Throughout each month, I’ll have posts I particularly enjoy researching and writing.  Also there will be posts that draw responses from readers.  I’m attempting to select a round-up of 5 posts at the end of each month. 

 I also enjoy having my readers letting me know about any that were their favorites.

For July, we have:

Time Management in an Instant Book Tour

13 Ways to Be More Effective

20 Minutes to Organization

When Organizing Becomes an Excuse

Organizing Can Yield “Treasures”

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Clearing your closets and getting them into an organized arrangement helps to get you on the road to better time management and peace of mind.  Since I don’t have a lot of closet space, I have to bring out only clothing and shoes in season.  I also have to try to find ways to organize my writing and office materials on shelves and file cabinets since I don’t have a big closet to store the items out of sight.

Yesterday, I put away cool weather clothing and arranged my summer clothing in my closet.  (We’re finally getting warmer weather in NH!).  In the course of this, I found items I no longer use, so will place them in the yard sale we’re holding later in the week.

Today, it’s to the office items, not necessarily seasonal, but to continue my organizing so my research materials are easier to locate instead of stacked around where I’m sitting at my computer.

If I had a large closet to “hide” my stuff, would it be organized?  At least it would be out of sight!  However, I’m trying to declutter and organize much more and not simply hide it.  Especially since I’m writing this blog!!

What strategies do you use for organizing your closets, whether your clothing, your business, or your home?  Why not take today and revamp a closet or two?

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Do you find it difficult to get back on track with your organizational plans once you’ve been away for several days?  I discovered I was having a challenge getting back to my 20 minutes a day of organization once I returned home from a weekend conference. 

I’d written my blogs ahead, so I was covered there.  I’d taken care of matters in my husband’s and my home business.  But once I returned home, after four days away, I had all I could do to maintain deadlines, catch up on e-mail and phone messages, and get back to my away-from-home job.  Last week was sort of a lost one as far as my organizing was concerned.

So…this week, since I’m not so pressured by my other tasks, although I still have to do them, I hope to accomplish my 20 minutes per day.

Here is where I might have gone astray in the past, feeling it didn’t pay to make the extra effort to do my organizational tasks.  Sometimes the feeling of being behind is so overwhelming, that we ignore the tasks at hand.

What have you done to get back on track?

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Sometimes you can’t organize everything yourself, or you get so far behind in your organizing that you get discouraged.  Enlist others to help you, especially in your family.

If they aren’t involved in your business, arrange for help in your home, with work around the home, with other family tasks that enable you to be more efficient and effective in your business.  My family often pitches in with work around the home when I have deadlines.

I recall the time I had a book deadline and had to closet myself into our bedroom where I had my computer and research set up.  I pretty much only came out for meals that week or to take a walk for exercise. I had young grandchildren around, but didn’t have to help with them during that period, unless they accompanied me on my walks.  The rest of the family took care of laundry, household tasks, meals which enabled me to concentrate on organizing my research, proof reading with my editor, and finishing my draft.

How do you enlist your family’s help with your organizing or when you have deadlines in your type of business? 

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After reviewing Time Management in an Instant, 60 Ways to Make the Most of Your Day, I decided to incorporate some of those tips into my 20 minute organization sessions.  When I reach a point where I seem bogged down, even though I know there is much to do as I look around me, perhaps having tips to guide me or a plan would help.

Take one of the 60 tips for each session.  Or if I see I’m making progress and have more work in a particular area, continue with that tip until more is completed.

What do you think?

We’ve been discussing time management, organizing your day, and organization to be more productive in your business and home over the past few days.  I’ve undertaken to spend at least 20 minutes per day to do something toward clearing my clutter and organizing.  I’ve asked for your organization tips and resources.

The opportunity to host a book tour for Time Management in an Instant, 60 Ways to Make the Most of Your Day came my way just at this time.  Authors Karen Leland and Keith Bailey are touring the blogosphers this week.  I thought you, my readers, would like to know about this book, so I asked them to stop by My Organized Biz so you have an opportunity to learn about their book for managing your time and being more productive.

A quick summary:

In today’s hurly-burly work environment many business people find it challenging to avoid distraction, stay focused, use their time and energy to maximum benefit, and gain ground on important goals and outcomes. One study by the Families and Work Institute found that one-third of Americans are overworked and more than 50 percent of those surveyed say they are either doing too many tasks at the same time or are frequently interrupted during the workday – or both. In short, we are overloaded!

