10 Tips to an Organized Life
11 Aug, 2009 by James L. Clark in Articles & Papers, Business, Strategy
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Being organized isn’t something to put off until tomorrow; that’s procrastination, not organization. Have you ever heard of the "Pareto Principle"? It’s the idea that 80% of the outcome in a given project come from 20% of the effort. To put it another way, almost all of what you accomplish in a day is produced by only 20% of the effort you put into it.
It is not a common rule of thumb that has been expanded to all sorts of areas from the ultra mundane to the ubber important, and it is tangentially related to the same economist’s concepts on efficiency. The crux of the rule is this: don’t try to do more things every day, just do the right ones and the results will be amazing. Here are some great tips that can help you do just that:
Take a good look around you: The first step in solving any problem or making something work better is a good investigative evaluation; if you don’t know where you are, you can’t navigate to another destination. Look around you and take stock of your situation.
Get rid of excess clutter: Clutter equals delays. Pick up clothes and put them away. If it doesn’t fit, get rid of it. Clear out your attic or cellar. That broken chair should be thrown away. The all silver Christmas tree from 12 years ago isn’t coming back in style.
Give everything a place: Put it in a spot that makes sense, and return it there after use. If you can’t find it, you will waste time looking for it.
Make a list of things you want to accomplish: Once you know what you want to do, it is much easier to make a plan to get there.
Use the same notebook: Put everything in the same notebook. Having everything you take notes on such as calls, ideas, etc shouldn’t be in 568 places on 485 different pieces of paper.
Do daily task lists: Each night before you go to bed and make a lit of what you want to have done the next day. Prioritize that list as A, B, C, D, or E after your write it down. That stands for A=High, B=Med, C=Low, D=Delegate to someone else, and E=Eliminate.
Do it NOW! Get off your rump and get the task done. Putting it off will create a backlog that you’ll not want to do because it has piled up.
Plan ahead: Cleaning out a room for example takes a lot of steps. Sit down and plan what you will do and then do it by the numbers.
Delegate what you can: If you can give the task to someone else so you can focus on areas that require your skill set, then do it. Don’t try to do everything yourself. Enlist friends, family, etc.
Reward yourself: When you’ve done a good job, take 10 minutes to an hour to go for a walk, go to the gym, or take another active break that makes sense and will benefit you. Getting organized takes work and dedication, but it is well worth it!
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© Copyright 2008 by James L. Clark, Snr., Esq. All rights reserved. Duplication prohibited by domestic and international laws. This document is not for open publication and may not be released to third parties. The rights of the author have been asserted.
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