Help me! I'm disorganized and it's affecting my performance at work

Forums: Life At Work, Employment, Work, Vr, Pissed Off
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I don't have conduct issues, just performance and it's really killing me bc I'm disorganized. k so like I give out samples at Sam's Club and it's really more demanding than it looks, which is why they pay $10 an hour. Anyway, either I couldn't get things done fast enough or I forget to do it all together. Sometimes, I even forget the supplies I need to complete tasks. It's really getting on ppl's nerves whenever they have to remind me of these stuffs. For instance, I constantly forget certain supplies I need to demo my product and have to go to the back to get it, which wastes time. Plus, I'm not supposed to leave my cart while I'm on the clock. So it happened often enough that I got wrote up. Not only do I slow myself down, I slow other ppl down as well.

Not only that, I always have accidents. In the space of the past 2 weeks, I burnt myself on the microwave plug, burnt my hands on the oven twice, fell when my cart hit the pole, and smashed my hand with something off my cart. I got all banged up and shyt. How do I stop being disorganized and forgetting stuff?

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Type: Question • Score: 9 • Views: 7,353 • Replies: 21

[+3] - jespah - 05/09/2012Also - ask! When it's not busy, ask your manager, [i]Now, I've got a list of the things I need - toothpicks, paper towels (or whatever), could you please check it over to make sure I'm not missing...

@Angel23,

Forgetting stuff - make lists. Lots of us do. No shame in doing that. Sit down when you're not busy and just list everything you need in order to get your job done. If necessary, as you go along, you might find you forgot something. That's fine. Just add it to your list.

Once your list is complete, make several copies of it. Keep one in a pocket or your purse. Another at home. If you've got a locker at work, tape one up inside it. You get the idea. These are reminders and, if you forget your list, you're still covered.

As for accidents, they tend to happen when people are distracted or are in a rush, or haven't gotten enough sleep. If you need to go to bed earlier in order to get up earlier so that you're not rushing so much, well, then go to bed earlier. Trust me, TV isn't going to get any better and you can watch most of the stuff you miss on Hulu anyway.

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@jespah,

or take a TV sabbatical...

it's amazing how much I don't miss watching the idiot box after a coupla years.

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@jespah,

Agreed - that was my first thought as well - put a list together before hand. Everything you need, how much, etc. Like jespah said if you are organized with list in hand, you are less likely to have accidents.

My guess is the accidents are happening because you are rushed/hurrying to get something you forgot/are distracted - also could be because you are concerned about forgetting something.

I live with my lists. It saves me at work all the time.

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@Linkat,

I do have lists. In fact, I make new lists each shift for every product I demo. Problem is, I keep putting the wrong stuff on my list sometimes.

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@Angel23,

You gotta make better lists....how do you pull your lists together? Is there some one that can double chekc it for you?

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@Angel23,

Have you always been disorganized, forgetful, and accident-prone, or is this something recent?

How do you function in other areas of your life?

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@Linkat,

Also - ask! When it's not busy, ask your manager, Now, I've got a list of the things I need - toothpicks, paper towels (or whatever), could you please check it over to make sure I'm not missing anything? I want to get this right every time.

Any good manager will not be annoyed by this if you ask at time when he or she isn't busy or just walking in or leaving for the day. They want you to succeed because that's better all around.

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@firefly,

I've always been the way I am. Even as early as grade school, I got into trouble for being forgetful and disorganized when it came to homework. As for other areas, it's going ok. At my previous jobs, I used to have conduct issues. Now I don't, just performance.

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@Angel23,

Well, you've gotten some good advice here and if you want to keep working, you'll have to straighten this problem out.

The key to anything like this is to Be Prepared. The night before work, have your clothes laid out, wash your hair, etc, and make your lists. You KNOW what you do and what you need, so just spend some time preparing for it. It's normal for someone to forget a thing or two, but when you KNOW your job, and forget so much, there's a deeper issue going on.

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@Angel23,

Have you reviewed this with your VR worker? does she have any ideas to help you with this.

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@ehBeth,

I will when I meet with her Friday. Btw, is it possible to be this forgetful bc of a diagnosis? Just wondering.

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@Angel23,

Could be. The types of strategies that will be helpful to you might be different depending on why you're having the problems with organization.

There are lots of possible ways to make things easier - the trick is finding out which one will work for you. The tools for you might be visual instead of written - hopefully the VR worker will be able to determine the best tools for you.

A long long time ago, I worked with people who were getting started (or re-started) with employment. Some of them had unusual challenges, but as long as the worker, the employer, and I were open-minded we could usually figure out a good way to get jobs done.

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I wonder if this is a good job fit for you.

That kind of work does require tremendous organization and then there is the actual interaction with customers at the same time as preparing, serving, talking to customers, with the product.

Is there another job that you could do for this company?

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Recently, I accidentally burned a coworker with a hot baking tray and got wrote up again. I handed it to him while he didn't have oven mitts on and I did. Coworkers complained that not only do I slow them down by my disorganization, but I could cause accidents as well, such as the burning incident. I drop and spill stuff, forget and misplace stuff. I'm just glad I don't have conduct issues. I just can't stay on top of things.

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@PUNKEY,

No prolly not a good fit. And there's no other positions locally. I'm just disorganized and accident prone so I could only do simpler tasks, like at my previous jobs. Like if I were folding clothes at a dept store, there's only a few steps at most to the tasks. At Sam's, there are at least ten and I can't remember them all.

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@Angel23,

If you think your job through logically, it might help. What comes first? Setting up the table. What comes next? Whatever goes on it. You said you make lists, so look at them.

Throwing up your hands and saying you're 'just disorganized and accident prone" is not helping. It's just going to make you more so. It's a defeatist attitude and implies you accept this and don't really want to improve.

Do you think you might have a learning disability of some sort?

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@Mame,

I think I might have dyspraxia. And the consequence was my disorganization, which led me to be taken off the schedule. She will speak to her own boss about this. Her boss will decide whether I should be canned or given final written warning.

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Turned out yesterday when I checked online that I only had one day removed. I'm still on the schedule this weekend. Hmm...

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Well, I'm no longer disorganized and no longer forget stuff even without my check list. I still always have accidents though. Just yesterday, I flooded the sales floor with ice tea and it took a while to clean up. My lead was exasperated with me for the patterns of accidents I had. Thing is though, I haven't had an accident in month and a half!

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Help me! I'm disorganized and it's affecting my performance at work

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