Ideas on getting organized

"Have you found that quite a few people who work in libraries, especially librarians, are extremely disorganized?" With this question, Sian Brannon opens the article "Being Organized--Oh, the Irony" in the recent issue of Library Worklife (Vol. 2 No.8 August 2005), the publication of the ALA-APA. Since it requires a subscription, I am not linking, but chances are your library may already get it if you are a library worker. The article goes on to give some simple tips on getting organized that even those people who are so messy they think that organization means mission impossible can actually feel they can do it. It is not easy. The author does point out that you have to use your trashcan or shredder at some point. Other simple tips include having a "brain," meaning a notepad where you write down everything you need like to-do lists. As I understand it, it is kind of a tool to keep you centered, kind of like the clipboard I keep handy to scribble quick notes, to outline pieces of writing, to put reminders, and other things in progress. Another simple tip is getting your own office supplies like folders. The idea here is that if you get something you actually like instead of the drab stuff the office usually gives you, that you will actually use it. It is a short little piece with some nice ideas. Readers can at least take a look, and if anyone out there needs to dig himself/herself out of a desk and mountain of papers, this would be a good time.