10 Ways to be More Organised

Author: Julie Hanson
1. Write a To Do list. I often have lots of things going around in my head. If I can't sleep at night my mind goes over what I have to do. I find that if you write it all down on a piece of paper or on the PC then you can be happy that it won't get forgotten. You've captured everything that you need to do, so your mind can stop spinning.
2. You now need to prioritise that To Do list. It's no good having a huge list then panicking because you've got so much to do. Put a priority system in place. So look through all the things that you need to do urgently, mark them with an A, for example. The second most important get's a B etc etc. You now have a list of things to do and in what order you need to do them.
3. The key thing now is to not procrastinate. I often find myself doing the things that I enjoy doing first. Of course these are possibly not the most important things. You need to just eat that frog and just do it. The frog is the worst job that you have on your list. The good thing is if you do the worst job first then the rest of your day will get better and better. Imagine the relief you will feel when you get that job out of the way.
4. Sometimes you have a task to do that you keep putting off because you think it's going to be a huge task and will take a long time. A good tip is to say that you'll do just 30 minutes on the task then stop. Quite often you'll get stuck into it and continue until the end of the task. It just doesn't seem so bad if you're going to do just 30 minutes.
5. Break a task down into smaller tasks – this is called ‘chunking'. You can then tackle the activity in smaller pieces. The task then doesn't seem so big and you can do each task one at a time. For example if you are planning an advertising campaign. It may seem like a huge activity, but if you broke it down into sections ie. Newspaper advertising; internet advertising; free ads etc etc. You can then see how you'll get through each activity.
6. Create a filing system at home or in your office. If you always know where things are you will instantly feel more organised. You will be able to lay your hands on anything you need. This could be your physical paper filing or your computer filing system.
7. Now that you've got your filing system in place. File things on an ongoing basis; don't let it all pile up. If you find yourself looking at a huge pile of filing to do, you will really dread the job! However if you file for just 10 minutes a day you will no longer have a huge pile of filing to tackle.
8. Clear your clutter – have a tidy day. I do believe that if you have a tidy office then you will have a tidy mind. Set aside a day or half a day to clear out all those old files. You won't believe how much paper you have! I really don't think we've come to the age of the paperless office just yet. This also again applies to your computer files. Delete all those old documents that you will never use again. This is a very cleansing process; you will feel great afterwards and very focused.
9. Along a similar line is to have a clear desk policy. If you work on a clear desk you will be more productive. If you're constantly having to move papers or files to get to your computer it will make you inefficient. I feel a lot more focused if I have a clear working space.
10. It's important to plan your day/week/month in advance. I know that some people are very spontaneous and will hate the thought of this, but if you plan in advance you will be a lot more organised. You won't double book anything or forget any appointments. Buy a diary and make sure all your appointments are written down. This will instantly make you feel more in control.
by Julie Hanson, (c) 2007
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/time-management-articles/10-ways-to-be-more-organised-438151.html
About the Author
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Julie Hanson coaches people on how to work
from home and create wealth.
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