A little disorganization isn’t bad

4 min read

I read a lot of blogs. Everything including technology, apartment living, community and culture, cooking, you name it. I like to read blogs because sometimes it’s a more effective method of digesting information than a book or long-form article (even though I like those too). But, when you’re a voracious reader of online content you start to see some trends. There are a lot of articles about how to improve yourself, and many of these articles revolve around the topic of organization.

I suppose I’m predisposed to being organized — having attending university for information science and librarianship. But, I’m not as much of a stickler as some of the bloggers of the world. Organizational systems are designed to keep things straight. They are guidelines for organizing our lives, as well as organizing information so other people can find it. This works really well if you’re a library or work in an organization that has an archive. Organization is also important in our personal lives, especially when coupled with prioritizing. But, I find that organization can also get in the way of creativity. In some instances, organization just isn’t practical.

For example, my bookshelf is really organized. Books are grouped together by genre. My dresser and closet is organized — with a clear division between my casual and formal clothes. The files on my computer (and in the cloud) are organized into — what I consider to be — logical folders. On my iPad I have a homepage dedicated to blogging related apps. All these methods improve the likelihood of me finding something when I need it. I also keep all my old notebooks. When I’m done with them, I put a label on the spine and inside the cover that indicates the duration the notebook was used. For instance, the one I most recently retired says “September 2013 — April 2014.” Yet, if you were to open any of those old notebooks, you would think there is no rhyme or reason to my thoughts. This is partially true. I write things down when I want to remember them, or when I have a good idea (such as a blog post); I draw a double line underneath finished thoughts and I start a new page. Sometimes I put little colour-coded flags on pages if there’s something I want to return to, but more often than not my notebooks are little more than a chronology of ramblings.

Is this an example of someone who is disorganized? Perhaps. But anytime I need to find something in one of those notebooks I can usually retrieve it within thirty seconds. That’s what memory is for. My note taking system is not meant to be understandable to the public. But it makes sense to me. After all, I designed it. Had I tried to carefully organize my notes while I was writing them, it is likely that I would have far fewer old notebooks on my bookshelf because I might have forgotten the idea in the process. Getting ideas down is sometimes more important. Creativity is a spontaneous process. It gives me a chance to brainstorm and experiment. Sometimes my ideas are awesome. Sometimes they’re crap. (On a few occasions I’ve gone back to read my notes from the week and thought “what the hell was I thinking”). Often, getting things done is more important than being organized. Albert Einstein once said “if a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?”

Organization is very important, but it’s a constant battle. Nobody should ever be permanently organized. It’s something that can always be done after the fact. So, if you’re like me and you see a lot of blog articles this New Year talking about how you need to practice better organizational strategies, fear not. Being spontaneous and creative is more important, even if it makes a mess.