Chaos is paradoxical; you need a certain
amount of chaos to be creative but not to the point that you feel
overwhelmed by the amount of stuff.
Getting organized is helpful for people in offices and at home.
Unwanted chaos is non-productive; there are several systems, tools and
principles for this. Getting organized is a general topic within problem
solving which is said to be most effective to clarify feelings because
it is primarily aimed at the physical environmental level. The clean
desk feeling, nice labeled folders, knowing where your stuff is stored
and where to put it (back) when done.
Usually the problem of increasing unwanted chaos is that new stuff
doesn't have a place to store it.
A nice helpful diagram to process "stuff" from your
in-basket to a destination from David
Allen's Book "Getting things
done" :
The
level of accepted chaos may vary from person to person. In my experience
the tolerance level of chaos for men tends to be higher than it is for
women. If the values of cleanliness and order differ within a household
this may cause tension. For example a woman might feel uncomfortable
with dirty laundry on the floor or a pile of used dishes in the kitchen
long before a man finally does. Even within a emancipated society this
might be one of the reasons women still do more of the household tasks
than men... (It might be interesting to use the value-system as a
variable for social science research)
Order is the
reshuffling of Chaos using sets of Rules. These rules don't have to be
logical, reasonable or even sane, but they do have to be internally
consistent, and most of the things or people involved must fit or be
made to fit the resulting Pattern. Sweeping unwanted facts under the Rug
usually includes those who found them. In Reality, order exists in a sea
of Chaos, for Order must be be recognized as such so that Meaning can be
attached to it. [Source]
David
Allen - Getting Things Done: The Art of...