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Organize Your Year The Easy Way
by Nancy McGarity
Is your New Year's Resolution to get organized in 2007? Afraid that your
enthusiasm will fizzle out before February? Don't worry. I've got a
simple game plan you might like to try.
It's geared for success because it takes into account your everyday
life's schedule and your priorities while eliminating distractions.
You'll face 2008 having successfully kept at least one 2007 resolution!
The main principle of the plan is to successfully organize one space
each month simply using whatever time you have available. One month you
might tackle the kitchen and/or pantry, another month a closet or two,
and yet another month the garage. You simply concentrate on only
organizing that one space all month long.
You could spend an entire afternoon, day, or weekend organizing. You can
very easily do a drawer, shelf, or box when you have an extra few
minutes here and there. You simply take any given opportunity to work on
your organizing project. You may need to schedule a de-cluttering
session if it'll help you to actually do it.
The key to this plan is to only work in that month's designated space.
You won't be distracted by all of the other spaces that need organizing
because you've already committed that month to its own project. By the
end of the month, or even sooner, you will have a totally new organized
space!
So just how does this plan work? By devoting one month each to twelve of
your top organizing priorities, you can actually achieve your New Year's
Resolution to get organized! Follow these simple guidelines and enjoy
the exuberance of a goal well accomplished!
First, make a list of all of the areas in your life, home, office, and
relationships that need to get in order. This may take a few days of
serious thought. After you've made your list, narrow things down to the
top 12 areas you desperately want to gain control of.
Next, you will need to get out your calendar for 2007. When are your
vacations planned? Do your children play on a traveling summer baseball
team? Are the most stressful times at work during October? Think through
the ebb and flow of your year, the busy/more stressful times vs. the
more quiet and free times.
After you've gotten a good sense of how your year flows, you will better
know when to schedule the more demanding organizing projects on your
list. For instance, if your company has you traveling a good deal in the
Spring, save that huge garage project for the Fall when there aren't
usually any pressing activities on your calendar.
Next, look over your list of top 12 organizing projects, and with
calendar in hand, begin assigning organizing projects to the months that
seem most practical to get them completed. You may choose December as
the month to organize your holiday decorations/gift wrap/card list. You
could also choose to take the month of December "off" and only have 11
projects to do during the year.
If you don't have 12 organizing projects to do, then take one of your
extra months and use it as a "Finally Fix It" month. Concentrate your
efforts this month on fixing all those items you've been putting off, or
work on needed home improvement projects.
It's very important to not sabotage your organizing efforts by
neglecting to keep things maintained. Schedule maintenance time (daily
or weekly) on your calendar, just like you would a doctor's appointment.
When you build in this time on a regular basis, you will be more
successful at keeping up with your newly organized spaces.
By following this plan, you can successfully get organized in a year.
Remember to stick to the month's project and not try to work on a
different project until it's scheduled. Work on varying aspects of the
project as you can all throughout the month. Each month work only on
what's assigned to that month. At year's end, look back on all that
you've accomplished and treat yourself to a nice pat on the back for a
job well done!
About the author
Nancy J. McGarity, Professional Organizer--offers hands-on organizing,
classes and more. Go to
www.realsolutionsforliving.com today for your FREE 25 Secrets of
Clutter Prevention.
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