A Final Tip for Organizing: Don’t be afraid to ask for help

Have you walked in the house after a long day at work and simply sighed at your cluttered home? Have you planned to organize one morning but don't know where to begin or are you simply not in the mood? Are you caught in a vicious circle: as soon as you organize one room a different one has turned to chaos? Perhaps you simply need to prioritize, find motivation, and invite help. Easier said than done, right? I hope that this series of blogs on organization has helped you to see the importance of organization and taught you ways to save time, money and peace of mind. As with most goals in life, you need to strive for progress and betterment, not perfection. Most of us don't have the time to accomplish perfection in everything we do and still live a happy, fulfilling life. When you set goals, make them accomplishable, attainable. When you make that progress, produce a visual way to track it or remind yourself of all you've achieved (i.e. stickers on a chart, a check list, a flower/penny/or other item to represent each task you've finished). Do you begin the day with the best of intentions to de-clutter the “bath” only to loose your drive because it's “simply not worth it”? What is worth it to you? What do you value? Why? These questions might not seem to have much to do with organizing, but they may be the key to your motivation. How much time do you spend on actions that relate to your values (i.e. spending time with loved ones, exercising, eating healthy, and so forth.)? Most of us would likely answer “not enough”. Then why would you ever spend time on an action not related to you values, like organizing? The answer: organizing helps you to focus more on your values. Organizing means less time searching for things, fewer arguments over who last used the scissors and didn't put them back, less time cleaning around the clutter . . . With less time wasted, you have more time to be with loved ones, exercise, eat healthy, and pursue those life goals that truly matter to you. Even if most of your tasks and daily routines are “value added”, they're not always fun and often too much for one person. Resolution: spread the responsibility among the whole house. What is boring to one person might be fun for another member. One individuals weak spot might be someone else’s strength. When you do invite help, simply remember to be specific or be prepared for “not precisely what you expected”. Letting other people pick what they want and find their own way, reasonably, might even make them more willing and productive. With younger children, having them help you may initially take longer, but in the long run, it teaches them the value of organization and as they get older and begin doing the routines themselves, it takes more work off of you later. The office is another place where sharing the load of organizing will help the entire company be more productive. This is the final installment of my short series on organization. I know it was short and not very in depth, but blog posts that are too long get tedious for me to write and for you to read. I would, however like to take this opportunity to let you know about this great book that has helped me get organized. If you liked the information and tips that I have laid out in this series on organization and you want more, this book will definitely be a great guide to help you become more in control of your time, your health, your relationships, and your peace of mind. Just click here to read more about this book or to pick up a copy.

Organization: The Top 100 Best Ways To Organize Your Life

There is also a great product that goes beyond reading and actually gives you a complete tool box on organizing every aspect of your life then Click Here!

Power Question: What is your next step? To start making your life more successful, what is your next step starting right now?

