It's Hard to Make a Difference When You Can't Find Your Keys - The Seven-Step Path to Becoming Truly Organized

Zusatztext "[I]nsightful.... Though technically about organizing! it also provides a wonderful! non-threatening way to examine how to live your life.... [H]ighly recommended for anyone searching for deeper self awareness." — USA Today Informationen zum Autor Marilyn Paul has a Ph.D. from Yale University and an MB.A. from Cornell. She is a principal in the consulting firm Bridgeway Partners, with clients that have included Harvard University, the U.S. Department of Transportation, Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Pfizer. Klappentext Overbooking? Running late? Feeling overwhelmed by clutter and to-dos? Management consultant Dr. Marilyn Paul guides you on a path to personal change that will bring true relief from the pain and stress of disorganization. Unlike other books on getting organized, It's Hard to Make a Difference When You Can't Find Your Keys offers a clear seven-step path to personal development that is comprehensive in nature. Drawing on her own experience as a chronically disorganized person, Paul adds warmth, insight, humor, and hope to this manual for change and self-discovery. She introduces the notion of becoming "organized enough" to live a far more rewarding life and make the difference that is most important to you. There Must Be a Desk in Here Somewhere My desk was piled high with papers, empty coffee cups, and unopened mail. Perhaps there was even an outdated check lurking in there somewhere. I couldn't tell. The floor served as my filing cabinet. I didn't put papers into files because I was afraid I wouldn't find them again. I still couldn't find them easily, but at least I thought I knew their general whereabouts. I was a management consultant at a demanding firm. My clients and colleagues counted on me to deliver excellent, timely work. I did deliver, most of the time, but at great cost-recurring late-night work sessions; anguished preparation time; and frequent, frantic searches for missing information, my hair standing on end because I couldn't find the folder with the critical data. Some of the intensity stemmed from the very nature of my work, but much of the pressure came from me. Even though I tried to focus and to feel balanced and self-confident-I had practiced meditation for years-my life and work grew ever more stressful because I was usually running late. Rushing to the airport for business trips, I'd skid into the jetway, my heart pounding, just before the crew closed the door. Sometimes it was a high, sometimes I hated it. Running late for meetings, forgetting something yet again, submitting invoices way past deadline, I was creating havoc around me. I valued integrity, but I often broke agreements because I double-booked myself. In addition, I had several years of unfiled taxes. I would lie there, sleepless, worrying about the size of the debt ($1,000? $50,000?), but I still couldn't get my tax returns in the mail. And despite my M.B.A., I had noclue what I owed on my credit cards, because I couldn't find the last set of bills (or any set of bills, for that matter). My personal space was also very messy. When I invited people over, I would swoop through my apartment and throw the clutter into a closet or stash extra belongings under the bed or in the tub, and hope that people didn't peek behind the shower curtain. Things would stay in the closet, only to be buried by the next sweep through. I rarely hung up my clothes. My sink was piled with dirty dishes. I would often lose phone messages. I longed to live in a peaceful, beautiful space. I wanted a sanctuary, but I created chaos. Embarrassing? Very. Could I tell anyone what my life was like? No. I wanted to change, but I got little help from the many books on organizing. To organized people, and in most of the organizing books, the obvious answer is: Pull yourself together, create a plan, and "just do it" or "do it now." Put the keys in one place. File or th...

Product details

• Authors: Marilyn Paul, Marilyn Byfield Paul
• Publisher: Penguin Books USA
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 30.12.2003
• EAN: 9780142196175
• ISBN: 978-0-14-219617-5
• No. of pages: 320
• Dimensions: 137 mm x 203 mm x 18 mm
• Series: Compass; Compass
• Subject: Guides > Self-help, everyday life > Lifestyle, personal development