Being Ultra-Organised: Is it a Good or Bad Thing?

Fighting for order is a struggle I have on a daily basis. If things aren’t in their correct place then disarray overwhelms and agitates me. While some unorganised people dream to have more organisation and more order in their lives, at what point does it become a problem?

If you know someone who obsesses over things being a certain way, or perhaps you are a little like this, you’re not alone.

You’re either organised or you’re not

It’s a good thing to be organised, right? There’s order, routine, structure, things in their place. You can find things. You know what’s happening and you are ready for it.

The good thing about being organised is that you know what you’re having for dinner every night of the week, a week in advance. Or if you are like me, your evening meal is planned a month in advance. But what about spontaneity? What if you don’t feel like that for dinner one night? You swap the meals around. Easy.

The pros of being ultra-organised

Being more organised is a skill many people would like to improve. It may be planning a trip so that things run smoothly, coordinating your working week with a host of extra-curricular activities for your kids whilst keeping sane. Whatever you aspire to, you can feel more on top of things when there’s more order in your life.

Being a highly organised person, I thrive on planning, routines and knowing in advance what’s going on. I meal plan, not weekly but monthly. I plan my week on a Sunday and write on a whiteboard on my fridge what’s happening each day. Any appointments go on the schedule even though they are also in my iPhone calendar. I like to see the week in advance, and all at once.

I know that I don’t need to duck out to the supermarket mid-week for a grocery item that is an essential component of one of our meals. I know we won’t run out of milk or breakfast cereal mid-week.

My ironing is done for the week by Sunday night. In fact, Sunday night is often ironing night so that the week’s clothes are ready to be worn. There is nothing more distressing to me than to have to pull out the ironing board in the morning and hastily iron a shirt.

I don’t do hectic. I don’t want stress.

Hectic = Stress.

Being organised brings calmness and less stress because things generally go the right way. When they don’t, my routine is upset. It’s thrown into chaos and I find it hard to keep calm. Stress creeps in and I’m running around not sure which way to turn or what to tackle first.

Bring me order and life is calm again.

What it feels when there’s less order than you like

Being organised is a good thing. But it can also be a bad thing when it takes over. When I become so obsessed with it and frustrated when things aren’t ordered to my liking it’s hard for those around me. Or when I spend so much time organising something that time is wasted and for little gain. Or that I never feel at ease because everywhere I look there is chaos surrounding me.

As a child, I remember organising all my fiction books by the author. Just like in a library. They all had to be alphabetically ordered and put back that way once I’d read them. But I had heaps of time on my hands then and it wasn’t really that much of an inconvenience to others.

Organised people can live in a state of chaos when things aren’t in order. I struggle with this. While I can happily fluctuate between order and disorder in parts of my life. In other parts, it causes me a lot of distress.

Visually I like to see order. I like bottles lined up in cupboards, dishes put away and out of sight. A clutter-free kitchen bench with things put away after their use. Nothing left out when not in use.

I run around after others putting things away whilst they are still using them as I like to keep on top of the order so it doesn’t get out of hand fast. To me disorder is stressful. It’s a lack of calmness. It’s like a ream of paper, 500 sheets scattered about the floor. Everywhere you look it’s in front of you. You can’t sit still until it’s all put away and you can’t go to sleep at night until everything is in its place.

It’s a distraction of my mind to see things everywhere. It’s overwhelming, suffocating. There is no peace until I order it properly. And when it is all put away each night it’s like a calmness has surrounded me, allowed me to surrender to a calmer state. Where there is a warm sandy beach, the sound of rhythmic waves lapping on the shore warming me and reassuring me to let go and rest.

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