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Home  Holidays and Seasonal Inspirations Holidays Organizing Tips Organizing Resolutions
Organized Holidays
Organizing Resolutions
ARTICLE RATING  Here are 8 simple ideas: 1. Pick a project. Each day do an organizing project that will take a mere 10 minutes or less. Some possibilities are weeding out a junk drawer or file folder, deleting 10 email messages you don't need, writing out a bill or two, or cleaning up some of the clutter that's on your bedroom dresser surface. 2. Don't wait until later. Don't wait for something to get completely out of hand before you begin focusing on it. Instead, load the dishwasher immediately after each meal, iron whatever you need to as soon as it's removed from the dryer, file papers on a daily basis and put your outerwear into the coat closet rather than first tossing it over a chair. 3. Do something on tomorrow's to do list. Use 15 minutes each night to start and/or complete something you have listed on tomorrow's to do list. When tomorrow arrives, you'll already be ahead of schedule. 4. Allocate YOU time. Every day, you should have YOU time scheduled on your calendar--that is, time you spend on yourself doing something you truly enjoy doing. Keep this appointment with yourself, just as you would any other important appointment. 5. Take a moment to think. Each time you're asked to do something that doesn't normally fall into your regular schedule this year--such as attending a community function or being asked to help organize a spring event--force yourself to say, 'I'll have to check my schedule and get back to you.' In doing so, you'll have a little bit of time to determine whether or not a) this is something you truly want to do and b) whether or not it fits into your schedule. If you determine a day later that you want to do it, call and tell the person YES. However, if you determine that doing this extra project or task won't work for you, be strong and call the person to let him know you can't over-extend yourself this month. People won't respect your schedule, until YOU respect your schedule. 6. Measure where you are. Setting goals is great, and definitely something you should do. However, it can't end there. Each day, check your list of goals to determine how far you've gotten on each of them. Mark percentages next to each goal, such as Goal 1, 10% completed, or Goal 2, 50% completed. Numerical goals are more concrete. 7. Stop paper before it starts. Open your mail over the recycle container and immediately dump all junk before it ever has a chance to hit your kitchen table. Once you put it down temporarily, there's a very high chance it will sit there for days. Go through it each day. Dump what you don't need. File what you do need--in a Tickler file for papers that require action, or in a filing cabinet for papers needed simply for future reference. 8. Take notes and make lists. The average person has too much to remember on a daily basis to remember it all without writing it down. Keep a notepad, organizer or PDA with you at all times so you can easily jot down notes and lists when the thought occurs. All your thoughts will be consolidated in one place and you'll know exactly where to find them. |
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