Too Many to Do's? 8 Neat Ideas to Help You Get Organized, Stay Focused and Get Things Done

By Ariane Benefit

Are you one of the many people who have massive TO DO lists but really never get them all done? Solution? Create a realistic Master Plan and get organized! Whether it's buying a house, having a baby, deciding on a new car, planning a vacation, writing a book, moving, or even starting a new business or job, if you organize to get it done, you can make your dreams come true! One day at a time.

Here are 8 neat ideas to get you started on your way to getting things done.

1. Create a Master Plan. Review your To Dos and identify the projects or goals they enable you to achieve. Now make a Master Plan by listing the 3-10 major projects / things you'd like to accomplish in the next year. For example, you would include big picture goals like "buy a house," "read 10 books on a given subject," or "establish a vegetable garden." Do not includes tasks, decisions, or steps like "find a Real Estate agent" or "choose a neighborhood."  
2. Prioritize Your Master Plan Goals and Set Timelines. For example, you many want to buy your new home in the fall when prices tend to be a little lower. Or buy in the Spring, so you can move while the kids are out of school. With a timeline in mind you can then set mini-goals and deadlines along the way to make sure your project gets done when you want it done.  
3. Keep Your Master Plan Where You'll See it Often. On a wall or white board, in your calender or a computer file or make it a screensaver on your computer!  
4. Make a Separate File Folder or Binder for Each Project. Your file folders can be paper or on your computer, or both! Keep your special project folders or binders together in a handy drawer, shelf, step file or portable file box. Make sure the files or binders are well labeled and near where you will do most of the work so you can easily access the information you collect and put related documents in them. If you have a file folder on your computer, keep it handy by creating a shortcut to the folder and put it on your Desktop or Quick Launch Bar (if you use Microsoft Windows.)  
5. Break Down Each Project into Tasks. Use natural milestone decisions to be made, like finding the right agent, as your guide. Create a document listing all the steps you can think of to make each part of the project a reality. Put this list in your file folder or binder and update the list as you work each project. For example, here is where you would put the task of "find a Real Estate agent" or "choose a neighborhood." To accomplish each of those tasks you will then have To Do's. To Do's should be only those things that can get done in a single day during the week like: - Call Nancy, Scott and Jen to get referrals of agents. - Set up interviews with 3 agents. - Research 3 neighborhoods on the net.
6. Record Your Progress. As you make progress and do research, put your notes, brochures, web page printouts, drafts, ideas, etc. into the project folder. TIP: Record any particularly helpful related websites and phone numbers on the front of your folder for easy access!  
7. Schedule Time. Mark time out on your calendar each week to make progress on your projects. You can just put a block of 1-2 hours that says SPECIAL PROJECTS or schedule time for each project every week. Then you only need to refer to your Special Projects Folders to pick up where you left off on whichever one needs attention.  
8. Park New Big Ideas in a Parking Lot. Along the way you will get new ideas that could distract you from achieving your Master Plan. If you don't want to change your Master Plan, create a parking space for them! This could be a folder, a computer file, a section in your calendar, a special little notebook or any single place to write down all your ideas so you can get them off your mind. When one of your projects is done, you can always go to your idea file for inspiration for the next project. I call mine - IDEA FILE (Original huh? : )  

Remember to be realistic. Each day, only put 5 - 6 things on your To Do list. Only put things you MUST do that day plus one or two others that move you toward getting your special projects done. You really can't do more than that in addition to your everyday chores and work! But if you keep at it, everything WILL get done!

Would you like to simplify your life and get more organized? Ariane Benefit is a Life Coach, ADD Coach, organizing expert, author and coach who has been quoted in Psychology Today, the Wall Street Journal, and more. Visit her popular Neat & Simple Living Blog at http://blog.neatandsimple.com Ariane has over 25 years experience helping businesses and individuals get the results they want. Take a peek inside her book, Neat & Simple Guide to Organizing Your Office at http://www.lotusbridge.com

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Simple Home Organizing Tips

By Bailey R Gaddis

Organize one small area at a time. Don't overwhelm yourself by trying to do everything at once. Progress comes with small steps.

Take some time every day to organize and put items back where they belong. Even if you just spend 10 minutes doing this you will start to see progress.

Purge your unnecessary belongings. The less stuff you have to deal with the easier it will be to organize.

