Sometimes I think I should use "I'm organized, just messy" as my e-mail signature, I say it so often. It's true--I have a very organized mind, but that sense of order does not manifest itself in my environment.

Two years ago I started my own business, and my attitude toward the hodgepodge changed. Remember Pig-Pen, the Peanuts character who walked around in a cloud of dust? That's me. At first it felt fine to work in a pile of papers, junk mail, books and all the other paraphernalia that clings to me like lint to cotton leggings. I'm a full-time writer, so I don't need to meet clients in my home office. Who cared about the mess?

As it turned out, I did. For the first time in my life, the chaos distracted me enough to interfere with my productivity. It made me jumpy.

I tried in vain to change my untidy habits, developing elaborate systems for filing papers and tracking my many assignments and client accounts. I actually got too organized--I couldn't keep up with every file folder, every checklist, every stack-'em. Finally, I did what I always do in times of trouble. I turned to the Web.

I started with Organizing Solutions, where I found inspiring articles from a professional organizer. I then surfed over to the GetOrganized News for more. After this virtual pep-talk, I was ready to confront my clutter.

My brother-in-law's birthday was approaching but I kept forgetting which day, so I signed up with the Internet Reminder Service. I entered all the occasions and dates that I wanted to be reminded about, calling people to confirm that I had the days right. Now, 10 days before any of these events, the reminder service e-mails me a notice, along with links to flower and gift vendors.

Much of the litter that flows through my office--and the living room, and the bathroom, and the kitchen--is junk mail. Catalogs, pre-approved credit cards, book clubs, sweepstakes entry forms, pleas from shady "charities." I cringe to think of the number of trees who have sacrificed their lives for such material, only to be tossed unread into the recycle bin. A visit to Learn2.Com paid off--the Avoid Junk Mail tutorial outlines the seven steps to a clutter-free mailbox.

While there, I also read the Clean Your Computer tutorial , which teaches you the safe way to de-grime your trusty machine. I printed it out for later. I wasn't done organizing yet, and I needed to keep my computer on so I could continue to mine the Web.

My next stop was iPrint, the online stationer. I needed new business cards before an event I was to attend in just four days. I spent a couple of hours at iPrint perfecting my design, then sent in my order. I was able to afford the rush shipping service because the online store is much cheaper than any of my neighborhood print shops. Besides, I don't have time to run errands--I have a business to run.

Speaking of errands, I often drive to interviews and professional association meetings. I track this mileage so I can deduct it on my tax form, but I no longer jot down my odometer readings on the miscellany that collects in my car. Instead, I type my starting point and ultimate destination into Mapquest's TripQuest section and voila! the total distance appears.

Of course, my business isn't the only thing that needed organizing. I have a reputation to maintain in the health arena, based in part upon my FolksOnline article about Fitness Resources on the Web . Unfortunately, my eating habits were more fitting to a 17-year-old boy than to a 30-year-old woman. That had to change!

CyberDiet gave me a complete nutritional profile that told me what I should eat each day, down to the milligram. It also analyzes hundreds of foods, and the printable, interactive grocery list made it easy to choose exactly what I wanted.

I ordered the foods through PeaPod, which for a nominal fee will shop for and deliver groceries. Still, I was hungry right that moment, so I searched EpiCurious's Recipe File for ways to use the ingredients I already had in my pantry: potatoes, garlic, chocolate and flour.

Having accomplished so much organizing in just one day, I treated myself to a copy of John Boe's wonderful book Life Itself: Messiness Is Next to Goddessness and Other Essays. In the title piece, Boe advocates the value of clutter, pointing out that "because he was not tidy--because he put off doing the dishes--Fleming discovered penicillin."

Even with all the wonderful resources the Web has to offer, I'm never going to be the next Heloise. My office and the rest of the house go through phases, but I've stopped feeling guilty about the messy times. It doesn't matter anymore that my grandma can hear a mote of dust settle from three rooms away, or that my mom and my sister just naturally clean up after each activity. That is them, and this is me.

The Greeks advise folks to "know thyself." That doesn't mean setting limits or not reaching for dreams. It just means to accept your nature and work with it, not against it. Sometimes I, like Fleming, stumble--literally--over evidence of my own personal genius. Order cannot exist without Chaos. I can prove it.