I love my Sunday mornings. My friend and Pastor is guaranteed to preach on something that will resonate with why getting organized. This week was titled “It’s The Little Things that Count”.
Being organized requires time, effort and consistency in doing simple things over and over again. Repetition, consistency and developing habits are required but really, it is the Little Things that Count.
Having systems and processes that you can follow every day makes it easier to be organized. This strategy can be applied to your home office, your physical office and your home as well. It can be something as simple as having a place to store your receipts to avoid having them pile up on the first flat surface that you arrive every morning or evening. My recommendation for your receipts is to keep a coupon holder handy (either in your car, purse or glove compartment). Designate one slot in the coupon holder for each month of the year and put every receipt that you collect into the appropriate month’s slot. This will keep all of your receipts together and avoid paper clutter. You can designate one slot for your bank deposits too. When the month changes, go through the receipts, scan the receipts that you need to keep onto your computer, shred those that you don’t need to keep and file everything away. This will keep you organized for tax season, allow you to get a grip on your budget and you’ll save a ton of time and effort later.
One other little thing that you can do to get yourself organized is to set a daily schedule. Set appointments with yourself to do those things that are required to do every day. For a business, this would include such things as filing paperwork, checking and returning messages, documenting your accounts receivable and accounts payable, and most importantly, having a schedule to keep yourself focused on what needs to be done in order for your to keep your business up and running (and be able to grow business).
As a homeowner, you have the same challenges. My list of little things that you can do every day to keep yourself organized include having a system and schedule for laundry and cleaning – if not, it will easily and quickly become overwhelming to deal with. Another great way to stay on top of your day and week is to have a weekly schedule planned out in advance. Be aware of appointments (that you may have scheduled months ago and completely forgotten about) by using a calendar system. Your system can be an old-fashioned paper calendar (which I still use every day) or it can be your droid, iphone or google calendar. It doesn’t matter what you use…but that you are consistent in using your calendar to document everything that is scheduled for your home, office and families. One good way to keep everyone on task and aware is to hold a 10 minute family meeting on Sunday evening – make sure that more than one person knows your family schedule and can help with transportation, errands and other just help out generally.
Do just a few simple and easy things every day to keep yourself and your business organized. And, if needed, call on a Professional Organizer to assist you along the way – and allow you to stop the clutter.
Linda Clevenger Organization Direct www.organizationdirect.com