How to Organize Your Home or Office in 4 Easy Steps
Pick a Day: Don't turn your life into one big ongoing chore! Choose one or two days that will be most convenient for you to get and stay organized. If you have aerobics on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday… then choose other days, but choose them! People often set themselves up for failure by simply not planning for success. Action Plan: Take 60 seconds right now and decide what day or days would be best for you to spend at least 15-30 minutes carrying out your "2005 Get Organized Plan."
Abolish Clutter: There's an old expression that says, "Look at a person's environment and you'll get a glimpse of what's going on inside his head." Of course! Thoughts of neatness and order result in a similar environment. And the opposite is true, too. Action Plan: Pick one room and divide it in half (or quarters, if necessary). Grab 5 big trash bags (or boxes). Slap a label on each: "Trash"... "Keep"... "Think About for 48 Hours"... "Give Away/Sell"... and "Sentimental." Crank up your favorite upbeat music. Set a timer for 30 minutes and tackle only that one portion of the room until the timer sounds. Go at it with a vengeance. Jam as many things as you can within that time limit into one of those 5 bags. Next, give yourself 48 hours to review everything in the “Think About for 48 Hours” bag. Your challenge is to move everything out of that bag into one of the others within that time frame. This is an excellent — and painless — way to make big progress using small chunks of time!
Combine and Conquer! Group like tasks together: bill paying, for example. Choose one day to pay all bills. Maybe it's every Wednesday night... or every other Sunday. Don't wait until the last minute... instead, tackle them on a routine basis and get them off your mind. Buy 2, 3 or 4 of every non-perishable item on your shopping list and greatly reduce your individual trips! Try doing the same with tasks like: answering emails... returning personal and business phone calls... and others. Like working on a factory line, you build momentum, speed, and efficiency when you do like tasks together.
Develop a System: You don't need to invent your own ways to stay more organized at home and work… just be aware of what things in your environment simply need organizing and adopt an existing solution. It's easy! Look around you right now and ask, "What needs organizing?" How about your desk supplies, mail, stationery, writing instruments, clothing, books, magazines, CDs, bills, loose papers, sewing or hobby supplies, and other everyday items? Day-Timer makes it simple with the following 5 easy-to-use (and very affordable) storage-solution products... all available at our fun-to-shop webstore.
