Weekly Quick Tips

January is ‘Get Organized Month’

If you’ve been saying to yourself, “I really should get more organized,” consider this: North American women spend  55.2 minutes, per day, looking for lost or misplaced items, according to study conducted by the Real Simple magazine. Just think, if you cut that time in half, you would save 27.6 minutes per day. Still not convinced? If you get organized and never misplace another item again, you’ll save 55.2 minutes per day, or 14 days per year! Could you use fourteen extra days this year? With the New Year beginning and all the resolutions that go along with it, January is the perfect time to commit to getting more organized. So, how do you go about getting started?

First, identify all the benefits getting organized can have in your life.

There’s those two extra weeks we just talked about, but that’s only the beginning. Being organized contributes to a higher quality of life, too. Organized people experience lower stress and a greater sense of control. Plus, they have more time to do the things in life that matter most to them, like spending quality time with friends and children, enjoying hobbies and other leisure activities.

Second, decide where you will start.

Which area of your life is the most chaotic? Is it your desk at work? Is it the stack of mail, bills, and reading material that has taken over the dining room? What things are you always looking for? Find the area in your life that is really causing you the greatest stress, and start there.

Third, figure out who will do the work.

Is getting organized something that you have the time and energy to tackle on your own? Do you have the skills? There are a number of great organizing books available at your local bookstore or on the web. These books can help you identify a process for getting organized and give you tips and solutions to get started. If you’re not the do-it-yourself type, consider enlisting the help of a Professional Organizer. We can help you focus on the organizing project, break it down into manageable pieces, and help you make decisions about paring down belongings or assist in setting up an efficient filing or time management system. For tips on when to determine if you should call in the pros, check out the frequently asked questions on our website.

Fourth, decide when you will work on getting organized.

Finding the time to get organized can often be one of the hardest parts. Let’s face it, if you had ample time on your hands, you’d probably be organized to begin with, right? To tackle this problem, look at your schedule and see what things you can put aside for the time being. Is there a TV show you can skip for a few weeks? Can you cut back on the hours of Facebook every night? Sounds grim, but just remember those fourteen days you’re trying to get back.

Once you’ve decided where to begin, who will do the work and when it will get accomplished, it’s simply a matter of tackling the organizing projects one step at a time. Remember, your life and spaces didn’t get chaotic overnight. More likely it was a gradual, almost unnoticeable process. So, as you whittle away at the cluttered and disorganized areas in your life, you can look forward to an extra 55.2 minutes per day to sit back and enjoy!Copyright © 2013 Organizing Lives ® All rights are reserved and no part of this article may be reproduced or copied in any form or by any means unless expressly stated otherwise, or except with the written permission of Organizing Lives®. Enquires should be directed to: info@orgliv.mybusinesshub.ca