I’m struggling with piles and piles of letters and other documents going back 8 months that need weeded, shredded, filed,….. ! I spend more energy agonising about getting it done – because I know it will demand a fairly full day of my life – that I likely would just doing it.

The reader mentioned she liked the suggestions mentioned here at My Organized Biz.  Hopefully by following some of them…what about 20 Minutes a Day of Organization…will help her make a dent and then get her mass of paperwork fully organized.

Tackle a little at a time (“one bite at a time”) and you’ll eventually get it done.  Some days you’ll have more than 20 minutes.  If you sit there and agonize, the mass of paper will continue to grow. 

Do you have any suggestions for this reader?

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Do other things get organized in your life…by necessity?  You put it off and put it off until there is no option.  Or you may be forced to change course a bit, but find it’s in a good direction.

Look at challenges as ways to organize, change your plans, declutter, or head in a new and great direction.  I’m not sure the refrigerator set us in a new direction, but it did get some much needed organizing done.  It’s great to look inside and know what’s there instead of it being a collector of the unknown.

Your office can become the same way…your sewing room…your shop…your home.   Take charge of your clutter before it takes charge of you! 

(Image: sxc.hu)

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However, is there a “best” way to organize?  Is there one method that will miraculously clear the clutter and keep us on a fast track toward productivity and profitablilty? 

We all long for that one miracle cure to our clutter and keep us on track, but what works for one person may not be the total answer for another.  Also, our situations vary, our space varies, our ability to utilize technical organizers is different, and our needs change.

So…each person needs to find what works for them.  This also can vary over time as our situations change.

The main ingredient is persistence.  When we set up systems, get ourself decluttered and on the way to organization, we must keep at it.  Even when we’re decluttering and it seems we aren’t making progress (where I’m at now), we need to keep at it.

Also, how I organize my day, juggle family, businesses and outside job won’t be the same as you.  Nevertheless, we can all learn from one another.  I might take a tip from you and think, “Ah, ha!  That will work perfectly for filing invoices, customer information, recipes or whatever.”

When someone else has a system for organizing notes taken at workshops or meetings, I may be able to incorporate it into mine to fine tune.

Also, my system may work well for me, so I won’t change it, but will keep your information in mind for future use.

I’d like to collect tips from others, so don’t hesitate to add them in your comments.

(Image: sxc.hu)

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One lady been decluttering this way.  She has gotten rid of some of her accumulation, tried a weekend at a flea market, has given some to a community thrift shop, moved stuff from room to room in her house and now is moving it to a rented storage unit so she can bring it home box by box to sort.  This has gone on for more than five years.

Do some people continually organize so they have an excuse for not going on with productive venues and business in their lives?  Is this the way to avoid tasks they don’t like or fear?

Organization is an ongoing procedure.  If you have to start a program or get rid of clutter, it won’t be an instant process.  Also, you may combine a couple of programs.  However, if you constantly flit from one aspect to another, you may not accomplish as much as if you simply kept going…for instance, 20 minutes per day, even when you don’t see to much progress.

What about you?  Are you continually organizing or reorganizing so that you can use that as an excuse? 

What have you found in organizational tactics that work well for you?

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To some, the idea of organizing a yard sale may seem overwhelming, but it’s mainly determining prices that aren’t too high, being willing to bargain, and even offering some items for free.  Making and placing attractive, eyecatching and easy to read signs is important, too.

You also can place items in consignment shops, whereby you may get some money for them.

Flea markets are another source for getting rid of items you no longer use.

Or simply give them to thrift shops, often run by charity organizations, that take donations.

Using Freecycle is another way to give away items you don’t want any longer.

By utilizing these methods of getting rid of items that you don’t need, you’re entering into various types of recycling, too.

(Image; sxc.hu)

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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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Sometimes when you’re organizing, or seem to have a mountain of it to do, you get discouraged

I realize that’s probably why I gave up other times I started this process.  Even though I know I’ve been accomplishing, I still see clutter, boxes to be filed, stuff to go through and eliminate.  Yet I must go on with my work of the day and can’t spend a great deal of time.

