Monday, April 11, 2011

A lesson I learnt from my granddaughter

I wished to call back my friend who had called me two days back. He had given his number that I had scribbled carefully. I tried to locate the number not knowing where I had jotted down. I looked in vain in my telephone index, in my contacts in Gmail and on the several envelopes on my table. Then it hit me that I had noted the number on the newspaper that I was reading. A search revealed that my daughter had used the paper to bundle some garbage. I cursed myself for being disorganized. It was then I got a call from my granddaughter. She said “Grandpa, I had forgotten to take a note book. Can you please go to my book shelf and take the fifth book from the left on the second row. It has a yellow wrapper and you will see ‘Bioinformatics’ written on it. Please send it through the driver to my laboratory” I found the notebook in the exact place she had mentioned and within a minute sent it to her. It was then I wondered how organized she was in contrast to my slovenly ways.

This set me thinking on the importance of being organized. I realized that success comes to those who are organized. The ability to retrieve a thing or a thought is the hall mark of an organized person.” Being organized is being in control - of our time and space. You know where your things are - material and informational; you know you can locate them easily when you need them, without putting in a lot of physical or mental effort; and you know you can set them back just as easily enough.” It saves unnecessary tension, time and improves productivity in whatever area we are engaged in. I could feel the confidence in my granddaughter’s tone and the cool manner she asked for the book unlike me who would have made not only me miserable but all the other family members about my perceived loss of a thing. Being organized does not call for extraordinary skill. It is just the determination to streamline the way we do and store things/information. There should be a system and we should adhere to it always. Our time management will be wonderful and there would be no missed appointments or meetings and no embarrassments.



4 comments:

  1. that is a wonderful post after a long time

    very well organized grand daughter...and not just you, many of us have a lesson to be learnt from this

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  2. Yes it is important that one organised, and also plan well in advance. I am like your grand- daughter, quite organised in all my work, whether it is cooking or going out, and keeping the house neat and clean.
    I somehow find I am always left with lot of time to do the things I have planned without any tension, hurry or mistake.
    I hate people who think they can do everything in a jiffy and hurriedly do things in a haphazard way and leave the cleaning part to be done by others. I don't like people banging things in their hurry to prove that they are very smart. Coolness and planning will not only get the work done in time, but also get it done well.
    I trust, after seeing your grand daughter being so organised you too will surely follow her step. I really like your way of appreciating her talent and learning from her. There are few learners and very few appreciaters. All the best.

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  3. I'm always very organised !!!

    :-)


    My compliments to your grand daughter
    (my girls are NOT organised they have it NOT inherited from me ;)


    (Nice to see you back here :)))))

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  4. An important lesson for everyone....

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