Why I think organised people are lazy

People are organised because they want to save time and make their lives easier – and that’s why I always say that organised people are lazy!

I include myself in this – I’m (usually) organised and it’s definitely because I want to make non-fun tasks take up less of my time and energy.

It’s not my intention to put anyone down or be rude when I say this, and it doesn’t mean disorganised people are or aren’t lazy – they just haven’t formed the habit of being organised yet. 

From planning ahead, writing lists and getting things done efficiently, it’s entirely possible to become an organised person as long as you’re willing to learn and stick with it.

When I asked the Christmas Organised community on Facebook what you thought, 80% of you agreed with me that organised people are lazy. 

Over on Twitter you were less sure, with nearly 67% of you saying you didn’t think organised people are lazy.

You’ll have to let me know if you’ve changed your minds or not after reading this post!

Time is valuable

I place a high value on my time and want to spend as much of it as possible doing things I enjoy.

So when I’m organising my life, I work out how I can spend less time doing things I consider ‘chores’ or boring tasks – and this includes Christmas admin. 

Don’t get me wrong, I love doing the fun bits of Christmas (ie seeing my friends and Christmas baking!)  – and I want to have time in November and December to fully enjoy them. 

But some of the planning and shopping is hard work and, on top of all the regular ‘lifemin’ tasks, can be very time consuming.

Also, I don’t want to have to repeat planning tasks, waste time looking for lost Christmas decorations or labour over something if there’s a quicker way of doing it…or a way of not doing it at all!

For example, I might spend time and energy setting up a Christmas planning folder with tasks and deadlines throughout the year. 

I only have to do it once, then it will save me time, money and stress year after year.

Christmas card nightmare

A few years back, before I acquired the Christmas organisation habit, I would buy a stack of Christmas cards in October, full of good intentions about sending them to friends and family in plenty of time for the festive season.

But I didn’t have a list of names, let alone up-to-date addresses or the names of friends’ new arrivals.

November would arrive and I’d sit down with a pile of cards and a gold sparkly pen with the intention of writing the whole lot, a personal message in every card.

One year, ready to start, I opened my old and battered address book and discovered all the pages in the ‘A’ section had fallen out and I couldn’t find them anywhere.

I wasted half an hour hunting around for the missing pages, to no avail. I was so annoyed!

So I moved on to the ‘B’s. First on the list was my Aunty Marie. I recollected she’d moved house that year, but I hadn’t made a note of her new address.

I’d have to call my parents and get the missing address from them. They were in a chatty mood, and an hour later I’d run out of time – I had to put a load of washing on and dash to the supermarket to pick up supplies for dinner.

How many Christmas cards had I written? None!

Similar scenarios would play out in the following weeks and I’d feel increasingly stressed and guilty that, yet again, my Christmas cards would either arrive late (ie in January!) or not at all.

I didn’t even know how many cards to buy, let alone how many stamps I’d need.

Does this sound familiar to you?

This seemingly simple task felt like an impossible mountain to climb and the time I spent on it was stressful and – ultimately – unproductive.

The organisation habit

I decided things had to change.

During January the following year, I created a Word document containing the names and addresses of people I send Christmas cards to every year.

I needed to contact various friends and family members (mainly those whose surnames begin with ‘A’!) to – sheepishly – ask for their addresses.

So, as well as getting hold of their up-to-date postal addresses, I was also able to apologise for not sending a Christmas card and have a good catch up in January, when everyone is less busy.

True it took time and brainwork, but I wasn’t under any time pressure and I can’t tell you what a difference it has made!

A stress-free Christmas

Now, throughout the year, if anyone sends me a change of address card or email I immediately add it to my Christmas card list, so it’s ready and waiting for me, fully up-to-date come October when I sit down to write my festive greetings.

Best of all, I just hit print and the addresses appear on sticky labels, saving me even more time and effort.

Without fail, my cards now hit doormats at the beginning of December. Result!

It takes me less time, less effort, less stress and I get to have more fun in the run-up to Christmas.

And this is exactly why I think organised people are lazy!

What’s your view? Let me know!

Alex x

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