So…I’ve begun to write down what I accomplish each day.  Instead of looking at what I haven’t done, I’m concentrating on what I did.  By writing it down, I can review this and see that something was started or finished. 

Today, I carried boxes and clothing to the the storage area.  I also set stuff with the pile to go to the incinerator/recycling facility.  Did this seem like much?  No, but I worked at it for at least 20 minutes, and I do see more floor space in our bedroom/den area where I plan to move my office.

Have you tried listing what you’ve accomplished each day?  Does it help you to keep decluttering?

(Image: sxc.hu)

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Image:sxc.hu

I’ve learned to deal with it immediately, throwing out what I definitely don’t want as soon as it comes in.  If it’s a “maybe,” I generally toss it, too.  I’ve discovered these” maybe’s” simply accumulate and are never anything of importance.

Then I’m learning which mail I must deal with immediately, which bills to put into a file according to dates they are due, which letters to be answered now and those to get to in a day or two but are not junk to be tossed. 

I’ve also cut back on magazine subscriptions.  Actually I don’t have any print subscriptions at the moment because I’ve found most of those were put aside to read later.  That later never came and eventually the magazines were given away or put into our yard sale.

How do you organize or deal with your junk mail…or any of your mail in order to avoid the mountain that can become an avalanche?

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So many of us suffer from the clutter affliction. We have too much paper, too many gadgets, and basically just too much stuff crammed into our offices. What are we to do?

Some people live with the clutter, never quite able to find what they need. Others upgrade their space, thinking that just a little more room will help. And many of us buy more containers to better organize all that stuff.

It’s all too much! That’s precisely the point of Walsh’s book. We have too much stuff. We don’t need all of it. We’re too attached to things.

While the book is geared toward homeowners, there are good points for business owners as well.

Take a look at your office. Define the purpose of the space. Everything that does not fit that space needs to go. It does not belong there. Create zones in the office to help increase your efficiency. Try to keep your horizontal spaces as clear as possible. And notice how a clean desk does wonders for making your office feel calmer and more efficient.

File regularly and get rid of paper clutter. We keep way more paper than we’ll ever need. Be ruthless. If you haven’t looked at something in a year, you probably don’t need it. (Tax returns and other important documents excluded.)

All in all, I found Walsh’s book easy to read and packed with a lot of great information. I was immediately inspired to start purging things I know I don’t need, but had been putting off getting rid of. It’s still a work in progress, but it was just the push I needed.

I still tend to keep too many books and notebooks. But I’m learning what paper to throw away and will hopefully be able to start scanning more receipts for taxes and getting rid of even more paper.

Have you read this book? What did you think of it? Did it help you?

Image: Amazon.com

(For a link to this book, please see the Author Links page.)

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… I think the solution is not to keep so much paper “just in case.” I never get asked to review things again, so after a week or two of the project’s completion, I should throw away most of the paper and move on to the next thing. (Any other ideas?)

If you feel you absolutely MUST keep some documentation, Karen, think about keeping the last iteration of your edits and a few notes. With content writing, I rarely had to worry about the various revisions – I was more interested in referring back to the original content.

You could also have a temporary file, where you keep things for a few days, a few weeks, or something like that. If you don’t refer back to it after a specified time, get rid of it.

It’s like the solution to figure out which clothes you no longer wear – you turn all of your hangers backwards. As you wear the clothes and hang them back up, put the hangers forward. After 3 months, see how many hangers are still backwards. Get rid of those clothes. It’s the same way with your files. The ones you don’t touch for 3 weeks, 3 months, whatever, can go. Unless it’s something that you’re required by law to keep, of course.

And take advantage of your filing space. Don’t just leave piles of papers on your desk, thinking you’ll need to get back to them. File or toss them. If you file, set a calendar reminder to go back through them every 3 months. And then do it. Purge what you don’t need. Leaving piles on your desk just makes it harder to find the things you do need.

But you don’t have to get rid of everything off of your desk. Some files are okay as long as things are in order and you can find what you need. It doesn’t have to be pristine or sterile to be organized.

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