I believe that sometimes people confuse themselves about what organized really means, and what’s practical and appropriate.

To me, organized means everything you need, want *and value* has a place, and is in that place when not in use (caveat caveat caveat…). There are some details left unspoken in that definition; they are important distinctions, but add to the wordiness.

For example, I believe that *someone else* should be able to come upon your system and be able to find what they need for you (in case of emergency or while you are letting them help you out) with a reasonable amount of time/trouble. Any system design or maintenance beyond that goal is a waste of time to do.

My work history has had 3 occasions for me to replace a person with no transition discussion between us. And let me tell you, the cleaning up and organizing I had to do under a lot of pressure of getting it done made me realize that I don’t want to do that to anyone else, should it come up!

The worst case was a set of piles of records with no notes on what was needed to complete the paperwork for each record. No log of what had been done/needed to be done, and no easy way to figure out how *they* kept it straight outside of their own head. Whew!

Anyway, off my tangent, thanks for a great reminder to keep it practical!

Sometimes I never can see when things are “good enough” – they HAVE to be perfect. Even when perfection isn’t needed.

Data points, Barbara