Organization Leadership Skill Area This project is supported by a grant from the Pennsylvania Developmental Disabilities Council (PADDC)

What is organization? To arrange into a structured whole; order This may look different for different people You have to find what works best for you!

Good practice Although you may organize differently than someone else, these things can help anyone: Clean space Calendar or planner Technology! Everybody has their own way of organizing. However, there are best practices to think about when deciding what you can do to get yourself organized. Think about the area that you do work and whether or not it is best fit for productivity. Having a lot of clutter can keep your mind cluttered too. Being able to work in a space that signifies a calm atmosphere can go a long way. Also, the easier it is to find your material, the faster you can get things done! Using some type of method to organize all your activities and tasks frees up your mind to remember other things. It’s important of making a habit out of checking your calendar or to-do list so that you don’t miss anything. Technology is our friend. We are always on our phones or computers, so why not use them to help us out with stuff we may not love doing, like our homework or chores. There are tons of apps that even keep you on track then remind you to reward yourself after you’ve worked a certain amount of time!

Not just about the stuff Organizing is important for your ideas and actions too! Always remember to: Prioritize Put important things first Track Ask yourself if you’re getting things accomplished Organizing the things around us can help organize our thinking naturally, but those need organizing too! When you have what feels like a never-ending list of things to do, it is important you make the best use of your time. This usually means getting the most important and crucial tasks out of the way first. As you’re completing things, keep track! It lets you know what you’ve gotten done, what you have left to do, and gives that important feeling of accomplishment! This is especially important for long-term projects that can’t get completed in one day, but rather have many little things that need to be done along the way.

Organization & Leadership When you are organized, others will be able to follow Make sure you’re on the same page! Helps you follow everyone else, too Track their progress Less chaos = more productivity Have you ever tried to follow along with someone who is extremely chaotic and scattered in a million directions? It is near impossible, and exhausting at best. Having yourself and the activities that you need people to help with organized makes it easier and more enjoyable for others to be on the same page. It also means you can keep track of those around you better. Are others finishing what they need to be? Do they need help? What kind of help? When you know just what needs to be done, this task of keeping track becomes much easier. When you reduce the amount of chaos, your whole team can be more productive!

“Sort it Out” Activity Sometimes organization is about organizing things. This activity will require you to make your own categories to sort it out. The next slide has a series of objects Your goal will be to come up with a system to categorize these objects Try to do this as fast as you can The first three to raise their hands when they’re finished, will explain their “system” **Extra Challenge** Ask students to come up with a different system for the same objects

What did you learn? How did you first approach the objects? Did you categorize as you looked, or after you saw each object? Did your system work right away, or did you need an alternative? Do you think there would be a better system? How can learning to quickly categorize help you at school and work?

“Efficiency” Activity Sometimes organization is about organizing our thoughts to be as efficient as possible. This activity will require you to think about possibilities before providing your answer. Pair up in teams of two One person face the presentation “Describer”; other face away “Guesser” Describers silently read the first keyword on the screen Tell the Guesser one word that will allow them to guess the keyword Each team takes a turn until someone guesses correctly Switch roles for the next keyword

Tree

Soda

Pizza

Netflix

What did you learn? Was it difficult to use fewer words? What did you think as a guesser when the clue was good? When it was not so good? What did you need to consider before coming up with your clue? What did you have to consider before using the clue to guess? How can learning to be more direct help you at school and work?