“I’ve found relationships to be about the most important thing in my life, personal but also business. And the best way to build relationships is to be trustworthy. And the best way to be trustworthy is to keep your commitments. If you’re organized, you are more likely to keep your commitments. Organizaton is largely about managing your commitments.”
– Leo Babauta, zen habits
For me, this excerpt distills exactly why organization is so very important to me. At the end of the day, what matters most in my life are the connections with those around me: friends, family, clients, colleagues, and so forth. Though the type and frequency of the connections vary, it is of the utmost importance to me that, when I say I’ll do something or when I promise to get back to someone, I do it.
Words can be powerful tools. They make the commitments. Actions eclipse the power of words tenfold. They deliver on the commitments.
If I’m not organized, my words are hard to track. It’s hard to remember what I’ve committed to, what I’ve promised to my various connections. When I’m organized, when I record my commitments in my task manager and my calendar and then follow through with those tools, I create a path to action. I can eclipse the power of words alone by delivering on those words with actions.
That is what being organized means to me. It means using the tools at my disposal to come through on my commitments for my connections, my relationships. There is very little as fundamental as that.
