Your Organizing DNA

Do you like storing your papers on top of your desk in trays, baskets or just plain piles? Do you have a preference for Post-it notes and maybe some colorful file folders? Or are clearly labeled files and file cabinets more your style? Do you 'file' or 'pile'? I make it a practice of testing my workshop participants for this very thing because of its importance in creating and supporting an effective, organized workspace.

The brain's dominance factor

Research conducted in the late 1980's proved that human beings exhibit brain hemisphere dominance in early childhood. Brain hemispheres have distinct functions that work together so that we actually use both sides of our brain in everything we do.

Your brain's dominance directly impacts how you respond to new experiences. The more aware you are of your own learning style, the better positioned you are to use what you learn.

Your natural style is the key

Left-brain dominance indicates someone who tends to be analytical, methodical and a linear thinker. This scenario may imply that left-brainers are more organized, but this is perception more than reality. Language resides in the left side of the brain so these individuals look for a word on a label affixed to a file folder frequently found stored vertically on top of their desk or in their file cabinet.

Right-brainers, on the other hand, are characterized as individuals who are conceptual thinkers, visionaries who scan more than focus. They tend to be more people/project oriented. This style responds to color or placement and frequently files papers horizontally on top of their desk. Putting something inside a file cabinet could mean it is lost to them forever.

Benefit

Identifying your natural paper management style helps you work towards eliminating those on-going feelings of stress and frustration when you look at your desktop. Actively developing a user-friendly system that supports your style is a key element in not only creating an organized workspace, but more importantly in maintaining one.

Outcome? Increased productivity and peace of mind.

So?are you left or right?

Copyright 2001 Cynthia Kyriazis. All rights reserved.

Cynthia Kyriazis is a Professional Organizer, trainer, consultant, speaker, coach and author with over 20 years management experience in multi-unit corporations. She is President of Organize it, Inc., an organizational consulting firm serving Fortune 500 clients since 1995. Cynthia has worked with over 150 companies and hundreds of professionals to help improve performance in the areas of time, information, space and electronic file management.

Cynthia has appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Kansas City Star and the Legal Intelligencer. She currently serves as Secretary on the Board of Directors for the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO), member of the National Speakers Association (NSA), member of International Society for Performance Improvement - Kansas City chapter (ISPI-KC) and consultant to the American Coaching Association.

Latest News


Business Coalition Opposes Union Organizing Bill
Women's Wear Daily - 20 hours ago
by Kristi Ellis WASHINGTON — Labor groups and the business community are preparing to square off over a bill that would make it easier for workers to ...

Research and Markets: Community Organizing and Youth Advocacy Is a ...
MarketWatch - Dec 1, 2008
Community groups examined in this volume advocate for and with youth in a variety of ways: through youth organizing, parent organizing, more traditional ...

Coalition for a Democratic Workplace Launches New Print ...
MarketWatch - 3 hours ago
More aptly titled the Employee "Forced" Choice Act, the legislation will effectively remove secret ballots for workers in union organizing elections and ...

Moscow Sees No Obstacles in Organizing Supreme State Council of ...
istockAnalyst.com (press release), OR - Dec 1, 2008
Dec 1 (Interfax) - Russia sees no obstacles in organizing the Supreme State Council of the Union State of Russia and Belarus in the near future, ...

Culinary sees opportunity after Station makes its move
Las Vegas Sun, NV - 16 hours ago
Barack Obama, lost the popular vote in Nevada’s presidential caucus this year, the union outlined to membership a series of goals, including organizing ...

Why Liberals Need Labor: The Upcoming Battle over Labor Law Reform
Huffington Post, NY - 5 hours ago
These numbers show the tremendous power of grass-roots organizing. Nationwide, according to Molyneux, 67 percent of union members of all races -- and 69 ...

NAG Organizing Agenda
Streetsblog, NY - 23 hours ago
... areas of the neighborhood that will affect what kind of development can happen in the future. Come prepared to roll up your sleeves and start organizing!

National Post

India to taste its own medicine
Pakistan Daily Mail, Pakistan - 7 hours ago
He is also working for RAW’s cross border operations wing, (19) Vivek Santoshi, resident of Calcutta, wanted for organizing terror attack on some US ...
US, India Pressure Pakistan to Cooperate in Mumbai Probe Washington Post
WORLD at 0400 GMT PR-Inside.com (Pressemitteilung)
Empathy and fear of fallout in Pakistan Times of India
Stratfor
all 1,341 news articles

National Clothesline

Get ready for union organizing
National Clothesline, PA - Dec 1, 2008
Even if the worst aspects are taken out, we can expect the federal government to make it easier for unions to organize workers. Some of the compromises ...

Cleveland Leader

Simply Sarah Handy Hold All is Perfect for Organizing Purses
Cleveland Leader, OH - Dec 1, 2008
Does your significant other just have way too many bags and purses lying around the house? To declutter all that mess simplysarahshaw.com has come up with ...

Resources