Happy New Year...now let's get started!

There are lots and lots of bloggers and writers out there right now telling you how to organize your Christmas decor for next year, how to clean out your kitchen cabinets, how to de-clutter your kids' toy box.  That is not what the January Organize-a-thon is about.
For the next few days - all through the month of January - I will be helping you to organize your life. 
Some of the topics will be:

• Getting your office in order

• B+: Be Positive

• What to do: What to ignore

• 10 minute rule

• Good enough is good enough!

• Conquering self-doubt

• Making decisions

• Making your lists work for you

• Killing excuses

• Increasing your focus

• Dealing with the negative

• Getting rid of excessive busy-ness

• Igniting your passion

• Conquering burnout.

If you struggle with any of these areas, or would just like to learn more and be motivated to succeed.  Join me throughout January.  Don't let your New Year's Resolutions go to waste.  You can make a positive change in your 2013!


Let's get started!


One of the things I hear most is how disorganized people are.  Disorganization breeds more disorganization.  I like to start with my work space.  A job-well-done isn't done efficiently if it takes you an hour to find your needed supplies.

Here's how to get your home office or work office organized for the new year.

It all hinges on routine!  The ability to keep things in order depends on routine.  If your current routines don't fit your lifestyle, then they aren't easily followed.  If they aren't easily followed, odds are, you won't follow them and the routine, and hence the organization, falls apart.  Organizing strategies are not one-size-fits-all.  You must test drive them.  You must give yourself a week to try them on for size to be sure the routine will work for you.  Find the ones that mesh with your current lifestyle.

Keep frequently used items easily accessible:  It can be extremely frustrating if you always have to move other things to get access to the one item or items you frequently use.  You end up wasting time, and chances are, you don't put things back when you're done.  Instead of the chaos, put the things you use everyday within easy reach.  Keep them close at hand.  Install a key hook by the door.  Keep your earbuds in a case in your laptop bag.  Put the things you don't use on a higher shelf or behind your frequently used items.

Don’t buy something simply because it’s on sale: Whatever you do: don't buy something just because it's on sale!  I know, I know.  Those coupon ladies at the grocery with their life-sized binders will disagree with me.  I'll probably get multiple emails convincing me otherwise.  But I've been one of those coupon ladies...and the idea behind it didn't work for me.  It created more clutter, and I didn't know where anything was.

Getting a great deal on something you need is really a great deal.  Getting a great deal on your 100th box of Cheerios...maybe not so much. What happens is you create an over-grown pile of things that gather dust, have to be shuffled to keep things current, and take up valuable space that could otherwise be used for more productive practices.
 

A Place for Everything: Everything cannot be in "its place" if everything does not have a place.  When the items in our homes do not have a specific place to live, they end up scattered all over the place.  Some people throw them all in a basket or a box to sort through and organize later, but still, if there are no homes for these items you'll never be able to put them away. If you create homes for your things, you'll be able to pick up and put away at the drop of a hat - making clean up easier, and when you need to find something...you'll know just where to look.

In your office, make specific homes for things like:

• pens and pencils
• files
• laptop and phone chargers
• trash
• receipts
• in box for collecting data

Group like items together: So this one should be a no-brainer.  It should be permanently etched in your mind. When you gather similar items together in your home or office, you avoid buying duplicates.  You keep your money in one place, the bank.  You keep your toiletries in one place, the bathroom.  You keep your clothing in one place, the closet or dresser.  Why wouldn't you apply this principle to your office?  Books in one place, electronics in another.  Paper clips in one compartment, push pins in the next.   When things are organized by like-itmes you save money by not purchasing more, and you save time by  not hunting high and low for what you need.

With these home and office organizing tips in mind.  Give yourself a few minutes each day to get your New Year organized and off to the right start.  Even if it's just 10 minutes each day, do it a little at a time until you're office or work space is in tip-top organizational shape!

Only By His Grace,

Billie

Linking up with The Ivy Cottage, Simplify Mommyhood & Carolyns Homework:  

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