How Is Your “Get Organized” New Years’ Resolution Going?

Getting organized is in the top 10 New Years’ Resolutions each year. Unfortunately, like dieting and exercise, too often, people don’t know where to start and give up before they’ve begun!! Don’t let yourself fall into this category. The first thing to do is to take inventory of your surroundings. Do you have paper piles in your office, kitchen, dining room and so on? Are your closets so jam- packed that you find it hard to put together an outfit? Are you parking your car in your driveway instead of in the garage because there is so much stuff?

So….Why do you want to get organized? What is clutter and disorganization costing you in terms of time, energy, money and frustration? Once you have truly analyzed this make a list of what is wrong in each room or area of your home. Then prioritize which thing is causing you the most anxiety or problem. This can be your starting point. I personally believe that paper is becoming more and more of an issue for the average American home. Think about the amount of paper (bills, magazines, catalogs, solicitations, invitations, announcements, school work, artwork, receipts, coupons, photos, and on and on) that comes into our homes each and every day. If you don’t deal with it and you don’t have some systems set up for handling it – there is major clutter, bills paid late, missed dates, etc. Take care of those paper piles first. How, you say??

Go to your desk area and pick a pile on the desk surface (not on the floor or outer rim of the office) then turn it over and start from the bottom. These papers are likely quite old and outdated and you can quickly make decisions to toss, file or act upon them. When deciding what to keep or toss, ask yourself these questions. Do I really need this? Can I find this again from some other source (the internet, a friend, etc)? What is the worst thing that can happen if I need it again? Does this have tax or legal ramifications? Keep in mind that 80% of the papers we keep are never looked at again. Now, go through each pile quickly and whittle them down. The papers you are left with are either filed (yes – JUST DO IT!) or they need an action, so they should go in your TO DO tray. Then you have to actually schedule time regularly in your day or your week to sit down and handle these things – make that phone call, reply to that email, pay those bills, and THEN get rid of any papers you can when you are through. The satisfaction, focus and clarity you achieve with your efforts to clean up your paper piles once and for all will be more than worth the time and effort it took to get organized. You can do it!

If you find you just can’t go it alone or you’d like some help in the process of going through your paper piles and setting up files and a system that works for you call Susan Layden with Susan’s Organizing Solutions, LLC. She can be reached at 813-503-0967.

More next week on dealing with all that stuff in your closets and garage.