Six Sigma Blogs

I’ve got some good news for you - staying organized is much easier than getting organized. To keep things in good order indefinitely, follow these six easy tips.

1) Don’t Put It Down, Put It Away - The Golden Rule of staying organized. Don’t just drop it on the desk-put it back in the place you’ve reserved for it. A couple of extra seconds spent doing that will save you time in the long run.

2) One In, One Out - For every new thing that comes into your home, donate, sell or throw away something older.

3) Make Sure Everything Has a Place - Find a reasonable “home” for new things –and keep them there.

4) Seasonally, Do a Clean Sweep - Four times a year, with laundry basket in hand, take an inventory of your house and garage. With each item ask yourself:

Do I use this item now or will I likely use it in the near future?

Is this item important or meaningful to me?

If you answered “no” to both of these questions then, donate, sell, or toss the item. Repair items that need repair and then return them to their designated places.

5) Police Your Closet — Look through everything in your closet and ask:

Does the item fit?

Is the item in good condition?

Is it in style?

If there are items in your closet that fail one or more of these questions, sell, donate, or toss them. If your weight regularly fluctuates and you think you will be able to wear an item in the near future, keep it in a separate section of your closet.

6) Get a free Home Organization e-Solutions Kit - It’s full of ideas and tips that will inspire you to, not only get organized, but to stay organized too. It’s available at http://www.ClearSimpleLiving.com.

Heidi is a professional organizer, creator of The Fast-Filing Method home filing system, & publisher of Life Made Simple e-Magazine. Heidi energizes her readers’ lives by teaching effective organizational systems to help you accomplish more & GAIN peace of mind! Visit ClearSimpleLiving.com to get a complimentary subscription AND a FREE Home Organization Kit.

We would all love to have an extra hour every day. I know I would! Read on for a few simple ways to save time and give you that extra hour.

#1 - Use the address book method to keep all of your many on-line passwords and log-ins organized and easily accessible. Start fresh with each account as a “new contact” in your book. Accounts like frequent flier miles, banking and loan logins and your multiple email accounts all need organization! Under each account, in the notes section, list the URL, password and username and any other important information. For added security, create a code where only you can decipher your own passwords. Add two numbers or letters to the end of every password. That way your real password is what is in front of the last digits or letters.

#2 - Simplify Your Email Inbox! There are three types of email: 1. Junk mail. 2. Emails that require an immediate response or action. 3. Emails you want to read or are interesting in content (but do not require immediate action).

Delete the junk and respond to action items immediately, if you can. Store the ones you want to read in a “To Read” folder. Make additional folders for “Reference” items. Make it your goal to clear out your inbox at the end of every business day when possible. Do important or urgent action items immediately (when possible). Don’t feel obligated to respond to forwards, or to even read them. If you are interested in reading it but don’t have time at the moment, simply store it in a “To Read” folder. Never put any emails that require an action or response in your “To Read” folder. Respond to personalized emails right away and stop responding when an interchange has served its purpose. Schedule time each week to go through your “To Read” folder so it doesn’t get out of control.

#3 - Make the next two weeks a trial period to schedule your to-do list into your daily calendar. Say there is an item on your To-Do list that requires you to “find a party equipment rental service”. So schedule that task into your week-day schedule: “Wednesday, 11:00am-11:15am, find party equipment rental service”. You’d be surprised to find that many things on your To-Do list will take less than 15 minutes, but make a point to schedule each such item for 15 minutes anyway. This leaves you with about 12 “to do” items scheduled in a 3-hour time block. You will most likely accomplish everything on the list early and will have had time to handle unexpected interruptions, like bad traffic and family issues. As a rule, the time frame in which you allow yourself to complete a task is usually how much time it will take. Give yourself two hours for your To-Do list and you will probably get the list done in two hours. Plan it to take you all day and it will most likely take you all day.

Remember how in college you figured out how to get research papers done in one night? When you get focused and give yourself a little pressure, you will get more done in less time and usually do it better.

Heidi DeCoux is the publisher of the Life Made Simple E-zine and a professional organizer in Minneapolis specializing in home organization. Heidi energizes her readers’ by simplifying their homes & schedules. For more info, free tips, and to receive her FREE Report: The Fast & Easy Way to Get Organized and Stay Organized Forever, visit ClearSimpleLiving.com.