What Being Disorganized Costs You – Part 1

Introduction to the Series

The title I would like to apply to this series is “Several things a Professional Organizer would like you to know but is too polite to say out loud or afraid will scare you off” – but I thought it was just a tad bit too long. Chances are if you found this website, you have visited a few others and have seen some great reasons to get organized. In my opinion, most reasons while true are worded too positively. When most people read them, they think “That would be nice…” but do not find any true motivation. They do not see the personal costs of waiting for “someday” to get organized.

Because I perceive myself as that type of friend that is just rude enough to lovingly point out the spinach in your teeth, I have decided to translate some of them for you and to add others of my own. I do not want you to let these articles make you feel bad in any way. But I do want you to become just indignant enough to become motivated.

I hope that after you read them, you will be shocked into excitement about becoming organized. I want you to want to get started immediately even if in some small way, continue tomorrow, until eventually it becomes a daily habit to make little improvements where possible.

Part 1 – Time

Being disorganized steals your time.

If you spend on average 30 minutes throughout the day looking for things (5 minutes for keys, 10 minutes for wardrobe choices, 2 minutes for the potato peeler at dinner, etc.) you will have lost 3.5 hours at the end of the week. You will have lost almost sixteen hours at the end of the month. You will have lost 7.6 days at the end of the year. Keep in mind that the 7.6 days are full days without any time allotted for sleep. If you sleep only 6 hours a night, and include sleep time, you have lost 10 days of your life each year just by looking for things.

Now add the time you lose by maintaining and cleaning things you really do not need or want. Now add the time you spend making multiple trips on errands because you forgot something. Add the time you waste crisscrossing town doing errands because your errand route wasn’t planned. Add the time you spend in front of the open refrigerator or pantry deciding what to make for dinner. I could go on with many more examples.

If it is reasonable to say you lose 10 days just looking for things, after making these other additions, would it be reasonable to say that you could easily be “5 and 10 minute-ing” your way to almost a lost month each year?

Can you think of other ways being disorganized has taken your time?