Organize Your Computer

One way that you can get organized is to make your computer an organizing assistant. You can print up schedules and also keep a calendar with a list of what you have to do each day. You can get email updates as to your daily activities and appointments. Once you get used to using the computer to be organized, you will wonder how you ever got along without it. You can also use your computer for your banking. You can arrange to have all of your bills paid online, which saves you time and makes sure that you are not missing any payments. It is safe to bank online as banks use a special security and encoding system to prevent hacking. Another way that you can use the computer to get and stay organized online is that you can keep track of your bank balances. Make sure that you have the money that you think you have in your bank account. When you get automatic payments to your bank account, the money is available right away. You do not have to worry about cashing checks, waiting for checks to clear or possibly using them. The computer organizer isn’t just for the office, you can print up schedules to hang on the refrigerator, menus for the week, chore assignments and even plan a party using these tools. You must make use of this technology in order to stay organized because it alleviates so much time and stress. Organizing your life is more than just being able to keep a clean house and keep things in order. It also involves planning. For example, you can print up a grocery list and check the items that you need when you go shopping. If you go grocery shopping without a list, you not only end up spending more money than you would usually spend, but you also spend more time rummaging around the store. Let’s not even mention the times that you get all of the way home and realize that you forgot something that invariably leads to another trip to the store. The computer is a wonderful tool for staying organized and planning out various aspects of your life. You can even go online and get quick and easy recipes, for free. If you have a business, you can do your payroll and organize your finances on programs that will help you figure your income taxes and business taxes due. You can also go online and find forms that you can use to apply for certain benefits. If you are on social security, you can use the website to find out where your checks are and other benefits. You can use a pin number and discover information that you would otherwise have to wait for by mail. Paying your taxes? It is easy to do right online. Not only will you be able to get your taxes sooner, but you will also get your return much quicker. And you can have the refund directly deposited into your bank account. This saves you time and helps you stay organized, especially if you have been using computer programs to help you keep track of your expenses and income throughout the year. You can use programs like Excel when you are trying to create spreadsheets. This is not a difficult program to learn and you can use it in business to create graphs and also keep track of payments due. Most offices require that their employees use this program. Take advantage of computer technology to remember birthdays and special occasions so that you can send cards. There are even websites that will send cards to those on your list automatically, mailing them for you and thus saving you even more time. By using the computer, you are taking advantage of the latest tools to stay organized. You can plan, print and do both home and business work right on the computer as well as keep track of your finances. This is one tool that you cannot do without when it comes to being organized. You will find that there are so many uses for the computer that can simplify your life and make it easier.

Organization: The Top 100 Best Ways To Organize Your Life

Power Question: What is one change that you could make to your lifestyle that would give you more peace?

How To Organize Your Office

Having an unorganized office can be a recipe for disaster in the business world. It can be very easy for things to get out of control and for your performance to begin to suffer. It is important to get things in your control and organized in your office as soon as possible. The main rule of thumb here is everything has a place and everything should stay in it’s place. Start by organizing your paperwork. Use file holders and make sure that your cabinets are all in order. Use labels and file paperwork accordingly. This is the first step towards organizing your office. You have to also organize your time when you are in the office. Your time is one of your greatest assets, period. Many people find that they waste a great deal of time when it comes to work because they allow others to dictate their time instead of making their own time count. You need to prioritize the work that you have to do and get done first before other work. If you work in any type of average office, there is always some sort of emergency arising or fire that needs to be put out. You often will have to stop working on a project to take care of these emergencies. This does not mean that you cannot be organized. To the contrary, you need to be organized so that you can effectively prioritize your work and get the job done. You also have to be able to be flexible in your organization. One way to do this is to map out your day so that you have a goal set of what you plan to do for the day. Leave some time open so that in case an emergency arises, you can take care of it. Have a list in front of you for what you plan to do each day and check off the projects as you finish them. Each day should begin with goals that will enable you to do your work. Keeping a list of these goals is one of the most effective ways to organize your time in the office. Leave out personal phone calls or at the very least, keep them to a minimum. People tend to waste time in the office talking to other employees or talking on the phone with friends and family. This not only throws you off kilter with regard to your organization, but it can also catch the eyes of the boss. If your employer sees that you are idle for a good part of the day, or wasting time talking, they may feel that you are not necessary to the staff. These days, it pays to be as productive as ever when it comes to work. If you are in the position of calling for meetings, make sure that they are short and to the point. Prepare ahead of time by using software like Power Point and printing up information so that everyone can be informed to your point and then keep the information for later use. Be sure to take your lunch and breaks as scheduled. Some people have the idea that they should work through their lunch that they will be more productive. This is not true. People who skip their lunch often get less done because they get burned out. You need to take a lunch break and a few coffee breaks during the day so that you can be more effective, especially if you are working at a computer. Eyestrain, carpal tunnel, and back fatigue happen when you do not take adequate breaks from the computer. Keep up to date with the latest computer technology that can also help you stay more organized. There are many office programs available that you can use for this purpose Make sure that you keep your computer free from dust and use a tool that will keep the keyboard clean. Keep coffee and drinks away from the computer so that you do not end up spilling it on the keyboard and harming your computer. By keeping your office papers organized, using the right organizational tools and making sure that you make the most of your time when you are in the office, you will find that you are much more productive. Keeping a list of goals and writing them down is one way that you can make sure that you are doing your job each day. Remember to be flexible enough so that you can help with emergency situations that arise during working hours.

