For instance, I still need to do my taxes. Normally I have them done by February, but I still have some sorting and data entry to do. It’s been harder to fit it in than I thought it would be. So it’s on my to-do list: do taxes. But that’s a lot to think about isn’t it?

That’s because it’s more of a project than a to-do item. What’s the anatomy of a to-do item? According to Merlin at 43folders, it’s this:

• It’s a physical action
• It can be accomplished at a sitting
• It supports valuable progress toward a recognized goal
• It’s something for which you are the most appropriate person for the job

If your list contains items bigger or more complicated than that, then those items may not actually belong on your to-do list, but on a project list. As David Allen notes in Getting Things Done, a small project requires more than one activity in order to be completed.

Filing taxes is definitely a small project – or maybe even a large one! Here are the steps I still need to take:

• Go through the last of my receipts for business expenses
• Log the expenses
• Review the entries to make sure items have categories and are categorized properly
• Add up expense categories (my accounting software will do this, but I still need to prompt it to add up everything for just 2008)
• Enter the totals into my tax software
• Pay my tax bill or get a refund (I think we’ll be pretty close to even, so at this point it could go either way)
• Monitor my filing to make sure it is accepted by the IRS

You see, doing my taxes is more than just a single item. And when I stop to do just one pieces, like going through my receipts, it suddenly doesn’t seem to intimidating.

Take a close look at your to-do list. Think about what your next action should be. Is that really reflected on your list?

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Yet you don’t necessarily want to leave it lying on your desktop either. It could get covered up. Things could get knocked out of the file. Or something spilled on it.

You could try stackable trays, but they’re not always the best for storing hot files. If you toss in two or three, you still have to shuffle through to find what you need. What works then? Try an upright file, something that holds your files vertically so you can see the folder label. I like a step file, one that stacks folders just like a set of stairs. I can see the labels on all of the files and quickly grab what I need.

It doesn’t take up a huge amount of space, I can see things at a glance, and I can drop something in the file without stopping to dig through and find it. And it keeps my desk much neater than it would be with a pile of files on the corner. In fact, I had one in my old office and probably need a new one. Right now I have stackable clear trays, but they are just gathering clutter. The only one that really works is the top tray, because I can see what’s in it.

What do you do to keep your hot files easily accessible?

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A list can help you plan a project. If you write down everything you’ll need to do, you can then make a project timeline. So a list will not only help you plan your project, it’ll keep you from forgetting any important steps. Without a list, you could skip a crucial piece of information, throwing your project off of its timeline or budget.

Lists can help you travel. Make a list of everything you need to take with you, and what you’ll need to do while you’re gone. That same list will help you track your progress, remind you why you’re on the trip, and help you remember everything when it’s time to leave. Ever forgotten something at a hotel? You won’t if you take your original packing list.

Like a sense of accomplishment? Tick things off of your to-do list. Forget things? Write them on your to-do list. Need to delegate? Make a list for someone else.

Of course, I’m being a little facetious here, but lists can be an important part of your day, your planning, or a project. What lists do you find you can’t do without?

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(www.myorganizedbiz.com) – When you get back from traveling, you have to pick up where you left off with projects. And if it’s been more than a couple of days, it can be tough to remember what you last did.

One thing that helps me get back in mode is my notebook. I take copious notes about what I’m doing with a project. Phone calls, brainstorming, what I’m waiting on. If I write things down, it makes it easier to start in the same spot the next day, or next week (I hate waiting a week, though – it’s too hard to get back in ‘mode’).

You don’t have to write with a pen and paper. Take notes in a document on your computer. In your PDA. Whatever works. The important point is to capture what you’ve been doing or where you’re headed so you can quickly pick up where you last stopped. You don’t want to waste time trying to figure out what your next step is — or should have been.

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Overloading ourselves
We feel that information gives us power, so we subscribe to hundreds off RSS feeds. We have to keep up on the industry, our competition, trends, cool stuff, and our guilty pleasures. We read every email that comes through our inbox, even though we really don’t need to. We take on bunches of projects because we’re afraid to say no, and then panic because we have so much to do — and don’t know where to start. We see something on sale and buy it. Not because we need it, but because we saved money!

It all adds up to clutter, doesn’t it?

Simplifying
What can we do to clear our minds? Our desks? Take it in small bites.

Reduce your RSS feeds. Are you subscribing to more feeds than you can read? Do you have more than 5 unread posts on any site? When was the last time you read it? Even if it contains important info, if you’re not reading it, how can it help you?

You can mark everything read and start over, or you can delete the feed. Try marking it. If the list builds up again and you don’t read it for a week or two, it’s probably time to drop it.

Take a hard look at your projects. If you have more projects than time, you’re not going to give any of them the attention they deserve. What can you drop? What can you delegate?

This is where a virtual assistant or intern can come in handy. Yes, it takes time to train someone, but once that’s done you’ll see some time savings.

Be ruthless in culling your email. Subscribe to a bunch of email groups? When was the last time you read them or found useful information? Set up an email rule to send them to a folder. See if you miss them. If you don’t, unsubscribe.

Do you really need to read every email that crosses your path? Probably not. Scan them when you’re processing your inbox (you DO have a plan for processing email, don’t you?) and decide right then if you need to do something, if you need the information for later, or if you can dump it. Services like gmail make it easy to every single email, but you don’t really need to go back and look for cousin Mike’s joke email, do you?

Stop collecting “stuff.” Just because it’s on sale, even if it’s a coveted favorite office supply, doesn’t mean you need it. If you haven’t touched something in two years, will you ever? Dump it or donate it. (I’m not talking about important records. Just “stuff” that gets in the way.)

I am extremely guilty on this one and I need to work on it more. We have a very small place and not a lot of storage. I have to go through things every quarter and see what I’ve managed to hoard. If I buy a new item, an old one like it has to go. (Okay, I’m a girl, so that especially applies to bags – I love computer and work bags.)

Reducing the guilt
Remind yourself that it’s okay to prioritize what’s important to you. If that means you have to cut some things out, give yourself permission to do it. Don’t feel guilty. Realize it’s essential to your sanity.

Take it in small bites. It’s always best to break things into steps. You can complete one step at a time and avoid feeling overwhelmed. If you feel you have too much to do, it’s easy to just not do any of it. And that’s why the clutter builds. It’s all too much.

And if you forget, or fall off of the wagon, that’s okay. Just pick up where you left off. A little progress is better than nothing.

What other types of clutter do you have trouble with?

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