How organizing your surroundings can increase productivity
Project 1: Fixing stuff around yourself.
Do you think the condition of your living space has an effect on your productivity? Have you ever looked at an unorganized side table and immediately felt gloomy and lazy? Fret no more! I think we are about to decipher the code of increasing productivity.
Let’s create a scenario: There are two girls who live in separate dorm rooms. We will name them Girl A and Girl B. Girl A has a hard time focusing and completing her work on time. Any guesses why? However, Girl B is relatively way more productive than Girl A. I think we are getting close to knowing why.
If we enter the room of Girl A, it is an untidy room. Her study table is a mess, there is left over food present on the side table, clothes piled up on one corner. She has a hard time focusing on her work and assignments because of her unorganized surroundings. It’s hard for her to choose where to sit and start her work because everywhere she goes, she ends up in a pile of mess which distracts her and she loses her focus.
However, If you enter the room of Girl B, she has it all under control. She is fond of organizing and tidying up her room. She has a fixed working table which she ensures is decluttered and organized. This is why she is able to work more way more efficiently as compared to Girl A.
Organizing your surroundings has a positive effect on your productivity as well as your mental health. In fact, productivity and the state of your mind are in a direct relationship with each other. If you are in a space where there’s too much clutter and mess, your emotions and thoughts are going to feel disorganized and scattered as well. Ultimately, your productivity is going to get effected by all this. Everything is inter-connected.
So, I decided to experiment my own productivity levels by tidying-up my book shelf. Lately, I was having a hard time focusing on my work when I sat over here. I’d sit to work and I’d start looking here and there finding one lost thing after another, therefore losing all my focus.
What was wrong with it?
Everything was scattered, things that do not belong to a book shelf were there as well and it was very annoying.
What I did to fix it:
I started by removing all the unnecessary stuff and junk off the table. Then, I dusted the books as well as the shelf and re-arranged everything. The end results look like this:
How did I feel after completing this task?
There was a sense of accomplishment and happiness. I felt really productive and immediately realized how productivity and organizing go hand in hand together.
Would I have done this if it weren’t assigned?
To be fairly honest, NO. I don’t think I would’ve done this if it weren’t for the project work. I often used to look at it and think about fixing it, but I never did anything further than thinking, lack of motivation I suppose. However, once I was done with it, I had a sense of responsibility inside of me that motivated me to fix several areas within my own room.
How does this activity relate to leadership without authority and everyday leadership?
I took responsibility of fixing and cleaning the bookshelf all by myself with a positive mindset. I am not usually the one to do cleaning or fixing in my house, it’s always my mother. So, I think, in this way the activity relates to leadership without authority. I took the lead and decided to do something that did not harm anyone but may have benefitted everyone around me. My mom was very happy after looking at the bookshelf.
