Like organizing anything in life, a home, office, desk drawer, car, etc. you spend time carefully setting it up and then use it. Over time, most organized spaces gradually become disorganized. Depending on your level of type-“A”-ness, it will take longer then for others. Regardless, at some point, a system that was structured, organized and neat gets disorganized.
Our lives are also like this. We can design our schedules, routines, habits, and what not in a way that works for us. This might be to accommodate kid’s schedules, work schedules, fitness habits, etc. We set it up (sometimes intentionally and sometimes not) and work out a plan. (I just want to stop and note, even for people who are free spirits and tempted to argue with me that they don’t have a schedule, you DO have a schedule in your lack of schedule. Stop and notice your habits, patterns and mode of operation). Back to the plan, so we have that set up and working. Over time life evolves and changes and the structures we have set up begin to get “messy” and “stop working”.
The challenge is that in LIFE this disorganization is not as obvious as a grossly disorganized desk drawer. We keep running our lives using our old structures and experiencing the lack of them working, but not quite sure what to do about it.
When you feel this happening, I want to challenge you to step back and look at the big picture. Not the little activities you are doing, but the big habits, routines and schedule you are operating by. It is likely time for LIFE RE-DESIGN.
While some “habits” can be life serving, others are not. Consider, how you operated when you were in grade school often does not work when you are in high school. How you operated in high school, often needs to be adapted when you go to college. How you live when you are in college really needs to be shifted when you get a “job” and have a “family”. That is usually where we stop, but each stage of life brings new changes, challenges and opportunities. If you feel like you are out of control in your life, stop and take a look at your schedule, systems, beliefs, and habits. More than likely there are a few old paradigms that need to be shifted.
Christy Geiger, Executive Business Coach & Trainer, Minneapolis, MN