Organization: The Top 100 Best Ways To Organize Your Life

Power Question: What do you really, really want out of life?

Top Ten Tips For Saving Time Every Day

Part of being organized is making sure that you are a good steward of your time and that it is just as organized as everything else. You will feel less stress if you use some time saving tips to help you throughout the day. Here are my top 10 tips on saving time that you can use every day to help organize your time: 1. Make lunches the night before Instead of rushing around in the morning, trying to get everyone ready for school and work, make lunches the night before and put them in the refrigerator. By doing this, you can also fix multiple meals at once so that all you need to do is pull it out and heat it up. 2. Lay your clothes out the evening before Another way to save time every day is to pick out your clothes that you are going to wear the night before and have them ready for you in the morning. This can save you time in the morning as you do not have to waste time in a groggy state trying to figure out what to wear. 3. Do errands on your lunch hour Take the time to do some errands and get some things that you need. This can save you a trip to the store after work and will help you stay organized. 4. Do your banking online You can pay your bills online and also have an automatic deposit of your check into your bank account. Most employers encourage automatic deposits and the good news is that the money is available for you right away. This saves you a trip to the bank as well as time when it comes to writing out checks to pay bills and mailing them. 5. Send packages Priority Mail You can have Priority Mail boxes delivered to your home from the post office and have any package picked up right at your home. You should have these boxes, which are free, available at your home so that whenever you have to mail a package. It can save you time in going to the post office. 6. Fill up your gas tank when you need gas I know, in the current economy, this is hard to justify, but instead of having to stop all of the time at the gas station for gas, fill up your tank. This saves you time and is much more of an organized way to keep track of how much gas you use each week. Since you are likely to use up the gas anyway, you might as well fill it up and save countless trips to the gas station. Another plus for doing this, is the average tank develops gunk after so much use; when you run your tank to under a quarter of a tank, this gunk gets put into your lines which makes it to your engine. 7. Put an extension cord on your vacuum cleaner This is a simple tip that can save you time in moving the cord of the vacuum cleaner when you are vacuuming. You can get to all of the rooms at once and minimize changing the cord into different sockets, thus saving you time. 8. Wake up 15 minutes early to exercise Not only will you be feeling more energized, but this can also save you time in going to the gym. If you like to go to the gym, this is another thing that you can do on your lunch hour if you can find one close to where you work. 9. Make dinners two nights a week Instead of trying to figure out what you are going to cook for dinner each night, make dinner in advance. Two nights a week, or on the weekends, you can make such things like casseroles that will keep in the refrigerator. There was a story about a woman a few years ago that cooked for an entire year and put things into a chest freezer in portions. This may be going to the extreme, but you can cook in advance and save yourself an enormous amount of time. 10. Have dinner out once a week Once a week, treat yourself and your family to carry out foods. This will save you time and give you a break from the kitchen. We always called this “Fast Food Fridays.” It was a nice way to start the weekend without having to cook dinner and everyone enjoyed the different foods. Each week, someone in the family got to pick the carry out of choice. There are other time saving tips you can use. For example, if you have to go downstairs to do laundry, do not go empty handed when you come up. Bring up something that you need and condense your trips. This can help you save yourself many trips up and down the steps. Saving time makes you much more organized. This can actually be the first step to getting better organized. As you continue to organize your time, you will come up with other time saving tips for yourself as well. If you come up with any, I would love to hear them.

Organization: The Top 100 Best Ways To Organize Your Life

Power Question: For your life to be perfect, what would have to change?

Helpful Gadgets To Make Organizing Easier

There are many gadgets and gismos out there that you can help you to better organize your home and office. These can stretch space and make it easier for you to keep things in a place where you can find them. Here is a list of some of the gadgets that you can use to help:

Cleaning caddy, Closet organizers, Shoe organizers, Vacuum sealed bags, Hooks, Lazy Susan, Storage furniture, Tool kits, File organizers, Computer software programs (for bank accounts, receipts, etc.), Stackable shelves and Laundry separation devices, just to name a few.