Time Management In An Instant helps the reader to overcome this feeling of overload and avoid the traps that lead to an unproductive relationship with time. It offers field-tested time habits and expert advice based on the latest research that will help the reader better manage, create and spend their time with more satisfaction and results.

In their book, the authors cover 60 topics such as:

• Achieve Your Goals Everyday
• Assess Your Time Management Skills
• Break The Habits That Hold Your Back
• Choose The Perfect Planner
• Clean Out Your File Drawer
• Cultivate Time Efficient Conversations
• Delegate Like A Pro
• Design Goals In All Areas Of Life
• Generate Energy With Your To-Do List
• Get A Good Nights Sleep
• Keep An Activity Log
• Organize Your Email In-Box
• Reorganize Your Filing System
• Retool Your Priority System

Karen Leland and Keith Bailey are partners in Sterling Consulting Group; an international management consulting firm. These best-selling authors have written six books, which have been translated into ten languages. They also have worked with more than 200,000 executives, managers and front line staff in companies throughout the world and now are passing some of their tips on to you.

 The authors have a special promotional offer during their tour week of July 20-24, combined with the Essential Email online course.

(Sterling Consulting Group Image)

It seems such a simple practice that it’s not worth mentioning.  But I’ve discovered many people comment, “Why didn’t I think of that!”

Decide upon a color for various topics in your files, then code anything pertaining to each with a particular color…whether it’s the ink you use for writing on the file folder, the color of the label, the paper clips you use (some come in various colors), even the color of the folders themselves.

When I was researching and writing a resource book for writers, my editor set up a filing system for my research by color coding the labels on the file folders.  There was a different color for each category and then I’d simply place additional folders and information in the appropriate ones.  This made it easy to locate my research when we were writing the book.

Do you use color coding in your business organization?

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Part of organizing is getting rid of “stuff” you don’t need.  You’re either hanging onto it for possible future use.  Or you don’t know where to dump it.  Often it’s perfectly good, or at least has usefulness to someone else when you no longer need it.

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A yard sale is one possibility.  But you may not have the time nor facilities for organizing one.  You may be restricted by zoning where you live to hold a yard sale.

What do yo do?  Explore the possibilities with Freecycle. 

Here people give away, for free, items they no longer need.  Those who join the Freecycle group in their area, all operated by e-mail, also can ask for items they’re looking for.

If you go to the main Freecycle web site, follow links to one in your area.  There you can sign up on the Freecycle group.

I haven’t used it yet to get rid of household or office type items.  But I did list three used tires my husband doesn’t need.  (It costs $5 each to recycle them at our local town recycling facility.) 

By using Freecycle, you’re doing your part in helping the environment by recycling, helping others who need items you no longer use, and clearing the clutter in your home, office, and garage.

Jean Murray wrote a former post, Green Office: Recycle Your Shredded Office, and detailed ways to use this again as well as tossing the paper into a recycling bin.

A reader recently mentioned:

You may want to check with your recycling facility. Not all recycling companies accept shredded paper as some machines are clogged by such shreds.

So that I didn’t have a mad rush this morning trying to catch up on everything in my blog writing, column writing and other home business, I tried to write ahead so that today was covered…or nearly so.  I do have to prepare today for the coming week.  For one of my blogs, I must get a column posted, but the others are covered for today. 

Since I don’t have a “walk in” business, I didn’t need to have a shop open this morning.  I can sit at my computer and plan.  Or go over with my husband what needs to be done in our joint business, then make phone calls and e-mails.  And get this done in the six hours I have before I go to my job away from home.

So, when you’re going to be away:

• Try to prepare in advance as much as possile. Make sure deadlines have been met and that you’ve planned for future or immediate others.
• Go over your “to do” list for the coming days, as I did last night after arriving home.  This can include personal and family “to do’s” so you can coordinate them with your business.
• E-mail editors and coordinate.  (One editor has set up a weekly reminder, to let me know I need to get my column to him.  We’ve found this works great for both of us.)
• E-mail or phone people I need to interview.

How do you organize and plan when you have to be away from your business?  Do you have some tips to share with us?