The Shredder Ate My Notes...

Oh my goodness!! What a day!! I was talking with one of my mentors and confessed that I'm having a little trouble staying organized.

I support multiple executive councils, take multiple notes, and keep the documentation etc. And it's always in various stages of progress. I've got people calling me all day long requesting to come before the councils, I'm constantly juggling schedules and gathering information...giving people advice and guidance. And...so...it can be a bit overwhelming keeping it all straight.

I told this woman that I was having trouble because I have reams and reams of notes from this team and that team, including sticky notes to myself and papers all over my desk!! She suggested that once the meetings are documented, I should just throw caution to the wind and shred my handwritten meeting notes. Just call it a day and get on with the next round!!!

So I marched right back to my office...and with new encouragement, I said to myself..."She's right, I don't need all this stuff hanging around...I need to lighten the load...get things in order here!"

So next, I scooped up all that paper into my arms...and headed to the shredder. Wow! What a feeling to send page after page through that groaning, grinding machine...get 'er done!!! Lickety split!

And when I was finished turning it all into shreds, I matter-of-factly brushed my hands of it all! And I sauntered back to my desk feeling very pleased with myself. Then I set back to work finishing up the documentation for the last meeting held this week.

Suddenly...Oh...My...Gosh!!! I froze in a panic...and my jaw dropped to the floor!!! Oh My Gosh! Yes, you guessed it!!!! I had shredded this week's notes!!! Oh...My...Gosh!

For a minute I sat there and tried to conjure up the events from Monday's meeting...but by now it was mixed with all the other week's worth of meetings and conversations...and phone calls. Blank...my mind was completely blank.

I ran back to the shredder and stuck my face into the bin!!! No-o-o-o-o! What have I done? There's no way could I piece back together those little bitty stips of paper and make any sense of it all!! It just ain't gonna happen!

So...now what to do? I could make up a story...I could pretend I just didn't have all the info...or I could fess up to my shortcomings. What a decision...but I've pretty much always been a "What you see is what you get kind of gal."

So...I finished up the notes the best I could, based on what I was able to pull from my old foggy memory and I distributed what I had pieced together with an explanation. "Please excuse me if I've missed anything from the meeting, I had a little run-in with the shredder!!! It ATE MY NOTES!"

And so you see...there's a lesson here. I will never again try to be someone I'm NOT!! It's just not me...to be so methodical...which is why I had hung onto all that paper all along. By now, after all these years, I know myself w-a-y-y too well and I've learned how to compensate for who I am!!! I was hanging onto that paper for a reason... And I'm just not supposed to have a tidy desk!!!

Well...when those VPs got my message, they either found the humor in it and laughed, or they thought I'm a real blond bimbo...or they simply realized...I'm just human after all!