A Shrine to Organization

November 6, 2022

Last week, when I first arrived at the hotel and dive center I had booked in Dahab in Egypt, I was amazed. It was like a shrine to organization.

Each diver got their own box to store their gear. That box went into a numbered locker. Booties could dry on a numbered bootie-drying rack. Wetsuits and BCDs could dry on numbered wetsuit-and-BCD-drying hangers. Tanks were lined up neatly and labeled meticulously.

There was a big whiteboard with a matrix showing which instructor would take which divers to which location on which day. The morning departure time was neatly indicated. Next to the board, descriptions of each nearby dive site.

All the rental gear looked to be in great shape. The wetsuit I rented—my own wetsuit proved too cold for the 25-degree water—looked as if it was brand new. There was ample space for all divers to put on their gear at the same time, without bumping into each other.

I could go on.

If you’re a diver and you’ve traveled around to dive, you’ll know that it isn’t always like this. At some dive shops, the gear should have been retired years ago, nobody tells you anything, and tanks are piled up a corner somewhere. Well, not at this place!

Sadly, I only ended up diving twice. After that, I got hit with the double whammy of a cold and a campylobacter infection. I flew back to Amsterdam and spent the next several days shivering, coughing, and clutching my lower belly. I also spent a lot of time on the toilet.

It was my least successful vacation ever, although I can’t complain too much, given how fortunate I am to be able to make many trips each year. Also, now I know where to stay next time I visit Dahab!

And that’s the thing. Anyone who has been to this particular hotel and dive center will want to come back there. It’s so well organized that you wouldn’t considering going anywhere else. There’s no need to advertise the place; word of mouth will do the trick.

When you’re organized, you can do your job well. It’s easy to make your customers, clients, or other stakeholders happy. You can get the work done for them and they’ll feel great the whole time. They’ll love working with you.

Could you be a bit more organized? Now is a great time to get on that. Start by organizing your tasks or organizing your notes. Then move on to organizing your big goals and their action steps.

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