I can’t believe I haven’t done a
post on organizing yet because being organized is my hallmark. Everyone has her
own system for staying organized. Here are a few tips that work for me:
- Have two of the things you use often – e.g. mouthwash, cereal. When you open the second one, it’s time to buy another. You’ll never run out.
- Keep lists on your computer. For instance, I have packing lists for week-long ski trips and weekend beach trips that make getting ready stress-free – and I don’t forget anything. I also keep a Costco shopping list: When I’m about to go, I use it to check whether any items I regularly buy there need replenishing.
- When you need to bring something to a meeting or an event, put that in your calendar for the day before the meeting, e.g. “buy donuts for tomorrow morning’s staff meeting.” This helps avoid last minute running around. Similarly, don’t put “report due” on the day it’s due, write “report due next week” the Monday before. Better yet, break report preparation into smaller steps and schedule them.
- Put “ticklers” in your calendar. If I tell a client or acquaintance I’ll follow up with them in three months, I put a note in my calendar for three months later and I do it.
- Organization happens on a granular level (organize your drawers! Shoebox – and other box – lids help separate things in drawers) and on a macro level (e.g. keeping prioritized lists and reminders of things you need to accomplish or scheduling planning time into your week). To be organized, you need to stay on top of things at multiple levels.
- Declutter. More on that topic is in a companion post on my Linked In profile, https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/declutter-focus-efficiency-sophie-oberstein?published=t
No wonder we got along so famously when we worked together on a project. I do all the things that you listed. I do have a suggestion for those of you who are sharing a household. I often found that my husband I would each come home at the end of the day and we both bought something on the shopping list, like bananas. Now, we use the free app Wunderlist. We have a separate list for each store we both frequent, like Costco, Trader Joe's, Safeway. That way instead of calling him and asking, "What do we need at Costco?", we can both check the list, to which we both have access, and check off what was bought so the other person doesn't buy it as well.
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