It’s happening to you again. As your fists tighten you can sense that your face is turning crimson with anger. Perhaps a few beads of sweat break out on your face as your heart rate quickens. Rage beckons you and is but a non-thinking impulse away.

Everything that you had thought about accomplishing has been turned back into a dream. And this happened because you were not organized.

Sure it’s easy to point the finger of blame at other people or circumstances. Of course, that seems to be the rule rather than the exception in our society.

When it comes right to the heart of the matter, if you had been organized would you be bordering on cardiac arrest at this moment?

Whether it is your office desk, work to be done for a customer or your sock drawer, being organized is critical to your success. Take a moment to observe successful businesses, groups or teams.

Is their success a result of being organized?

If you feel that your business could use a little more organization, here are some thoughts for you to ponder. To start with, think out and develop a plan to put into place. The fact that you have taken time to put a plan on paper is a huge step toward organization.

Once on paper, put your plan to work for you. Gather your self- discipline together because you’ll need it if your plan is going to be productive. Stick to what you have to do at appointed times. At the end of each day and week review your plan and evaluate your progress.

Keep in mind that everything does not always fit into a square box. Consequently, leave yourself a block of uncommitted time each day. Say an hour or so. If you need extra time for a project, it will be there for you without destroying your whole day. Finally, there will be situations that you have absolutely no control over. Don’t waste your time worrying, but accept and adapt to those situations. Save the worrying for dilemmas that you have control over.

For those areas that you have influence over, do so in a way that makes you more organized. Make it a habit to expect the unexpected.

When the unexpected problem crops up, be prepared.

Be prepared by having a contingency plan in place. In some circles, this philosophy of management is called preemptive thinking.

But I am swamped. I don’t have enough time to take care of the things that must be completed today.

How am I supposed to find time to plan for the future? I’ll get to it tomorrow. When things slow down I’ll look into it. It’s at the top of my list of things to do.

These are excerpts from the Excuse Hall of Fame. You may opt for one of these if you wish to or make up a new excuse. Or you can get to work on changing the way things are done. It’s your nerves.