Narrator: This is Science Today. If you want to stay healthy, you'd better get organized. That's one surprising conclusion of a study by psychologist Lillian Cartwright of the University of California, San Francisco, who's followed a group of women doctors for thirty years, since they entered medical school. She found that women who were less organized with their time when young were more likely to be in poor health in middle age.

Cartwright: So it might be the kind of trait that seems fairly dull but one which has long term consequences, so we might put a higher value on that among bright, ambitious people. Because I think what sometimes happens is that people get carried away by their own ambition and they do more and more rather than choose what they do.

Narrator: Cartwright says that planning and organization are important for men as well as women.

Cartwright: Although I think for women in high-powered careers, because of other sources of stress, it might be even more important to stay organized.

Narrator: She believes it's also important to take time out for reflection. For Science Today, I'm Steve Tokar.