My wife likes to call me the dumbest smart person she knows. I apparently possess intelligence in a wide array of topics but when it comes to some areas of common sense and life skills, I am definitely not scoring straight A’s.

There is another paradox that also fits me well: I am a very unorganized organized person.

I am organized outwardly but if you took a dive into my computer it would seem like chaos to you. Behind me are my three work screens with different browsers open with numerous tabs active on each one.

Yes, I wrote that correctly. An unorganized organized person.

People will vouch for me that on the outside I am a very organized individual. I lead my team in an organized fashion, my days are guided by checklists, my presentations are strategically put together, and my thoughts come out in a logical manner.

However, the systems and resources I use to project an organized outward presence are nothing short of a complete cluster.

My computer is a mess. My desktop is usually 90% covered by folders, icons, and screenshots. Even though the folders have names, good luck if the content inside those folders is exclusive to what the name implies. The task bar is a jungle of program icons each with a half dozen files open at one time.

Hover over my internet browser and prepare for a major scare. Oh wait, hover over any of my multiple internet browsers and prepare for a major scare because I don’t just use just Chrome—I also use Mozilla and Edge on a daily basis. Anyway, select any of those browsers and you will see anywhere from 10 – 40 browser tabs open at once.

Now, if you dare, go to my email. You will discover an inbox of 24,441 emails with 4,394 of them unread. Okay, I know that sounds really bad, but I promise the unread ones are either spam/notification emails or Outlook decided not to check one as “read” after I did dutifully select it and scan the content.

Again, this seemingly chaotic state of my digital work affairs might seem to suggest that there is no way I could be functional but I think most people would admit that is not the case.

That doesn’t mean they don’t get anxiety when I am running a meeting from my computer. There is one particular standing meeting I oversee where I frequently switch from a spreadsheet to my internet browser and those in attendance are usually astounded (aka mortified) at my on-screen working conditions.

I tell them it is all under control.

Of course my “unorganized organized” approach manifests itself at home, too. That is for another blog post but to put it simply, Sidney calls me a lowkey hoarder. I defend myself by saying that I am simply effective at utilizing cardboard boxes and junk drawers.

Brent Reser: A man of paradoxes.

Don’t Blink.