We always knew being organized left us a little more stress free than our unorganized friends. Lost checks, lost keys, lost sunglasses--searching for items leaves you frustrated and tired. Which apparently adds up to a a shorter life. We were turned onto a study yesterday from researchers in Riverside, CA that claim being organized can add two to four years onto your life...
Being Organized: It Helps You Live Longer
Being creative with organizing is one way to make it fun and interesting (and you can get the whole family on board).
[Images from Deep Fried Kudzu]
U.C. Riverside Psychology Professor, Howard Friedman led the study which claims people who are responsible, organized, and competent tend to live two to four years longer. He talked with KPCC's Shirley Jahad about the qualities of being conscientious that he says lead to a longer life. He mentions that conscientious individuals;
- Have better health habits
- Do less risk-taking
- Travel life pathways toward healthier psychosocial environments
- Keep more stable jobs and marriages
- Keep order in their lives (organized, efficient, discipline)
- Are achievement oriented
The good news is that Friedman says individuals can become more conscientious "as [we] enter responsible relationships, careers and associations. Here is the full length article and this is the audio version on the KPCC website.
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Great post, I'm going to pass this info along to clients! This is yet one more incentive to get organized. But...as both a professional organizer and a professional Scrabble nut, I am a little bit torn by the photos. Although I love the idea, I couldn't imagine defacing my beloved Scrabble set to create these labels. Looks good, though!
view j-girl's profile
Isn't the point of the see-through container that you don't need a permanent label? I see Scrabble sets at thrift stores pretty often, so I'm not concerned about their use here, but the time it takes to fiddle around with gluing the tiles is time I need for other purposes. Organization is supposed to help you be productive, not make more work for you.
and being "less risk-taking" sounds like no fun to me!
view Palmetto's profile