As I write more and more blogs, plus newspaper columns, I find I must become better organized. 
I have a habit of jotting down ideas on whatever pieces of paper I have handy and putting them all in a folder, on a pad of paper, or on my desk.
This had become unmanageable chaos until I began separating and categorizing.  Why didn’t I do this before?  Because I was working at only one or two blogs and one column.  I was able to keep them compartmentalized in my mind.
Suddenly the situation esculated…in a good way because now I am writing many blogs.  So …read more

Which type of calendar or planner do you find most effective?  There are many types and many ways to organize.  Some people use just one type; others combine print and electronic.  Nowadays, there are even systems you can download to your cell phone or iphone.

Franklin Planner or similar
Simple notebook
Address book with yearly calendar
Schedule book with calendar
Wall calendar combined with one in your pocket or purse
Calendars for different businesses or types of activities
Calendars for business and family
Calendars on the computer

What do you prefer?

We’re back on track with organizing and back to our various jobs.  The refrigerator is running again, is spic and span clean, and everything sorted and put back.  That’s one way to organize our two-family refrigerator…of necessity.
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 …read more

Today, my organized day gets off track for a bit.  Our ailing refrigerator must be emptied (freezer and cooling compartments) so my husband can work on it.  It’s a problem we’ve had before, so should be solvable, but requires emptying items into an ice chest and squeezing them into the downstairs freezer.  Also, we must run out for some ice.
Fortunately, I don’t have to work at my outside-the-home job and only have a business commitment this evening.  I can squeeze writing deadlines in between refrigerator unloadings.  But this is the way life (or refrigerators) can derail our carefully organized plans. 
What …read more

Many boomers are grandparents.  Some live near their grandchildren; others are at a distance.  Some take on babysitting duties; others only visit occasionally, due to distance and time logistics.
What happens when you have a small business that consumes your time, too?  You must organize your business and grandparenting time.
“What!  Organize your grandparenting time! Schedule your grandchildren into your life!” some people may gasp in horror.
Boomers are entitled to their life and business.  Perhaps the business is enabling them to be independent, so they aren’t dependent upon their children.
However, to be part of their grandchildren’s lives…to help parents, too, it may …read more

Do you look ahead and organize your business for promotions?  Do you plan for upcoming events, holidays, and special occasions?
What about back-to-school promotions?  No, this isn’t a holiday.  You won’t find it on a calendar.  But this is a special time in students’ lives and for some a big milestone.
For instance, in our multigenerational household, our granddaughter is starting college and our grandson is beginning high school.  So in addition to getting them ready for back-topschool, we’re having a festive family dinner.
Do you have something in your businss (product or service) that ties in with the bac-to-school theme?  
Then look at …read more

Getting back to my 20 minutes per day of organization was more difficult than I anticipated after being away from home at a business conference for four days.  When I did return home, I had a great deal of writing to catch up on and deadlines to meet.  I’d had four days off from my outside-the-home job, so was on a busy schedule there.
I sort of puttered at my organizing, but I’d broken the flow.  However, instead of simply letting everything fall by the wayside, like I have in the past, when I got distracted, I’m determined to get back into the act.  …read more

Are you generally dissatisfied with the speed of your decluttering and organization, so come up with a new plan frequently.  As a result you’re likely to stay pretty much in one place even though you flit from one plan to another. 
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 …read more

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 …read more

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.
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 …read more