personal workflow to the way which suits us best. We have choices in phones, email systems, software and computer hardware. Yet, it astounds me to see how many people can work year after year with little improvement in their productivity. Disorganization can be habit forming and my take is that the social consequences are not high enough to drive someone to change their modus operandi.
When a person is disorganized, “the dog ate my homework” excuse can become cloaked in the excuses for not delivering. If you don’t have a system for dealing with your email or you don’t respond to people because you can’t find their message, that can lower trust greatly. You are not known as a person of action, but excuses. Who wants to tolerate such unreliability? It’s painful and can create havoc for others that depend on your responsiveness.
Being disorganized can be overcome with habits that start small but develop into strong behaviors. Start by throwing away as much stuff as you can. Clear your work area so you can see what is important. Get your email inbox to zero and learn the habits to keep it there. Respond to emails quickly and drive towards decisions.
It takes a vigilance and desire to be known as a person of action to get to the root of the issue of being disorganized. However, with all the choices of people to work with out there, don’t be surprised if you get left behind over time if you don’t continually improve your speed and productivity.
How can you remove the barriers to productivity for yourself?
