‘Get Oranized & Get Things Done!’ – a Commentary
Lately and maybe unfortunately, it seems that what we receive through the U.S. Postal Service is solicitations and bills. Correspondence often is by e-mail or text messages and telephones do everything but make dinner, although that might be in the offing.
Anyway, one such recent solicitation by mail for a continuing education program – something lawyers receive regularly – was for a program favoring organization. When I glanced at the text, I gave it a second look. Did it really say “Get Oranized (sic) & Get Things Done”? That’s right. It said O-R-A-N-I-Z-E-D.
At first, I thought it was a joke like the signs that read “Plan Ahead” and then show the end of the word “Ahead” dropping off the side of the page. But, on examining the remaining text, I realized that it was, in fact, a mistake since “organized” was spelled correctly for about half of the brochure and incorrectly on the other half.
The unfortunate point was that the misspelling was for a program teaching organization.
One reason I was mesmerized by this experience, I think, is because it fits with another thought I have had that, as we try to do more and more at greater and greater speeds, some things are falling apart. The attention to detail that we once possessed is getting lost and sometimes details are important. We are losing focus.
This has more relevance to law and to day-to-day life than we might think.
A fellow elder law attorney and friend in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, Julieanne Steinbacher, Esq. of Steinbacher & Stahl, has developed a program for attorneys, other professionals and the public generally called “Chunk Your Life.” It is intended to help people take back their time and use it effectively. She described how she was able to accomplish more in shorter periods of time, including professionally, by grouping or “chunking” her life.
I heard Julieanne speak about the “Chunk Your Life” idea a few months ago when she addressed a networking group. She related stories of what happened before she began this new way of thinking. Some of them were humorous – a trip in the wrong direction across Pennsylvania roads into New Jersey instead of to home in Williamsport on an especially stressful day, work at odd hours and on weekends to complete projects that never seemed to get done.
The more I thought of it, the more I began to believe that the “Chunk It” idea really concerns focus, being in the moment and paying attention. Lack of attention and lack of focus is causing us to become more disorganized – hence my issue and concern with the brochure titled “Get Oranized & Get Things Done!”
Some of the things I have seen people do while not paying attention are dangerous such as pedestrians walking across busy streets without looking in either direction or, for that matter, while checking telephone messages on their smart phones or talking into their bluetooths. Pennsylvania just tightened laws regarding younger drivers. We have struggled with the cell phone while driving and texting while driving issues and these have caused deaths both locally and statewide.
Other results are inefficient like not spending time to analyze situations before plunging into them.
Our office favors discussing problems by appointment to focus on the issue at hand rather than multiple phone messages or e-mails.
There was a time when we had one phone for home and one for business. We mailed letters. Now, generally speaking, we use one phone for home, one for business and at least one cell or smart phone. We fax, e-mail, text, and only occasionally send letters. If the correspondence is important we can chose among the U.S. Postal Service, UPS, Federal Express or any number of overnight delivery services or even a same day courier. We might receive an e-mail asking whether we received a fax which was confirmed by telephone. It does not take a systems analyst to see that this could be inefficient.
The young man who bought my mother’s home some years back worked for a wireless phone company. He had multiple telephone numbers and we could not reach him anywhere. Finally, if I wanted to speak to him, I called his mother who lived across the street from him. She told him the message when he came to visit and he returned the call. Too much choice can sometimes lead to inferior results.
For more, listen to “50+ Planning Ahead” a weekly radio program on WCHE 1520 on every Wednesday from 4:30 pm to 5:00 pm with Janet Colliton, Colliton Law Assocs., PC, and Phil McFadden of Home Instead Senior Care.
About the Author Janet Colliton
Esquire, Colliton Law Associates, P.C. Janet Colliton has practiced law for over 38 years, 37 of them in Chester County, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia. Her practice, Colliton Law Associates, PC, is limited to elder law, Medicaid, including advice, applications and appeals, and other benefits planning including Veterans benefits, life care and special needs planning, guardianships, retirement, and estate planning and administration.