A cleaning caddy can hold all of your cleaning products and make it easier for you to find everything when you need to clean instead of having to haul out individual bottles, rags  and sprayers. You can store everything in this caddy and save time as well as space in your utility closet with this handy gadget that is available at most stores that sell buckets and other cleaning goods.

Closet organizers can be installed on your own and are available in most home improvement stores. If you do not have a closet organizer and cannot afford to make this investment, you can purchase stackable hangers that will give you more room in your closet.

For decades, simple shoe racks have been used as an organization staple. Not only for keeping your shoes all lined up and looking neat, but also keeps them from getting damaged. You can also purchase shoe organizers that allow you to stack your shoes in a box that is covered with a clear plastic cover that slips under the bed.

Vacuum-sealed bags can allow you to put all of your clothes into a bag and then seal it so that the air is removed. These are waterproof and compact the clothes so that you take up a great deal less space and can be used to store seasonal clothes as well as for packing suitcases.

Hooks can be placed on the interior of closets that can allow you to hang up certain items like cleaning brushes, mops and even tools. You can purchase stick on hooks at just about any hardware or home improvement store.

A Lazy Susan is an old organizing tool that used to be standard with some kitchen cabinets. You can still have this type of cabinet installed in your home today as it usually goes in the corner of the kitchen cabinets. The interior of the cabinet spins around, giving you easy access to everything and also making the most of your cabinet space. You can purchase these items in some home improvement and other stores that can go into your cabinet to make the most of your space, make your cabinets more organized and give you easy access to items.

Storage furniture comes in all shapes and sizes. As I said earlier, I put an old dresser in my closet to give me extra space. I have a cedar chest that I use as a coffee table. The more storage space you have in your home, the easier it is to keep things organized. You can use cabinets for storing collectibles that you can use for display. Make all of your furniture count so that you have enough storage in your home. The main reason people find that their house is unorganized is because they do not have anywhere to put their items. By increasing your storage space, you then increase your ability to get organized.

Tool kits are an easy way to keep your tools all in one place. Even if you do not have a lot of tools, you most likely have hammers, pliers and screwdrivers that you use for certain chores. By having a tool kit or toolbox you can not only store these items much easier, but you can also find them when you are ready to use them.

File organizers have been discussed previously as a way that you can store photos and papers. You can purchase these at any office supply store. You can easily find anything you are looking for when it is properly filed. You can also use these items to store bills and receipts.

Computer software programs can be used to store your financial information and allow you to be organized when it comes to your money. It can also help you prepare your taxes and keep track of all of your bills and other expenses. There are various computer software programs that you can use for this purpose. When it comes to being organized, you also need to make sure that your finances are organized as well.

Stackable shelves can be put in a playroom or basement for storage of toys and even seasonal items. There are bins that you can use with these shelves as well. This can make it easier for you to keep a playroom or basement much neater and will also keep the things off of the floor. One of the things that many people worry about when it comes to clutter is, “what do we do with the kids toys?” However, kids grow up soon enough and will no longer want these toys. Do your best when it comes to organizing them but never feel that kids toys make your home a mess - it is never a bad thing to have a home in which children play or even an office for that matter. Still, you can make it neater by using these stackable shelves.

Laundry separation devices can be an easy way to store clothes that are ready for washing. One of the best types you can get is one with washable hanging nets. These are relatively inexpensive and can help you keep clothes sorted by color or type that are ready for the wash. Instead of just leaving clothes in baskets, you can take them to the laundry area and wash as needed as they are all separated.

There are many more organizing tools that can help you keep your life more organized. Spaces saving devices are also space saving items that you can use to keep organized as well as have extra room. You can find many different tools to help keep you organized by going to a home improvement store or even shopping for them online.

 Have you had an opportunity to check this out yet?

Organization: The Top 100 Best Ways To Organize Your Life

Power Question:

What could you do right now that would really put a smile on your face?

Why Get Organized?

