Monday, January 19, 2009

New Year?s Eve comes every year, and one of the top resolutions is to get organized. Yet it doesn?t happen quickly, so many people quit just after they got started. There are several reasons for this:

First, people don?t schedule time on a daily or weekly basis to get organized. They think it?s going to happen quickly. They didn?t create the mess get disorganized in an hour, but they expect to be organized in an hour. It won't happen!

Second, many people don?t utilize a system to stay organized. When there is no system, it is hard to keep things in their place. Once a system is established, it is easier to maintain the organization.

Third, once people get organized, they return to the same state if they don?t create new habits. Habits take 18-21 days to make or break, in the office that means 5 days times 4 weeks or 1 month.

So how can you stay organized? Follow Eileen Roth?s system of PLACE?:

P = Purge

L = Like with Like

A = Access

C = Contain

E = Evaluate

After you?re organized, every day make it a habit to clean up before you leave the office or go to bed at night. Then you will have everything in its place for the next day.

Get organized and you will have more free time.

Eileen Roth is the author of Organizing For Dummies®, and the owner of Everything in its Place®, a consulting and training firm specializing in office organization, time management and home organization. Sign-up for her free monthly organizing ezine

at www.everythinginitsplace.net Contact her at Everything in its Place, Scottsdale AZ,

480) 551-3445 or write to EileenRoth@aol.com