The other day I was on a radio show and the host asked me a question that I thought you might like to hear about.
She asked me:
You told me when we first met that there was a way to actually calculate the cost of disorganization to my business. I thought that was fascinating. So I was wondering if you could share that with my listeners.
So I shared:
You know there are a number of different factors that go into calculating the cost of disorganization. A lot of them are soft costs. So, they're not the bottom-line-hard-dollar perspectives that a number of people are used to looking at.
I want to talk about those for a minute and then we'll talk about how you can get to the actual dollar amount. There are three major areas of costs for disorganization.
Lost time or stymied productivity.
Time spent fixing objects that are broken under piles of stuff (and that really does happen) or time spent shopping for replacement or lost items are just examples of some of the lost time that occurs.
There is also lost money.
Money spent buying replacements for lost items because it's just easier to go buy a duplicate or a triplicate then it is to find what you had originally purchased.
Or late fees for bills that are lost in piles of clutter or DVDs and library books and so on.
Then there is lost serenity and increased stress – damage to credibility.
- Lack of confidence.
- Feeling some anxiety due to clutter and disorganization.
- Diminished competence either in reality or in perceived reality from others around you.
- Interpersonal tension and arguments between family members or coworkers.
- And lastly no calm, quiet place to relax. That really is important for all of us to be able to have a space where our brain and our body can take a breath and just sigh and relax.
Getting to the Dollars and Cents of Disorganization
A simple way to get to the dollars and cents of it all would be to figure out your “hourly value” and multiply by the number of hours a day you spend being unproductive and then multiply by the number of days a year you work. That is your hard cost of disorganization on top of the soft costs I have mentioned.
So, what is your disorganization costing you?
Until we talk again,
Live Fully — Love Openly — Laugh Often — Leverage Your Brilliance — Connect Authentically — Get Your Message Out — Serve with Impact — Prosper Everyday
Tylesha Juliano says
Disorganization was one of my biggest productivity challenges for a long time. And you hit the nail right on the head…clutter causes major anxiety because the nagging thought that something is unfinished just hangs in your mind constantly.
I had to take a long and realistic look at the root cause of my procrastination which did the most damage in stifling my productivity and found that I avoided doing anything that required me to locate files or information that weren’t kept in a central location.
And let me tell you, it’s more draining to avoid a task rather than completing it. I am so glad to be able to share these personal hard lessons with my clients so they hopefully don’t have to learn the hard way as I did.
Stephanie LH Calahan says
Thanks Tylesha. You are so right! I have many clients that have told me they feel major weight lifted when things are structured for the way they think and work. We put a lot of mental energy to our stuff that we frequently don’t realize we place there.