| The fun and excitement of the holidays are over | | | | 3. Use technology. Whichever technology you use, |
| leaving us asking What to do...Why, get organized, of | | | | make sure to know its capabilities. On the advice of |
| course! Actually, I'm quite serious. And so is NAPO | | | | a good friend, I recently discovered the most brilliant |
| (national association of professional organizers), which | | | | feature of Outlook - Rules and Alerts. I now forward |
| announced January a national organizing month - can | | | | e-mails from specific senders or with specific |
| you believe it?! | | | | key-words in to predetermined folders. I'm sure it's |
| So in this spirit, I wanted to share with you some of | | | | only one of the great many features that I didn't |
| the things that I do to stay on top of my game. | | | | know - and I consider myself pretty fluent in it - go |
| Hey, I don't claim to be an expert and have the total | | | | figure. My point is there are some things that are |
| know-how - nobody does. What I do know is that I | | | | worth spending time on learning - they will save you |
| get frequent compliments on how organized I am | | | | a lot of time later on. |
| and questions of how I do it. So here it goes - from | | | | 4. Be ruthless. With your stuff that is... If I have a |
| me to you... | | | | piece of clothing that I haven't worn in a year - it will |
| 1. Make lists (and save them).a. I keep my to-do list | | | | be donated. If I have piece of paper (old brochure, |
| as an electronic file (I use excel, others use outlook, | | | | etc) that's been lying on my desk for over two |
| there other programs as well), so that tracking | | | | weeks, it will be thrown out. Also if I get a new |
| progress and changing priorities is efficient. The key | | | | piece of paper (mail, print-out, another brochure) and |
| word here is 'changing'. Our to-do's are ever changing, | | | | don't know fairly immediately which folder or |
| so it's important to manipulate the list in such a way | | | | designated place it belongs, it will most likely be |
| that it stays clean, accurate, and easy to grasp at a | | | | thrown out. |
| glance.b. I do my best to keep one master list. | | | | 5. One-touch approach. I know you've heard of it. |
| Having said that, I also need to tell you that I keep a | | | | Very difficult to do, but very effective, at least for |
| note pad by my bed and in my car - for that | | | | me. If an e-mail is opened, it's either replied to, filed |
| unexpected moment when a brilliant thought strikes | | | | away, or deleted. Those that linger in the in-box for |
| me (surprising they didn't come up with a pad for the | | | | over few days, end up there for a long time, usually |
| shower - isn't it where most ingenious work | | | | followed by "I'm so sorry to get back to you so late" |
| happens?). While I write everything down on my | | | | message. Same principal with snail-mail. Same with |
| small note pads, I also then transfer it to the master | | | | voice-mails - I use the reply function on my phone |
| list and prioritize.c. Those lists that will repeat | | | | (for me it's #8) address the message, then delete it. |
| themselves every year are saved. Here is an | | | | 6. Have a designated place. I have folders for |
| example. Vitali and I host Thanksgiving dinner every | | | | everything. Physical folders for hard copies. Folders |
| year. As much as I love being creative, I also know | | | | for e-mails in outlook. Folders for word, excel, etc |
| that mashed potatoes are sure to make the dinner | | | | documents on the hard-drive. This also applies to |
| table. So is the salad, cranberry sauce - you get the | | | | personal things: important or trivial. There is a |
| idea. I made a dinner list and a corresponding | | | | designated place for each thing. |
| shopping list three years ago titled "Thanksgiving | | | | 7. Have multiples of frequently-used stuff. This |
| Dinner 2005" - since then 2006 and 2007 have been | | | | probably sounds counter-intuitive and strange in light |
| added. Same list - less repeat work. | | | | of what I talked about above. Here is what I mean |
| 2. Block out time. I block out three hours every other | | | | by this. I have a pair of scissors on every floor |
| week to write this newsletter. I block out two days | | | | (sometimes two or three per). I have a stapler in |
| a week for all my customer appointments. I have | | | | three different places. The cleaning supplies are on |
| one day for all my installations. I block out time to do | | | | two floors. Whichever items you find yourself |
| my e-mail and time to disregard it (I have to tell you | | | | needing on a regular basis, make sure to have them |
| sometimes NOT succumbing to checking e-mail is the | | | | handy. |
| hardest task of all - I know you know what I mean). | | | | Ok, I don't follow 100% of these tips 100% of the |
| Blocking time allows me to concentrate, instead of | | | | time. I am still a work in progress. I am 100% |
| being random and chaotic. | | | | committed to getting 100% better. |