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How to Get Organized Enough So That You Can Be Organized: The Rule of 3

by Jan K., The Proofer and Rick Subber

 

How many times have you decided that “now” is the time to get organized? If you’ve already used all the fingers on both hands and are looking at your toes to make a final count, then you’ve come to the realization that in order to be organized, you have to get organized. There are books, self-help videos, and plenty of seminars that make “getting organized” seem like a 10-minute you-can-be-completely-organized-today proposition. However, implementing the hundreds of tips and suggestions offered by all those resources might not be as easy as the highly organized seminar instructor led you to believe. If you want to be organized, and don’t know how to go about getting organized enough so that you can accomplish your goal, then all you need to start are these first three tips:

 

• Have things that you always use, everywhere you use them

• Have a designated place for the things you always need to grab in a hurry

• Spend a few minutes every hour on “housekeeping”

 

Things That You Always Use, Everywhere You Use Them

Goal: Maximize your time by having what you need, where you need it.

 

Can you ever find a pair of scissors when you need them? When you are checking something in the filing cabinet in the storage room, do you always wish you had a yellow sticky note to jot down an invoice number? Do you have to go to the garage every time you need the screwdriver that you use to unclog the garbage disposal?

 

Determine what things you use in more than one room in the house or in more than one place around the office, and buy enough so that you can keep one in each place. The next few times you use that item, make a conscious effort to put it right back where you found it, instead of carrying it into another room and leaving it there. Label things if that helps: Laundry room scissors; Notepads for storage room only; Kitchen screwdriver.

 

As you implement this tip, continue to apply the concept to the things that you use most often, in the places you most often use them. Enjoy being able to maximize your time without having to backtrack through the house or office to get that “one thing” that you know you always need.

 

Remember: Keep things that you always use, everywhere you use them!

 

Designated Places for the Things You Always Need to Grab in a Hurry

Goal: Don’t waste time hunting for it!

 

There are probably several things that you consider as “essential” to your daily/weekly life, at home and/or the office. Do you always have to hunt for your car keys? Is that report that you need every Monday for the regular phone call to the home office never where you can find it? Can you find the checkbook when it is time to sit and pay bills (do you remember where you put the bills that need to be paid)?

 

Designate specific places where you will keep the most important things that you need to be able to find or use without having to hunt for them. These places should be prominent and convenient, in a place that is most suited to what it is you are keeping there. If you have to, label the drawer, box, shelf, or wherever it is you are going to keep that essential thing.

 

For the next several consecutive days, work on always putting each thing in its designated place. Talk to yourself if you need to, “This is where I keep The Thing.” Follow-up with anyone else who might also use the same thing: “Did you put The Thing back where it is supposed to go?”

 

This tip works for wherever it is you are getting organizing. Knowing exactly where your car keys are, where you can put your finger on the report that the boss needs every Monday morning, or being able to find the stack of bills that need to be paid today, as well as the checkbook, will help you to maintain a productive, time-efficient pace as you go about your day.

 

Remember: Designated places for things you always need in a hurry!

 

Spend a Few Minutes Every Hour on Area Housekeeping

Goal: Keeping the area clean and organized means you will be more productive.

 

Devote a few minutes every hour to taking care of “housekeeping” chores around the house or at your desk. If you’re cooking meals ahead and spending the whole day in the kitchen, use the time to put away spices and condiments that you won’t be using any more, round up the trash and take it out to the trash can, rinse utensils and pots and stow in the dishwasher. If you’re working hard on this quarter’s budget, spend a few minutes to de-clutter your desk. Recap highlighters and put them back in the pencil holder (next time you need that fluorescent orange highlighter, you’ll know right where to grab it and it won’t be dried out). Round up the dozen or so paperclips that are everywhere (usually under the paper you are trying to write on) and put them back in the paperclip dispenser. Re-file the folders that you won’t be using any more.

 

You’d be surprised just how much “tidying up” you can do in just a few minutes! Keeping your immediate work area visually “neat and clean” can translate into working more efficiently. The added bonus is that in those few minutes, you’ve let your shoulders relax, you’ve taken a few deep breaths, and the simple chore of putting things away has been a good mental diversion from whatever it is you are concentrating on. Spending a little bit of time every hour on housekeeping makes the rest of the hour more productive!

 

You can apply the same concept to household chores. Got a really busy Saturday sketched out, full of cleaning and straightening up…but you’d really rather head to the park for a good long bike ride? OK, here’s what you do. Grab a timer and set it for about 5 minutes. In each room in the house, in those 5 minutes, you really can police an entire area. It’s not going to be “my mother-in-law is coming to visit tomorrow” clean, but it will be de-cluttered and it will look organized.

 

Remember: A few minutes every hour for area housekeeping!

 

Being organized enough to get organized and stay organized isn’t going to be an overnight miracle. Organization requires self-discipline and it is likely that you are going to have to un-learn a few bad habits and re-learn some new tricks. Rather than going for broke and creating a multi-tiered organizational chart for a complicated filing or storage system (that you’ll likely only really use the first time you set it up), chip away at it. Get just a few things organized, make a concentrated effort to keep those things under control, and only add new layers of organization when these few things are part of your normal routine.

 

Minimize the process of getting organized in order to maximize the likelihood of being---and staying---organized.

 

For more tips about being organized and practicing good time management, go to More About Getting Organized: Rule of 3 (http://tips.janktheproofer.com/Get-Organized-Part-2.htm).

 

Jan K., The Proofer is a freelance copyeditor and proofreader. Visit http://www.jansportal.com for more information about Jan's free crafts, recipes, tutorials, other resource sites, and free content articles, as well as Jan’s business services. Be sure to visit Mom's Break (http://www.momsbreak.com/) for free printable crafts and projects. © Copyright 2005 to present. All rights reserved.

Rick Subber, retired, was a planning and market research manager for The Morning Call, based in Allentown, PA. He is now an adjunct faculty member at Moravian College, teaching management, marketing, and other related business skills. Visit Rick’s website at www.rsubber.com.

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