Three organizing essentials
If you want to be organized, these three essential tips can get you headed in that direction:
- Have energy. If you’re tired or deprived of nutrients, simple tasks like returning objects to their storage locations, taking the time to do a task properly, staying focused, and even making decisions are all difficult to do. When you get the proper amount of sleep your body requires and eat healthful meals and snacks you improve your chances of being on task and having consistent follow through over the course of your day. Taking care of yourself makes it easier to take care of the mess.
- Own less stuff than you have space to store. When objects aren’t crammed into a space, it’s easier to find objects and return them after you’re finished using them. If your filing cabinet is overflowing, you can’t put new documents into it. When your entryway closet is jammed packed, you throw your coats over chair backs instead of hanging them up on hangers.
- Write it down. The more projects, commitments, and worries you have floating around in your head, the harder it is to focus on your work, as well as remember all the stuff you have to do. Get all of your actions out of your brain and onto a to-do list or calendar.
Posted by Erin on Sep 19, 2011 | Comments
more sharing5 comments posted
Posted by Amy - 09/19/2011
Wow! Simple but so true. Thanks for the reminders
Posted by Dee in BC - 09/19/2011
Great article. I beleive it writing it down. At work I process a ton of paperwork in a day I also deal with clients/ phone calls- read I am interupted many, many times. I have this quick system where I check off the required items as I do them on a scrap of paper. If I’m interupted I know I have finished the 1st 3 required forms but need items x & Y. So much faster than going back thru many pages of a file. I also started noting if we have the required support documents & where they are stored on the file cover. Much better than searching every year thru a 200 page file to see if we have form x completed. ( or getting caught in an audit without the required forms) I work in a hybrid office – about half the stuff is on the computer & half in a hard file. Locating info quickly can be a challange. I’m determined to make it easier.
Posted by PJ - 09/19/2011
Frist time posting here :O) Yesterday finally cleared a lot of things that were cluttering my bedroom, I have a nightstand but it’s not cleared/cleaned every day so it piled up stuff… Wonderful website and will make it my goal to check it every morning to inspire myself to declutter… Next mission:
When your entryway closet is jammed packed, you throw your coats over chair backs instead of hanging them up on hangers.Give away those coats I don’t ever use! Save the ones I use… Nobody likes to use the closet b/c it’s extremely jam packed: difficult to get a coat out and even harder to put it back in! I’m thankful for the abundance, but maybe it’s time to re-gift them! thank you!!
Posted by Gal @ Equally Happy - 09/19/2011
I encourage all of my employees to take a good 20 to 30 minute walk during the work day. I believe it makes us all more productive and the time spent walking is actually time that people spend thinking through problems.
I know it sounds counterintuitive to take a break in order to be more productive but it really works. It’s similar to your #1 item on energy. A break is just as important as a good night’s sleep when it comes to keeping your energy up.
Posted by Gemmond - 09/19/2011
The bit about having the energy (mental as well as physical) is key. It doesn’t matter if something is on my To-Do list for a day if I’m not feeling up to it.
As important, I believe, is not starting anything that you personally aren’t committed to in terms of organizing. Very few of us, if we’re honest, do well at stuff we feel forced into or that we’ve said “yes” to doing when we really meant “no” or “not now.”
Sometimes the real motivation comes from the result. No, we don’t want to spend endless precious free time cleaning out attics, basements and garages. But we do enjoy the outcome and it is often that that propels us through the work. (and not a spouse or family members badgering us. If you’re the one doing the badgering, focus on a relevant reward for the worker bee you’re trying to motivate!)
The sight of the loads of seasonal laundry (we have a textile-filled home and despite the work, I love it)does not thrill me. Nor does putting the curtains, etc. back into place thrill me. But having a look that we love and enjoy throughout the year is the incentive that propels me.
If I didn’t like that look, I’d certainly be resistant to the work/upkeep involved in maintaining it.
You have to “get” something at the end of your work. If you don’t, it won’t work. So for folks who really don’t like the idea of change or chucking things or even the process of going thru stuff (confronting the past, issues, etc. as some objects can generate), there’s next to no incentive to keep clutter-free.
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Great tips to unclutter!
