Simplicity is the strategy of the century. It certainly worked for award winning basketball coach John Wooden, as I learned via Brian Kim’s well-written blog. Wooden’s team had only three plays they used year in and year out and they won, year in and year out.
How can simplicity help you? When you figure out a simple way to do something that works well, keep it. Quit messing with it. Don’t waste time trying to improve it; you’ll reach the point of diminishing returns pretty quickly (and you’ll probably make it more complicated).
Now that you have simple solutions in place, guess what? You’ve got more time to devote to the important stuff. Stuff like, making sure your project is worthwhile before you invest time in it to begin with, and, once it’s going, making sure you have next actions lined up so you keep it on track.
My fellow organizing pro (and blogger) Jessica Duquette uses binders to move along her more complex projects. Binders are especially good for projects that need handwritten notes and other odd-sized papers kept in chronological order. I don’t care for binders much myself, but that’s mainly because I object to punching holes in endless pieces of paper and opening up those rings and then closing them on my pinky. What I do like, though, is sheet protectors that stay in the binder and keep scraps, samples and bits organized.
Thanks, Claire, I am not really a "binder person" either! I have always found them too fussy and too much of a bother to create, but every so often, when I have a long short-term project going with lots of necessary papers, a binder works like magic.
I can have everything in one place for reference and it is right at hand, rather than having to rifle through my file cabinet!
I confess I love sheet protectors, too!
all the best,
Jessica
Posted by: Jessica Duquette | September 12, 2006 7:43 AM | Permalink to Comment