Throw out a few unneeded items every day or have a donation box in an out of the way area that you can throw donation items in. When the box is full have your organizer set up a donation pick up for you or drop it at your local donation center.

Resist the temptation to buy new unnecessary items.

Keep your organizing system simple.

Try to limit distractions when you're organizing. Turn off the T.V., set your phone on silent if possible, and organize when no one else is home.

Make a To-Do list every evening for the next day. Only write down tasks that absolutely need to get done the next day. Don't forget to add your 10 minutes of organizing a certain space!

Store items where they are usually used.

Set up daily routines and make placing items back in their home after use part of the routine.

Create a family calendar. Have a large calendar in the kitchen, or wherever your family usually congregates, and put everyone's appointments on the calendar. Assign a different color to every family member and write their events in their color.

Have a family meeting every Sunday where you fill out the calendar and discuss what everyone has going on the next week to make sure you're all on the same page and no over booking occurs.

Be kind to yourself! No one is ever perfectly organized. Take organizing one day at a time and enjoy life!

Organizing Mail

Take yourself off of mailing lists to lessen the amount of unnecessary mail you receive. When dealing with emails, immediately unsubscribe from newsletters etc. that you don't need and don't read.

Have bins right next to your mail collection area to immediately sort your mail. Have a Throw Away, Do/ Pay, File, and Delegate.

Set aside 10 to 15 minutes every day to handle your mail.

Organizing for Children

Declutter your child's room. Remove everything from their room that they don't use anymore; old books, toys, etc. that just sit there. You can donate items, throw them away, or store items that are treasured keepsakes.

Remove all the clothes your children don't wear or need. Donate them if they're in good condition. The fewer clothes they have to deal with the quicker they can get ready and the neater their room will be.

Put objects into clear labeled bins. This will give every object a logical home that is easy to locate. Keep the lids removed from the bins so it's easier to retrieve and return items to their designated bin.

Give children a planner so they can write down their school work, chores, and other tasks and events they need to keep track of. This planner can come to the family meetings to help plan the upcoming week.

Store items near the area where they are usually used.

Have a bin near the door that your child uses every day to leave for school with their needed items for the next day. Backpack, water bottle, lunch money, sports equipment, etc.

Organize with your child. This will teach them valuable organizational skills and will allow them to have input on what items they want to keep and where they would logically store those items. If the system makes sense to them it's more likely they will use it and maintain the organization.

Bailey Gaddis owns the home and office organizing business Serene Living Spaces. For more information visit http://www.serenelivingspaces.com

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Video Titled "Setting up a Student Master Binder for Organizing Schoolwork and Papers"

My Favorite Organizing Tips

By Bailey R Gaddis

Mail: Have a basket, bin, or other decorative object to catch mail as it comes into the house. Locate this by the door where the mail comes in. If there's room, have a separate mail bin or baskets for each member of your household. It makes distributing information easier. Plan to review mail at a predetermined time in your weekly schedule.

Closets: Whenever you remove an item from a hanger, put the hanger in a basket. When you get ready to do laundry, bring the basket for easy "out-of-dryer-onto-hanger" action!

Time: Learn how long it really takes you to do your routine tasks and chores, like getting ready in the morning, driving to work, emptying the dishwasher, getting the kids up and dressed for school, laundry, grocery shopping, and so on. This will help in organizing your daily and weekly schedule. If you assume it takes you ten minutes to get ready and leave the house, but in reality it takes thirty, you'll be twenty minutes late for whatever is next on your schedule, and so on for the remainder of the day.

Photos: One way to sort backlogs of photos is to collect shoe boxes or plastic containers and write a year on each one, if the photos are on the computer sort the photos into digital folders labeled by year. This can be done in brief sessions- even fifteen minutes a night will make a difference by the end of the week. Along the way you can eliminate any duplicates, ugly photos, blurry images, and so forth. Once the pictures are sorted by year, decide how you want to sort them further. Chronologically? By event? Then you choose how you want to store and/or display them. You will have a better idea of what size album, box, or frames you'll need.

Family Meetings: Designate an hour a week to synchronize your family. Everyone brings their calendars, to-do lists, and schedules to the table. Spend the time reviewing the events for the upcoming week, expectations for dinners, chores, et cetera. The week will move much smoother!

