A job site has the potential of getting cluttered and out of control very quickly!!! So how does Reitz Builders keep all that lumber and tools and trash organized? Here are three simple steps that will give you peace of mind to move on to do the things you really need to be doing.
No. 1 "IF NOT YOU, THEN WHO ?"
It's so easy to kick the proverbial ice cube under the fridge and avoid the millisecond of bending down it would take to pick it up and toss it in the sink. The same is true of our job sites where there might be 4 or 5 subcontractors on the job, who at any given time may leave tools and materials lying about. The key to solving the problem is realizing that if you don't pick it up, no one will (for a while anyway) and if it’s still there, you can’t get your work done as efficiently. Most people WON'T do the hard things because the human mental default is the desire to be comfortable. This default mode always backfires because the the messes we leave only weigh on us mentally. So don't push it down the line to the next person. Chances are they are going to kick it down the line too, and that cycle will keep going and going and going. Make it stop with you! Empower yourself to be the one responsible for that change - however small it might be. So choose the mindset "If not you then who?"
No. 2 "IF NOT NOW, THEN WHEN ?"
This one is similar to the first. Don't save picking up for later - Do it now. Don’t make it emotional. Make it a habit. Just pick it up! This mindset applies to anything out of place whether in the kitchen, the bathroom, the bedroom, or the job site! No excuses - Don't give yourself the room to make excuses. If you wan't things to be different, you will have to choose to make them different.
Note that the power in these statements comes from saying them over and over to yourself and having them right on the tip of your tongue at all times. Teach them to your kids, make your workers memorize them till they're blue in the face, and they will be hounded into to action by those words in their mind. "If not now, then when?"
No. 3 "Organized Chaos before perfection!"
We find that a neat pile is much better than a scattered mess. If you've got receipts and mail and kids drawings all over the desk, quickly and indiscriminately put them all into one neat perfectly square pile before you go through them so you are dealing with one item at a time instead of fifteen different receipts in front of you, all fighting for your attention. Do the same with all the pens and pencils, the dirty dishes, or the tools, lumber and plywood - stack them neatly and then you will be able to see the end of the tunnel and how to get there. Perfection can only come after discipline, and discipline can only be achieved through motivated and deliberate action!
If you have passed by any of our construction sites across Flagstaff and Northern Arizona, you know that we are committed to tidy workspace and we pass on these three practical steps so you can kill your clutter.