Extreme Organizing

I recently watched a weekend marathon of “Extreme Hoarding” which is a series that documents people who cannot throw anything away and therefore have collected years worth of items. The entire time I watch in amazement at the piles that have built up and how these people have to climb over mountains of garbage to get anywhere.

These people are polar opposites of Project Managers, who I would categorize as “Extreme Organizers.” Because we are the focal point for all information and plans we have to be very organized. We need to know where the project is at all times and have metrics and lists to give us that transparency.

My worst nightmare

I am definitely an Extreme Organizer with my OneNote file divided into sections and pages sorted by category and date, my plans which are grouped into categories, my action item logs to not forget a single item, and even my clothes sorted by season and color (ROYGBIV…obviously).

I think both categories are obsessive – hoarders obsess over keeping “things” and PMs obsess over organizing and planning. Amazing how the same condition can make some people immobile and some people motivated. Oh well, back to organizing (and the Extreme Hoarding marathon)…..