If you are like most of us today, you are probably feeling that you have too little time and too much to do. As a result, you try to ‘multitask and often end up not getting the things done that are needed. Even little things grow into mountains of work that you feel you can never quite reach the summit on.

 

I spent years being very unorganized. I had a desk that was a mess at school and a room that was a mess at home. As I grew older, I found myself with a messy desk at work and a messy car in the driveway and multiple messy rooms in my house.

 

It wasn’t until I came to the conclusion that I needed to change the direction that my life was going that I realized how things as little as a cluttered desk could be keeping me from reaching my goals and having a better life. It was then that I determined that I had to get organized, why it was so important and how to teach this to my child so she would know how to stay organized as well in order to give her a head start advantage that I didn’t have.

 

The purpose of this series is not just to tell you how to clean your home or desk so that everything is where you can find it, but also how to organize your life so that it is easier to manage and alleviates overwhelm. Although I eventually realized that it was much easier to have my important papers in a place that I could have easy access to as well as the value of having a home that didn’t look like a pigsty, I found that my mind was still unorganized throughout much of my life. I often felt like a hamster on a wheel. It wasn’t until much later when I learned not only how to organize my home and work place, but also my mind.

 

This series, I hope, will teach you how to organize every aspect of your life - from your home, your work and even your entire lifestyle. It will also teach you some valuable tips and teaching secrets that you can pass on to your children so that they can learn the value of organization as well. You will learn valuable lessons on organization that you can use to keep your life in order and avoid feeling overwhelmed all of the time as well as read some anecdotes that perhaps you can relate to.

 

It will also teach you how you can stay organized even when things occur that throw you off your routine. We are not robots, we’re humans. And as everyone knows, we have things that come up that are unpredictable that can throw us off. You want to be organized, but you do not want to be so rigid that you can’t handle a break in the routine without being able to adjust.

 

Organization is essential for you to live a healthier life in both mind and body. When you feel as though you are well organized, you also feel as though you have more control in your every day life. It makes those around you more comfortable and can also lead to more harmony with those around you. Why get a little organization in your life? The answer is simple - to keep your sanity, make you more efficient and to also give some sort of structure to your life and those around you.

 

No matter how unorganized you are, you can become the epitome of organization by taking the tips from this series. The first step is to realize that you did not get overwhelmed all at once, it took months, years or even a lifetime for you to get to the state you are in now. However, even if your house is a total wreck, your kids are sapping all of your energy, your dog is constantly having ‘accidents’ and leaving your ‘presents’ around the house and your work life is a mess because you keep skipping from one project to another or you spend part of your day just looking for stuff, you can get it all back on track. It is important to know the first step in the process is to remember the old question, “how do you eat an elephant?” The answer…One bite at a time.

 

Remember that you have to train your organization skills “one bite at a time” and start with small goals that will eventually lead up to the big goal, which is having organization in your life, work and home. Trust me, if I can do this, so can you.

 

The purpose of these blog posts is to help you strive to be more successful and to create a life worth living, so I never want to end a post without giving your some sort of “power question” to ponder over. Answering these questions will help you to take action.

 

Power Question for the day:

Make a list of negatives in your life; now, how can you make those into positives?

100 Ways To Be A Better Time Manager

Want a quick list of tips to be a better time manager? Then read, apply and develop these 100 great hints and your effectiveness as a time manager will zoom overnight.

 

 

I promised you that there would be something special in this. Here are 100 ways to be a better time manager. Practice them all and you'll discover that you'll get more done, improve the quality of your time with others, and have a better balance between all the demands on your work and life.

 

1. Value your time.

2. Treat time as a resource to be managed.

3. Measure your time.

4. Assess how much time you have to manage.

5. Negotiate more control over your working time.

6. Decide the best work pattern for yourself.

7. Get control of your tasks.

8. Have the freedom to balance your tasks.

9. Work at an even pace.

10. Plan ahead.

11. Balance the demands on your time.

12. Don't work more than you need.

13. Be a pearl diver: look for the gifts that time brings.

14. Use time to get results not just fulfill duties.

15. Do something productive and enjoyable each day.

16. Ask "what is the best use of my time now?" questions.

17. Identify your time robbers.

18. Have a purpose to your life.

19. Be effective...

20. ...and then efficient.

