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Letters to Liz - "Clutter - What's the Real Cost?" |
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As seen
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| Dear Liz,
I seem to have a problem with my Rolodex. It's currently hidden under a landslide of scrap papers, business cards, lunch napkins and sticky notes. It's usually easier for me to look up a phone number in the phone book than to dig through the pile of scraps. I always mean to organize it, but I never get around to it. Could you suggest a system that would allow me to take advantage of my Rolodex and reduce the clutter? - Lost in a Landslide Dear Lost, First, discard your flat Rolodex and buy a "full-circle" Rolodex (where you turn the wheel and it spins) that holds 3" x 5" index cards. Second, take all the scraps and bits you currently have and staple each of them to one of the 3" x 5" cards. Third, file each item under the appropriate letter, but don't bother to alphabetize them: just get all the S's together, etc. This should take no longer than 20 to 30 minutes. Finally, every time you come in with another new scrap, just staple it to a card and place that card at the end of the appropriate letter section. When you dial a number, take the card and place it in the front of the section. Eventually, your most used numbers will be up at the front. Is this the most efficient system? No. Is it a simple, easy, hassle-free system that you will use? Yes! P.S. I suggest that you get a round Rolodex so that you can't pile stuff on top of it! -Liz Dear Liz, I receive several business magazines monthly, but I never manage to read all the articles that interest me, so I'm saving the magazines to finish reading later. Now, they are taking over my office. Help! - Inundated Reader Dear Inundated, First, when a new magazine comes in, scan the table of contents to locate the articles that interest you. Second, with razor blade in hand, cut out the articles you've identified (be sure to include all the "continued on..." pages) and throw away the rest! Third, staple each article together and put it in a "to read" pile. Finally, put two or three articles in your day planner/purse/briefcase each day. We usually have a few minutes, scattered throughout the day (at the doctor's office, in the line at the grocery, while on hold with the utility company), when we can read something. Not only will you be more efficient, but you will soon be reading everything you intended - and then some.
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Don't
you wish that there were such an advice column someplace where you could
get answers to your most aggravating, time consuming organizing
problems? If you answered "yes," then you are among the 60
percent of the population that is NOT organized. That's an amazing
number, isn't it? The question is: Why are so many people so
disorganized?
Unfortunately if you are a creative, intuitive, do-things-by-the-seat-of-your pants, extroverted person (which describes 60 percent of the population), you tend to be "disinterested" (to use a kinder, gentler word) in details, maintaining order, and generally knowing where you put things the last time you used them. Add to that the fact that most of us have never had any training in being organized (and where would you go for training if you wanted it?). The consequences of being disorganized are increased stress for you (something none of us wants or needs), customer dissatisfaction, missed opportunities (due to lack of follow-through), and wasted time scattered throughout each day. So, why don't people get help getting organized? One reason is that they don't realize that the problems that arise are often disguised as something else. For example, the lack of follow-up looks to the outside world like laziness or lack of knowledge, or simply an impossible task, rather than disorganization. However, if there were a simple, organized, tracking system that could be easily maintained and fun to use, follow-up would become the natural order of things. How does one go about getting organized? There are a few simple steps anyone can take. First, create a vacuum—somewhere. Often things pile up because there is no more room anywhere to put them. If your desk is full, your filing cabinet is full, the closet is full and the garage is full, where can anything new go, but on top of something else? I suggest that you start by creating a vacuum in the garage. There are inevitably old things in there that you thought were priceless, such as "invaluable" documents that, once you review them prompt you to ask, "Why in the ___ did I save THIS?" (Trust me, I've seen it a hundred times.) Things we save have much more intrinsic value at the time we put them away than they do six months, a year, or 10 years later. Second, once you've created the vacuum in the garage, tackle the closet. Whatever you decide to save from there goes into the empty garage. Next, attack the filing cabinet, and put any items you save from there into the closet. Finally, raid the desk, and place any saved items from there into the filing cabinet. Does it sound simple? It is! Now, GO GET ORGANIZED! -Liz |
