I recently gave a presentation to SheCAN! I was asked to give the presentation months in advance and as the time got closer to deliver it, my excitement grew and grew. I sat down, grabbed a previous version of my 4 Tenets presentation and got to work updating it. I wanted it to be perfect! And, oh, what perfection it turned into! It had rainbows and unicorns and leprechauns (so many that I actually learned how to spell leprechaun). It had princes and princesses, too. With great pride and joy, I reviewed it with a member of SheCAN!.
Her response was “no, don’t do it.”
Ok, no problem, one woman’s opinion.
I sent it another. Another “no.”
At 10:30, the night before my big presentation, I am sweating it. Where did I go wrong? It had
everything in it! Oh, it had EVERYTHING in it. That’s where I went wrong.
So, I treated like and overstuffed, neglected sock drawer. (You know that drawer, the one where the clean socks barely fit and making it close flush is a major accomplishment.) I start with throwing out all the useless socks with holes. I create a donate pile of socks I don’t need. I keep a two novelty socks for the fun of it. My sentimental socks are allowed space. I tailor make a system for the socks in a way that is easy to maintain. When finished, my heart was happy. Or in other words, I applied the Four Tenets of Organizing to my presentation: I got down to the basic message, added in a little humor, talked to the group as if they were my best friends, shared my sentimental story, in a way that worked for me and… When I finished my heart was happy.
Boom! The 4 Tenets of Organizing haven’t failed me, yet!
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