Do you know someone who has the incredible gift of organizing things?  By things, I mean stuff like clothes in a closet, storage rooms, filing cabinets, and things like that.

Well, I’m not necessarily one of those kinds of people.  I tend to organize in general ways but not down to the molecular level.  Some might say that my organization style would be called “temporary disorder” but I would beg to differ.  I know where my stuff is.  It’s somewhere in “that closet” or somewhere on my desk.  I usually can lay my hands on it if I need it quickly.  Long term storage or packing?  That’s a completely different matter.

My lovely and talented first wife is an absolute whiz at organizing stuff.  She can pack a suitcase, the trunk of a car, or organize a storage room like no one else can.  The girl can definitely get ten pounds of junk into a five pound bag, neatly and orderly.

Not only that, but she can usually remember where she put something and how it was packed.  She has almost perfect recall as to how she packed a particular box seven years ago and what else she packed with it.  She blows my mind!

On the other hand, my first wife tells me that I have an incredible recall of times and places that can go back to my earliest childhood memories, whereas she doesn’t.  I can usually build a chronology of a historical family event, narrowing it down not only to the year, but the season if not the month.

I’m not an expert on brain power, but I think that both my first wife’s mental abilities and mine are functioning the same way but in different areas of expertise.  I don’t know if someone else has come up with this phrase yet but I call it “relational thinking”.  We peg a memory of something to a seemingly fixed object, time or event and, as a result, can fill in the mental gaps by way of our own logical deduction.

I know what you’re thinking.  “Big stinkin’ deal, Randy!  What’s your point?!” 

Well, the answer to your question is this:  I think that a lot of us live very cluttered lives and allow that clutter to distract us from the memories of the moment.  Then, somewhere down the road, we can’t seem to recall much of the important things in our past.

So?  So, I’ve personally benefited from reducing a large percentage of clutter in my life and mind.  Make no mistake about it.  I still have a ways to go but I’m off to a good start and making excellent progress.

Does your life seem to be out of control?  Are you falling further and further behind in accomplishing those goals and dreams you set for yourself all those many moons ago?  When I found myself at a crossroads when it came to time management, I had to have a mental yard sell.  I cut out most of the senseless input into my mind from T.V.  I even had to make hard decisions as to who and what kind of people I would spend time with.  I couldn’t afford to let people drag me down or waste my time. 

I also made some hard choices about work and play so that I would have more balance in my life.  All work and no play made Randy a dull boy.  I’m still dull but at least I have the time now to recognize it!

What’s cluttering up your life that doesn’t really need to?  What will it take for you to make the hard decisions to deal with the clutter?  Focus on what it will take and then pursue it.  Speaking from experience, I can tell you that I’m glad that I’m now travelling down the path of less mental clutter.  This is resulting in being able to have a more clear focus on the things in life that matter most; to know who, and what, is important.

And knowing what goes where and why.