Out of Chaos an organizing newsletter
Action Words
I once had an acting teacher who was fond of pointing out that the root word of acting is act. I realized I spend a lot of time trying to help my clients distill what they need to do into action words. Sometimes a client wants to “talk about a plan” and I have to restrain myself from launching into Eliza Doolittle’s song: “Never do I ever want to hear another word.”
It isn’t that having a plan is bad, but sometimes, especially among my very smart, and somewhat perfectionistic, clients it can become a delaying tactic. I believe the most important step in getting organized is to begin by taking action. I also believe that by subtly training yourself to think in terms of action words when you are facing any chaos, you can fundamentally change your relationship to that chaos.
So, we must begin by taking action. Almost any action will do: The trick is to jump in. This can be daunting: The task can seem too much, too overwhelming, and too deep to know where to start. As you all know, I generally try to break it down to smaller tasks. “Let’s start with that pile,” I’ll say. Here’s where the action words come in. If we are going through a pile of papers you may hear words like: Shred, File, Take Action, To Enter. If we’re dealing with a pile of clothes it might be: Take to Goodwill, Take to Tailor, Handwash. The idea is that when I’m gone you will have clearly delineated, manageable tasks to perform. I think of it as instructions. I have very limited “clear time,” that is, time when I’m awake, not exhausted and not being too harassed by children to sit at my desk. If I spend that time dividing my pile into actions, I can divvy the tasks up. For example, I can “enter” addresses and bank transactions when I’m tired, but not if I have to search for them first. I can make a phone call in between dropping the kids off at school and going to a client, but not if I don’t have the relevant papers in my purse.
I also like directives. I find that labeling something To Read rather than Reading makes it much more pressing. So when you are approaching something daunting, try to find the one word that will tell you what you need to do. If you are having trouble finding that one word that may be a sign that there is no good reason for you to be hanging onto that piece of paper, or that it requires several steps, or lastly, is just something that you haven’t really assigned a home.
20 Minute Exercise: Pick a small cluttered area and attempt to straighten it out. Whether it is a corner of your kitchen counter, or a pile of papers on your bedroom floor, try to think in terms of action words, and think about when you can schedule those actions into your day or week. Next, think about how that pile evolved and how to keep it from recreating itself in a week’s time. Are there holes in your system? Things with no place? Do you open your mail in the kitchen but file in the bedroom? Do you subscribe to too many magazines? In the following weeks, try to monitor if the pile re-establishes itself or is gone for good.