Elanso

When you read a book or newspaper article, do you instantly commit it to memory? Or, are you someone who likes to pace the floor when you’re thinking? Maybe you are someone who can hear a lecture and have no need to take a single note?

How you process information has a strong correlation to how you may want to organize your home and office. Strategies that work well for an audible processor might fall flat on someone who prefers to intake information visually. Knowing yourself and your preferences can make a difference in how successful you are at creating an organization system. The two posts in our “understanding how you process information to help you get organized” series will hopefully aid you in creating your profile.

The first step is to begin by identifying what type of an information processor you are: visual, auditory, or kinesthetic/tactile. Take the following quiz to help identify where you fall in the information processing spectrum:

Directions: Add one point to your score for each statement that strongly applies to you. The category with the most points is your dominant processing style. You may have strengths in more than one category.

Visual processor –

1. I can remember that I need to do something if I write it down.
2. I need to visualize myself wearing something to make a decision about what I want to wear.
3. I take copious notes during meetings and often can remember what the page of notes looks like before I remember what the notes say.
4. I need to look at a person when they’re speaking.
5. It has to be quiet for me to be able to complete my work.
6. Seeing data displayed in a graph is vital to me understanding numerical information.
7. I am horrible at remembering jokes.
8. I can remember phone numbers if I can visualize typing them on a phone’s key pad.

Auditory processor –

1. I prefer to listen to books on tape or to read books aloud.
2. The more I discuss a problem with my co-workers, the easier it is for me to find its solution.
3. In school, I only needed to attend class lectures to perform fine on the tests.
4. I remember what people have said before I remember who said it.
5. I like to complete one task before starting a new one.
6. A train could be passing through my living room and I would still be able to hold a good conversation with my Aunt Sally on the phone.
7. When I forget how to spell a word, I sound it out.
8. At the grocery store, I repeat my list either in my head or aloud.

Kinesthetic/Tactile processor –

1. When I take on a project, I want to start doing instead of planning.
2. When I need to take a break from working, I have to get up and move around my office.
3. I can work effectively in a coffee shop or in an airport waiting area — I don’t need to be at my desk to do work.
4. I can remember a client’s name better if I shake her hand.
5. I would like to ride my bike to work, if I don’t already.
6. I think more clearly throughout the day if I exercise before work.
7. I am often aware of the temperature in my office.
8. When I pick up something as ordinary as my stapler, my mind drifts to memories somehow associated with a stapler.

Which category best represented your processing style? I am visual processor with a relatively high score also in kinesthetic.

The second post in the series will provide suggestions for how you can take this information you have learned about yourself and apply it to your organization systems. Stay tuned!