Three Jobs For Organization Gurus

You’re an organized person. You look at a room and can instantly see how it could flow at least 50% better. You’ve never been late for anything. You know what you’re having for breakfast, lunch, and dinner (next Tuesday).

In short, you’re on top of things. Your home life is nailed down; at least the parts of it that you can control, anyway.

Have you ever noticed, though, that being the organized one doesn’t always work in your favor? At home, obviously, it can lead to people not pulling their weight because they know you will.

At work, too, it tends to mean you get saddled with endeavors that your co-workers aren’t on-the-ball enough to do. Insultingly, that doesn’t just mean things that are part of your job – it also tends to show itself in you being tasked with arranging birthday and holiday celebrations “because we know you’ll do a good job”.

Being organized and in control is something that a lot of people would kill for. You know this, anyway, because they tell you all the time. But for some reason, whether it be your good nature or the cynicism of others, it doesn’t always work in your favor. Where’s the advantage in being so organized if all it means is that others toss you the ball when a task seems complicated?

Organizational skills are a blessing. Although a blessing can also be a curse, it doesn’t have to be that way. So if you have those skills, how about you make sure they pay the bills in a way that doesn’t make you feel like the only adult in the room?

Logistics

With some 96% of Americans shopping online at times, and 51% of purchases being made that way, there is a need for the companies who provide that shopping to get their items from A to B. Some of these companies have their own in-house delivery services; others, though, contract that out.

Logistics is an industry that depends on people with planning and organizational skills to make it work. One truck alone can have dozens of stops to make in a day, sometimes statewide or even over a broader area. Making sure they get around on time, and that any issues they come up against are worked around, takes a mind like a steel trap.

You have to allow for traffic; people might not be home; drivers may not be able to find an item on the van. And that’s before you get to the calls from angry customers demanding that an item currently sitting 200 miles away, in traffic, shows up at their door in the next half-hour. Of course, that’s impossible, but a good planner can find an alternative that placates them.

Management

One way to avoid being the person who gets saddled with the tasks others are unwilling to do? Be the person who hands out the tasks. Management involves a lot of different strands, but the most fundamental one is putting people in the position to make the most of their abilities.

As a manager, you’ll be in control of a team: different personalities, skillsets, and ambitions, and you need to arrange them in a way that lets them and the company flourish.

If you’re a manager in a service industry, a lot of your job will be monitoring what you can see in front of you and reacting in real-time. If you’re dealing with products, it’s different, but the Do’s and Don’ts of a Product Manager role include making sure that you identify the right people for tasks, and never assuming you know better than the customer.

It’s a job that entails knowing everyone’s skills and limitations, including yours.

Wedding Planner

Of all the organizational jobs in the world, this may be the most testing but eventually rewarding one there is. A couple will entrust in you the arrangement of their big day, and you will essentially act as their shield throughout the often expensive, frequently emotionally exhausting process of planning a wedding.

This is not a job for people-pleasers (ironically, as you’re aiming to make the happiest day of someone’s life). You’ll have venues to scout, bakers to berate and a schedule book thicker than War and Peace to manage.

There may be shouting involved, but the pay is excellent and the job satisfaction is incredible. Admittedly you may have to work for weeks or months to experience that, but it’s wonderful when it happens.

So that’s three jobs where your skill for planning and organization can be turned to your advantage. Which of these sounds most like you?