Over the past few months I’ve realized that when You are organized thing tend to be a whole lot easier. I don’t think I was ever not functional, but there had always been what I call an organized mess in my area. Here is what I mean. I had a bulletin board where I posted all of my todo items. My bills to pay, appointments to schedule, things to remember, and even thing that had to be completed so the kids could bring back to school. The problem is after a week of daily living, this board was so full and clutter. Things were scattered and so disorganized that, although I knew it was there I could not find anything nor could I see it in order to remember. You know the old adage that says “out of sight out of mind”, for me the cluttered board was a reminder of that. I always knew I had something I had to do, but without organizing my board , I could not see what it was. Here are a few tips that I’ve picked up so far this year in order to get and stay organized.
1.) Don’t just stop doing what is not working, Try replacing it with something that does work. Many times we are only doing a task because that is the way we have always done It. becomes habit. Well if you just stop doing it with out a replacement to take its place you’ll find yourself right back where you started.
2.) Have a system that will help you to stay the course. Today with all the technology at our disposal 24 hours a day, it amazed me that people still use paper. But that is just my way of looking at it. I use my phone and my tablet for everything. If There is something that I need to do, I update it on my calendar with a 45 minute reminder before I have to do it. But if you are a pen and paper person, that is what works for you. The point is, choose a system to track that is going to work for you.
3.) Have a set time to Check in Every morning before I go to work, I take a quick look at my calendar to see what I have going on for the day. I also review my notes ( still on my calendar) so I know what I was doing on a particular event. and I schedule the next action to be taken. Even if you thing your “organized mess” is getting the job done, the word you need to be honing in on is “mess” Clean up the mess and get organized.
If your goal is to be more organized this year Here is a few books to add to your 2014 Organization Reading list.
- Getting things done – David Allen
- The Easy Organizer – Marylin Bohn
- The Complete Idiots guide to Getting organized – Cynthia Ewer
- Decluttering your home the easy way – Karen wilson
Corey Stokes 