Winnie-the-Pooh said it succinctly, "Organizing is what you do before you do it, so that when you do it, it's not all mixed up."

If you were an organized person in most aspects of your life, what would you look like, how would you live out your everyday life?

A. In your environment you would:

Assign special areas for all your possessions. Give every article, item, supply, file, a place, a home. We will talk about this idea a bit later.

Prepare yourself and your environment for its greatest efficiency. Ever observe a dentist as he works his magic in your mouth? Rarely does the guy ever move from one spot. He can reach any tool in one motion in seconds. That's how you want your office to run, reaching any item, article, supply, file, or book in one motion.

Take care of what you own to extend its usefulness. Stewardship is the word. It's a biblical term, but has wide ramifications. We do not own anything. We can take nothing with us when we die. We can only steward what God has given us. Everything we have is derived.

Remove obstacles that hinder your achievement. I worked with a manager at Marriott several years ago. Every morning he would enter his office, unlock his desk and all his drawers would fall open. Whenever he needed to take a break or leave the office he would have to rear back in his seat, place both feet on all drawers at the same time, and reach over and lock his desk. I mentioned that all we needed to do was call a maintenance man to fix the problem-a problem that had plagued him for 7 years! We have little obstacles or irritants in our offices that plague us, rob us of our time and energy.

Simplify your lifestyle by sharing with others. I mention this idea in my seminars all across the country. I usually get blank stares. So many people have so little. Many of us have plenty. Why not share from our good fortune? Begin the process of getting rid of the old by passing it down to less fortunate people.

The KEY: Being ORGANIZED IN YOUR ENVIRONMENT means being able to find and easily get to what you own.