Store it where you use it: The closer you store items to where you use them, the quicker and easier it is to clean up. For instance, if you knit at night while watching TV, create storage right near where you sit. It can be a decorative basket that slides under a coffee or end table. Whenever you put away your knitting, it goes into its basket and is stored immediately-instead of sitting on the coffee table waiting to be returned to its home.

"Lid-off" policy: When and wherever possible, remove lids and doors. It means one less step to putting things back where they belong.

Bailey is a Professional Organizer in Ojai, and Ventura and Los Angeles counties. She owns Serene Living Spaces http://www.serenelivingspaces.com

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Video Titled "Organizing: How to Organize Your Home Without Getting Overwhelmed, Katie Mazzocco Productivity Coach"

Time and Your Priorities

By Karin E. Fried

Time is something that we can't control. I know. I've tried. I keep saying "if only I had a few more hours in the day... ".

But, then what? You could cram more things into your life? Step back and take a look at what's important. Do you really have to do all of the things that you try to do? Really? Are you being honest with yourself? Or are you just trying to impress all of the people around you with how much you can cram into your day and your life?

I remember when the kids were little and one of my neighbors had her kids in gymnastics, ballet, basketball, piano lessons... and on and on. I was exhausted just listening to her. I know that they didn't really have the money for all of the activities but it seemed like it was "expected" of the parents. Give the kids everything. But at what price?

Doing too much costs you time, money and your sanity. Let's be honest!

Kids get tired just like adults. They need "down time". They should be allowed to run outside and play, without being dragged from one "activity" to the next.

And adults... same thing goes for you. Are you involved in too many activities that you don't have enough time for yourself? Or your family?

Are you on too many committees and trying to impress too many people with how busy and exhausted you are? Why? Will being on all of these committees and going to all of the "after hours events" really do anything for your career or job? For most people the answer is "no". Unless your job requires you to "sell" anything and you are on commission or your "business socializing" actually brings in money for your company, you are really taking away time from your family.

Step back and re-think your priorities. Family should come first. That doesn't mean that you drag them to every possible event. It means that you give them your time. Your undivided attention. That is more precious than everything else in their life.

Time... It goes by too quickly!

Re-examine your priorities. Yes, you can have activities... but don't go overboard. Do what feels right for you... not everyone else. You don't need to impress your neighbors with how busy you are.

Have a great week and remember... Less Clutter in your Life makes for a happier you!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Karin_E._Fried

Does Your Clutter Define You?

By Julie Riber

What a question! As I enter neighborhoods and people have their garage doors open I see all sorts of different garages. In some I see building materials and tools leading me to believe the owner might be a builder. I see garages jammed with all sorts of items like bikes, garbage cans, and gardening tools telling me that they have a large family and not enough room. And then I see garages with very little in them telling me that maybe they just bought the house or are minimalists. I will never know the truth about their garage unless they are a client or I ask them. I am probably not going to go around asking anyone about their garage, but I have formed a guess.

The inside of houses I visit yields the same result with every house being different. I have clients with paper in piles all over their homes and they struggle to get through it all. I have clients with so many clothes they cannot get it in their closets and drawers. I have clients with toys everywhere and no room for furniture. I have clients with crafts in 2 or 3 rooms and they cannot find anything and usually have multiples of many items and there are the clients with just one room they have difficulty finding a place for everything. Many have multiple unfinished projects in all areas of their home.

So, does the clutter define them? The common denominator in all these is that clutter is a delayed decision. They cannot decide where to put it, what to do next, or what to purge, so the clutter evolves. I believe their clutter defines them as someone who is having difficulty making some decisions. As a member of the Institute of Chronic Disorganization, I have learned that some struggle more than others and the some individuals have been chronically disorganized their entire lives.

The answer to the question is sometimes your clutter does define you. It might be situational and your clutter goes away when your life returns to normal and in some cases your clutter and lack of making decisions does define your work and home environment.

Julie Riber is Certified Professional Organizer and has been organizing in the central Ohio area since 2004. She helps organize individuals spaces, time, and lives and she helps businesses streamline processes, increase productivity, and organize their spaces. She is a Golden Circle member of the National Association of Professional Organizers and a board member of the Ohio Chapter of NAPO since 2005. Sign up for her free monthly newsletter with organizing tips. http://www.transformare.net

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