Small Business Today Magazine OCT 2014 THE EFFORT COMPANIES | Page 22

EDITORIALFEATURE

Getting Organized:  

Organizing and the Trapeze Artist 
By Holly Uverity CPO®, Office Organizers

T

neither too small nor too big.  If the holes are
too small, the net is tight and if the artist falls into
the net, it’s like falling onto pavement.  If the holes
are too large, the artist risks falling through the
net and becoming injured.  The net has to not
just catch the artist but be flexible enough to absorb the energy and then lift them back up to
where they were.  An organized person’s net is
their schedule.  Organized people keep a flexThe following are skills you might already have and, ible schedule and ensure that the holes in their
days and weeks are neither too small nor too big. 
if not, are good to learn:
If there is too much scheduled time, there is no

• Has Some Natural Ability but Takes Time to room for the unexpected and it’s as if they hit the
pavement.  Conversely, if there is not enough time
Learn New Skills
Most organized people have some inherent or- set aside specifically to work on projects, things
ganizational abilities.  They may be great at orga- will not fall through the cracks but they will fall
nizing events but not their paperwork.  They may through the holes in the net.  Organized people
be great space planners but can’t manage their keep about 60% of their time free to allow for
emails.  Like a trapeze artist, an organized person ‘falls’ – interruptions, unforeseen events, and fires
takes the time to hone in on their natural skills as they need to put out.

well as learning new ones.
• Doesn’t Work Alone 

One never sees a trapeze solo act; there is always
• Focuses on the Task at Hand 
A trapeze artist must maintain laser focus; they two or more people working together.  Orgacan’t be distracted by noise, lights, or commotion.  nized people also work in groups because they
They must be able to block out everything that understand that working in a vacuum is not efdoesn’t help them do that next maneuver.  Or- fective.  Organized people delegate because they
ganized people have that same ability to focus on know that delegation is a great time managewhat needs to be done next so they’re working ment technique.  Organized people ask for help
proactively and not reactively.  They are always because they know that there may be a better
working on both long and short term goals and way to get something done.  They create agendas,
timelines, and project outlines so that everyone
not just on whatever bubbles up that day.
on their team has the same information and is

on the same page.  Organized people understand
• Capable of Doing a Balancing Act
Organized people learn to balance their time and that communication between team members
energy between those areas of their lives that are is essential and that they can get more accomimportant to them.  They understand that bal- plished with a team than they can by themselves.
ance is a fluid notion – it doesn’t mean everything
always fits nicely into blocks of time – but it does
mean that they can get done what they need to
without causing undue stress in any one area for Office Organizers, founded in 1993 by Holly Uverity, is The Entrepreneur’s Organizer.  They work with business people to crea protracted period of time.
hink about the last time you saw a trapeze
artist and were in awe of what they did so
far above the ground.  In working with clients, I’ve realized that an organized person
is like a trapeze artist and while it may seem a
strange comparison, both are artists who need
to keep their skills top notch.  What skills do you
already have that are similar to a trapeze artist?

• Has a Flexible Net 
The net under a trapeze artist has holes that are
20 SMALL BUSINESS TODAY MAGAZINE [ OCTOBER 2014 ]

ate solutions for their organizational challenges. You can contact
them by phone at 281-655-5022 or visit them on the web at
www.OfficeOrganizers.com.  “Like” them on Facebook at www.
fb.com/OfficeOrganizers.