Out of Chaos an organizing newsletter

It’s Complicated… But Why?

My clients like systems. In fact, they tend to be very good at creating very complicated systems. They usually favor these overcomplicated systems because in the past they may have made errors, left things until the last minute, had to deal with some chaos. To avoid chaos and errors, they try to make fool-proof systems: triple-entry check logs, paper and digital tax backup, itemized inventories.

I get it. Nobody likes a system and a nice Excel spreadsheet better than me.

But no system is foolproof. Because guess who makes the systems? We do, gorgeous, fallible, human creatures that we are.

In my book I advocate being organized enough. Not perfectly organized. So, if you do things regularly or promptly—balance your checkbook, gather your tax info, unpack from your move—your systems don’t need to be foolproof, as long as you follow them.

For example, if you’re preparing your 2021 taxes in January of 2022, and you’ve been keeping all your receipts in the same place, you’re probably not going to leave anything major out. Even if you failed to put the receipt for, say, a new computer in the file, you’ll likely remember that you bought it—maybe because there are receipts for other related purchases that you did file. Because you’re organized enough, you’ll catch your error—even if you’re a year behind on your taxes. One of my first clients kept a little paper shopping bag thumbtacked above her desk. All her tax-deductible receipts went in there. It wasn’t pretty, but it worked for her.

Complicated systems, on the other hand, require a lot of effort to maintain: You have to enter the check in the computer and in the paper log. You have to create a detailed label for the box and enter it all into inventory. It’s double work. And, because you’re human, you’re more likely to create two imperfect, irreconcilable records, rather than one, pretty-accurate record. Unless there’s a serious business need for meticulous record keeping, pretty accurate ought to be good enough.

I’d rather put my energy into coming up with a simple system that will work because it’s easy to maintain. If you enter every check in the computer, no paper log is necessary. Clearly written labels can let you know the contents of boxes, no need for complicated numbers matched to lists in books. Simple. Less but better.

A complicated system won’t save you, it’ll just give you more opportunities to slip up. Your best defense against chaos is well-maintained simplicity. And that is kind of a relief, isn’t it?