501 - Passive Organizing

<p>It's time to add a new term to our organizing glossary: <strong><em>passive organizing</em></strong>.  I've said for years that it really takes three years to get organized, but the first 12-18 months are not easily recognized in that process. The reason is that this first chunk of time is spent in passive organizing.</p> <p><strong>What is passive organizing?</strong> Passive organizing is the time period during which you're becoming aware that maybe organization could help you become more productive. Maybe organization could help you get back your time. You're thinking, you're researching, and you're listening. This is passive organization. <span style="font-weight: 400;">The change</span> is happening in your mind, in your emotions, in your heart, and in your beliefs.</p> <p><strong>Passive organizing is the "pink" work of organizing.</strong> This is the time frame when you're working on yourself. You haven't committed to organizing, but you're gathering information and working on your mindset. You're thinking about the when, the how, and the order. You're deciding who you want your teacher to be. </p> <p>In passive organizing, you're consuming exorbitant amounts of information. <strong>Sometimes, this can cause information overload and paralysis.</strong> You might struggle to take action because you see the best in all the options. </p> <p>Let's take a little rabbit trail. <a href= "https://www.kolbe.com/">The Kolbe Assessment</a> is a quantitative test that helps you determine how you think. Among other things, it tells you how you leverage these three areas of thinking and processing in order to complete a project:</p> <ul> <li>How much do you need to research something before you can do it?</li> <li>How much structure do you need before you can take action?</li> <li>How much do you need to talk before taking action?</li> </ul> <p>I am a "quick start." <strong>I spend the majority of my time talking about a project and then the active work portion of the project comes out really quickly at the end.</st