| What Irritates You?
I just finished reading a powerful book The Profitable Power of Purpose in which the author Ian Percy (www.IanPercy.com) states “If your customers were not irritated, they would not even be your customers.” How true it is! In 1978, I ran an ad in a New York City newspaper, “Organizing consultant can help you make better use of time and space” and launched a 25+ year business which is still going strong. Obviously there were, and still are lots of people irritated about their lack of time and space, because now there is an entire industry devoted to helping people solve that irritation. A recent TV show said home storage alone is a $3+ billion industry. I would love to know “What irritates you?” Not just about getting organized and being productive, but about life in general? And in the interest of providing better service to our customers, what irritates you about the organizing solutions you have found so far? Are they working? What irritates you about Taming the Paper Tiger? (See the end of this article to see how you can contact me). Our mission is to help you increase your productivity, so you can accomplish your work and enjoy your life. So what is stopping you? One of the biggest stumbling blocks to improved productivity is “action!” Action prevents thought and not thinking leads us to do the same old things in the same old way. I remember an old Burma Shave sign on a Nebraska country road: “Choose your rut carefully – you’ll be in it for the next 30 years!” Are you in a rut? With the “lazy-hazy” days of summer upon us, take some time for thinking – especially about what it is that irritates you. As Mark Twain put it, “Progress starts with the truth.” I can’t think of a better way for all of us to improve our productivity than by admitting the truth about what it is that irritates us, so we can do something to change it! Send me an e-mail (barbara@ProductiveEnvironment.com) with your irritations. Who knows – I may know someone or something that can help. I’d love to try! © Barbara Hemphill is the author of Kiplinger's Taming the Paper Tiger at Work and Taming the Paper Tiger at Home and co-author of Love It or Lose It: Living Clutter-Free Forever. The mission of Hemphill Productivity Institute is to help individuals and organizations create and sustain a productive environment so they can accomplish their work and enjoy their lives. We do this by organizing space, information, and time. We can be reached at 800-427-0237 or at www.ProductiveEnvironment.com
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