Put it away the first time

If we put away as we go, we never have mess. Photo / Thinkstock

I went out to the garage this morning to put something in the car and found that my lovely 18 year old grandson Sam (living with me this year while his parents are on an overseas posting) had left clutter all over the garage bench. He has recently discovered the joy of tinkering with his car and nearly every day something else is taken off or modified.

'Normal teenage lad behaviour,' you might be thinking, and yes it is. However, leaving stuff lying around is not my standard.

I had choices, as all parents and caregivers do - ignore it; put it away myself since it annoyed me; or call the kid back to sort out his own crap. You probably won't be surprised to know that I chose the last option, even though it slowed us both down. Ignoring was never an option for me and doing it myself was not teaching him an important life lesson.

As I watched him start cleaning up the bench I said, "Here's a key life principle, Sam. Put away as you go."

"You've told me that before," snapped a slightly grumpy stomach on legs, busting to get to the nearest auto outlet for more guy stuff.

"Well, do it every time and you won't be told again" was my reply.

I scratched my brain to think of a half-relevant analogy. (The best I could come up with might be poor mechanical logic - clever mechanics, please treat me kindly!)

"Think about it this way, Sam. You've just put a new air filter on your car so it will perform better. If you'd left the old one sitting on the engine after you'd taken it off, things would rapidly go wrong. Possibly the loose part would fall into the fan belt and something would break or go wrong. Or, if it stayed in place the air wouldn't be able to get easily to the new filter and you'd lose the benefits you've just gained. Bottom line - things wouldn't work as well."

Successful people don't put things off. Instead, as much as possible they finish what they've started.

Said lad cleaned up and got out quickly before I found any more things to hassle him about or lectures to deliver. Did he listen? Future employers will be the judge of that!

However, this simple little domestic incident got me thinking. Many grownups do the same thing: the clutter I see lying around on desks, offices, workshops (and some homes) tells its own story.

Here's the extension of what I was trying to tell Sam. If we put away as we go, we never have mess. It takes only a fraction of a minute to return an item to its proper place when you've just used it. No further thinking or re-familiarisation is required.

But if we leave things to put away later, when we return to that space there's a psychic energy block. Our sub-conscious has to mentally push past the now-irrelevant items to reach the materials or activities we want to use next.

When we're busy it seems easier and faster to leave things where they lie and just rush off to the next task or event. But, the problem is that when you finally do get back, the stuff has bred. Or, you're tired and it seems a much bigger job so you leave it longer. I'm sure everyone has seen the snowball effect of that.

Every time we hear ourselves say or think, 'I'll get round to it later', don't stop. Keep the momentum going. Put things away. Finish the task. Empty the briefcase. Clear the desk.

When you're tempted to procrastinate, replace that thought with: 'I'll do it NOW'

Successful people don't put things off. Instead, as much as possible they finish what they've started.

Robyn Pearce (known as the Time Queen) is the MD of GettingAGrip.com, an international time management and productivity training company based in New Zealand. Get your free report 'How To Master Time In Only 90 Seconds' and ongoing time tips at www.gettingagrip.com