By Mary Lynne Murray
Reprinted from Contra Costa Times, August 23, 2003
GETTING ORGANIZED as easy as ABC? Yeah, right. It's true that
some will find it easier to get and stay organized than others,
but it largely takes effort and consistent action.
In honor of back to school, here are 26 organizing principles
that can help you stay afloat as you careen between meetings,
floods of paper and your busy schedule.
Make your most frequently used things the easiest to access; between
shoulder and knee height.
Use
a bundle or batch approach to accomplish repetitive tasks such
as errands, bill paying, food prep and mending.
Keep
items grouped by category and separated in containers to help
with retrieval, cleanup and maintenance. A container also establishes
a limit to how much you save in a given category, and it provides
an opportunity to show your style in the type of container you
use.
It's
not a dirty word! A deadline can propel you forward to getting
things done. Set your own deadlines and be true to yourself in
meeting them.
When
you need to get organized, having another person present for moral
support and a second opinion can be quite helpful. Before I worked
with a pair of teenage sisters, they helped each other sort in
short blocks of time, going back and forth between their rooms.
Staying
focused is imperative to successful organizing. Decide on the
areas or changes you wish to tackle, and then concentrate on one
area at a time. Dedicate your energy to one room until you finish.
Where
you start is not as important as that you start. Start where you
will see a noticeable difference. You will notice a flow, and
momentum will build.
Establish
a home or resting spot for your belongings, and return items to
their home after use. Put an end to homelessness in your habitation.
Remember
when you were in kindergarten (or your child was) and everything
was labeled so you knew where to find it? Identifying with labels
helps overcome the problem of not being able to use your things
because you can't find them.
Being
disorganized can result from having too much to do. You may need
to say no to something(s) in order to return to an ordered life.
Save what
you use. If you need a lock for the gym, keep it in your gym bag
in the car. If your kids like to do homework in the kitchen, keep
study supplies such as paper and dictionary in that room.
Making a
to-do list can relieve anxiety over "what am I forgetting?"
Your list lets you download your brain and provide direction for
what needs to be done. If you tend to lose lists, try a notebook.
You may like keeping your list on the computer and printing it
when you need it for errands.
There
is not much in our lives that doesn't need regular attendance
to keep running optimally. Stephen Covey calls it "sharpening
the saw." When we defer maintenance, it's usually a lot harder
to accomplish things and get back on track (harder to saw wood).
Avoid buying things that need lots of maintenance.
Everyone
has reasons for their disorganization: "I was never taught,
I come from a long line of pack rats, I grew up in a poor family,
I had a debilitating illness, I moved, I work a night job,"
etc. It's fine and dandy to recognize how chaos came into your
life, but excuses will take you only so far. At some point, you
must say, "The buck stops here" and take responsibility
for your life.
Stop saving "just in case." There is no good reason
to take valuable space storing defunct electronics you will not
use again.
Regularly
purge closets, drawers, cupboards, and the garage.
After sorting through your closet, you may discover you have five
black skirts. Go for the best one that you have worn in the last
year.
Make
a spot for these -- even a shoebox! Save them until tax time and
evaluate then whether you need them to support your tax return
or for proof of purchase for warranty or returns.
Keep what
you use or love and recycle or donate the rest.
Set a fixed
amount of time for completing a task or project. Use a kitchen
timer, the one on your watch, or cell phone. When the timer signals
the end, you can evaluate your progress and energy level. You
may find you are ready to tackle more.
Look down
under things for storage space. Under the couch is where I store
the dining room table leaves. Under-bed storage boxes can be used
to hold out-of-season clothes, shoes, anything you don't use often.
Get
a picture in your mind of what you would like your space to look
like, then consider vertical storage with hooks, shelves and over-the-door
racks.
Regularly
weed through your storage areas. Just as weeds can take over and
ruin a garden, clutter can be the demise of your home if not eradicated.
Follow the eXample
of the most organized person you know, adapting as needed. Ask
for her advice on your most pressing organizing issues. Try out
the advice and see how it works for you.
Keep goals
for the year in a prominent place. Your goals help you decide
what's important. This means you will make decisions on how to
spend your time that reflect your goals, and store and keep what
you value.
Organize
your rooms according to the activities that take place there.
In the room where you watch television, you'll want to have the
TV guide, remote, video or DVDs.
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