What is "organized" anyway?

The dictionary definition of "organized" is: To pull, or put together in an orderly, functional, structured whole. To arrange or systematize.

As an Organizing Consultant, I think this is a decent, though very general definition, and the most important word here is "functional". When I spend time with clients in their offices helping them to get a handle on their "stuff" so they can become better organized, I stress to them that it's not about being neater and cleaner, and it's certainly not about achieving perfection. It's really more about developing simple systems that enable them to work more efficiently and effectively in order to save time and headaches. Don't get me wrong, neat and (especially) clean is good--but being functional is really the goal. Just about everyone can benefit from becoming better organized!