The Difference Between Being Neat and Being Organized

I have struggled with this for a long time, and am just now beginning to realize what it is that I am dealing with:  the difference between being neat and being organized.

I am told, regularly, by coworkers and friends that I am well organized.  I do not feel well organized.  I feel scattered and at loose ends...  I see piles of papers jumbled together, stacks of stuff needing sorting, a hodge podge of this and that.

I have mentioned this before. I had an office mate who was very neat:  he filed everything away.  And, when he could not find where he filed something, he would ask be if I had a copy, and I would be able to pull it out of one of my stacks...He was neat, but he did not know what he did with his neatness.  I was messy, but I knew what was in my messy stacks...

It was years before I realized my organizational skills were an asset: I could align things as they need to be; I could remember what need to be done when and where. I could make sure that other people knew what they needed to know.

I left a job, and before I did, I organized my files for the next social worker... But there were some obscure things filed.  The person succeeding me would call me to ask what file something was in... My brain would work it out and give her the answer, or sometimes the options based on how I organized.

I am not neat:  I do not keep the cat hair vacuumed off the carpet every day.  My cats like to tear up cardboard boxes.  If you think that is not messy, think again.  I have stacks of unread stuff on my dining table. I have all kinds of things stuffed into my vehicle.. But, if I need something, I know where it is .. So, I guess that is organized....