When most people think about organization, they think of the kind that requires tossing old gnarly-looking underwear or scraping dust bunnies and cat hair out from under the couch. And that kind of organization is important (even if you think those tighty whities still have plenty of wear in them).

Getting organized actually creates more time to spend on creating more interesting things. With the dishes actually done and my laundry put away properly instead of just clean and still in the basket waiting to be worn again, my mind is free from that particular distraction and I am better able to focus on my projects (not to mention that I now have available the time it took to find matching socks every morning in the laundry mess).

Some of my resistance to organization has to do with creative stereotypes. I’m not disorganized, I’m creative. I’m an “artist” therefore I must be a slob. I can only do one thing or something else. Either I wash the dishes or I work on editing my memoir. Either I put laundry away, or I spend time writing my business plan.

Being too disorganized can harm creativity. If I’m thinking about is the massive pile of dirty dishes, I’m certainly not writing thoughtfully about getting organized. At times, the very task that I am resisting the most is the one I need to accomplish in order to get back to being happily creative. Maybe I would rather write than file my important papers, but once I have the papers filed, I can actually concentrate on my writing. While I may have reduced my available creative time from an hour to 45 minutes by the time I have completed the filing, at least those 45 minutes can be spent in peaceful productivity, because the thoughts of unfiled paperwork won’t be trying to interrupt me. Chances are, I’ll get more done in the reduced amount of time.

This tends to revolve around another creativity myth, namely that creative people only create when they are inspired. Inspiration may or may not show up, so why plan for it? This is a trap. The best way to invite inspiration is not to plan on it, but to get the fuck to work whether you’re inspired or not. Just as inspiration causes action, action invites inspiration to visit.

What I’m working on these days is organization on a different level – organizing my thoughts. By getting all my thoughts organized I can sort between the projects that I could/should/will do and actually prioritize my time so I finish things. At any time, I have multiple projects in progress, so keeping track of these plus the ideas for future projects requires at least a small amount or organization.

I procrastinate the most when I have many things that I want to do and an entire winter of unstructured time with which to do them all. This leads to a lot of sitting in front of the computer while not accomplishing much of anything.

The biggest key that I’ve found to getting organized is finding a system that actually works. I have a day planner, and I use it. However, the section for scheduling my day in half-hour increments is more fun when ignored. The to-do list column gets heavy use. If I were to actually schedule my time, I would manage to make it through the day while doing absolutely nothing at the scheduled time and would most likely completely ignore my to-do list. Actually, being too detailed with scheduling my times causes me to “misplace” my day planner and then not only do I not do much, but I have no idea what it is that I’m not doing.

Getting organized is trial and error. Making a list makes me more productive, because I know what I need to do each day and I like crossing things off. And I took some advice from my mother, who said if I do something that’s NOT on the list, I should add it to the list just so I can cross it off.

Too much organization removes the opportunities for spontaneous activities. Sometimes the things done on the spur of the moment are the ones that provide the inspiration to the scheduled projects. There is also the temptation to schedule every moment for some kind of “productive” activity and not leave room to do things just for fun or the sheer hell of it. While inspiration isn’t likely to show up to people who spend the entire day smoking pot and drinking beer, it’s also probably not going to show up when every minute of the day is scheduled.

Setting difficult or unattainable standards is another way that creative people sabotage themselves. The thought that something must be done perfectly or it’s not worth doing can and does significantly reduce productivity. As artists, we are our own worst critics anyway. Why make things harder by adding ridiculously high organizational standards to our days? If we can’t work until every last dirty dish is washed, every paper filed, and all the cat hair vacuumed from the couch, we will create exactly nothing.

Getting organized might be important, but it’s more important to make sure that organization serves a purposes. Keeping my craft tools and supplies in good condition and properly stored – good. Washing the dishes regularly so that it both takes less time and doesn’t fill my mind with dread – good. Keeping the house spotless and scheduling my time down to the minute – bad.

If organization doesn’t facilitate accomplishing what I want, then it’s just another excuse to not reach my goals. I will never be the most organized person in the world.

As long as I have found a balance between organization and creativity, I can live with that.

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