21. Don't rush or overwork.

22. Inject variety into your daily tasks.

23. Spend up to a quarter of your day on routine tasks.

24. Do routine tasks in the shortest time possible.

25. Develop good time habits.

26. Experiment with different methods for doing routine tasks.

27. Use the Shoeshine principle of doubling-up routine tasks.

28. Make the most of shortcuts.

29. Prepare your materials in advance.

30. Tidy up as you go.

31. Question every bit of paper you use.

32. Automate.

33. Identify bottlenecks and eliminate them.

34. Create easy work flows.

35. Use systems that minimize clutter.

36. Bunch similar tasks together.

37. Identify the quickest work methods and then train everyone.

38. Know which jobs can be speeded up and which can't.

39. Have a regular time slot for chores.

40. Put aside time for maintenance tasks.

41. Don't encourage unnecessary paperwork.

42. Organize your filing systems.

43. Back up your computer records at fixed times.

44. Clear your files out regularly.

45. Keep your desk clear.

46. Handle every piece of paper just once.

47. Eliminate junk mail and spam.

48. Phone rather than write.

49. Don't photocopy anything unless it is essential.

50. Send replies on the same piece of paper.

51. Keep your communications sweet and short.

52. Manage your projects with time, cost and quality estimates.

53. Run projects with detailed time plans.

54. Add on 20% to your initial project plans.

55. Have detailed lists of your project tasks.

56. Create a series of deadlines for your projects.

57. Look for weak links in your project and have back-up plans.

58. Streamline low-priority project tasks.

59. Keep on top of what's going on in your project.

60. Track and monitor your project progress.

61. Spend up to a quarter of your day on progress work.

62. Have a clear vision of your goals.

63. Align your goals with your values.

64. Be certain of achieving all your goals.

65. Write down your goals.

66. Plan your key result areas.

67. Set SMART goals for short-term tasks.

68. Identify jobs you hate and delegate them.

69. Break down big jobs into smaller chunks.

70. Prioritize your tasks according to their importance.

71. When you're overwhelmed, write out to-do lists and prioritise.

72. Leave loose ends so you can come back easily.

73. Use little scraps of unused time for itsy-bitsy jobs.

74. Plan 60% of your day; leave the rest for what comes up.

75. Put big jobs in your diary first, then the little ones.

76. Celebrate reaching your goals.

77. Spend up to a quarter of your day on non-doing tasks.

78. Take time out to sit and think.

79. Look after your health.

80. Get a sense of the times.

81. Take time to enjoy and appreciate.

82. Use the energy of the moment.

83. Occasionally just do what you want to do.

84. Take breaks at least every 90 minutes.

85. Review your day or week.

86. Spend up to a quarter of your day with others.

87. Always turn up to meetings on time.

88. Be courteous and brisk with others.

89. Only hold meetings that have a clear purpose.

90. Let people know when you're not free.

91. Minimize unnecessary interruptions.

92. Learn to say No to jobs that aren't yours.

93. Avoid time-wasters.

94. Control your phone.

95. Screen all incoming calls.

96. Devise a team time policy.

97. Keep a clock on the wall.

98. Know your time manager personality.

99. Check whether you have a tendency to overwork or underwork and adjust.

100. Enjoy your time.

 

No, the list wasn’t the special deal that I mentioned. This is:

 

Get a Grip on Life is 31 pages of great read. $12.96 value, yours f r e e. it’s helped me out and I know it will help you.

 

Click here for your absolutely F R E E download.

 

P.S. I appreciate your feedback, so let me know if this series has helped you. Also, we all have friends, family and associates that could benefit from this information, so don’t hesitate to forward this to them.

 

 

The purpose of these blog posts is to help you strive to be more successful and to create a life worth living, so I never want to end a post without giving your some sort of “power question” to ponder over. Answering these questions will help you to take action.

 

Power Question for the day:

What one thing would you try right now if you knew you could not fail.

 

Blessings,

F.W. Haynes