Today is “Organize Your Home” day, so following on from Monday’s post on clearing your desk, let’s take a look at other aspects of organization that you can implement to make your home run more smoothly. I should point out right at the start that I don’t have kids and I’m not a ‘domestic’ guru – I’m simply sharing the tips and tricks that I’ve learned over the years and applying them to the household. If you’re juggling several children as well as a full-time job, maybe you can add some of your own tips to the comments section so that others can benefit, too?
In my opinion, organization falls into 2 distinct areas:
- Sorting
- Planning
Let’s look at each of those in turn.
Sorting
One of the key tricks related to organizing is to have a place for everything. I’ve seen countless people who keep all their paperwork in a shoe-box, then wonder why their finances are completely disorganized. Heck, when I first met my wife, she was horrified to see that all my paperwork was dumped just as I’d received it in a removal box, and the box was more than half full! 
The only way you can keep on top of the reams of paper that seem to bombard us every day is to have a clear and simple filing system. This can either be hanging files in a filing cabinet, 2, 3, or 4-hole files on a shelf, or even a compact home file. Make sure that every category (such as electricity, car insurance, mortgage, employment, taxes, etc.) has its own section so that you always know not only where to find something, but more importantly, where to file it. If you go back to Monday’s post, you’ll see that I outlined a strategy for dealing with clutter on your desk. This same strategy can now be applied to any paperwork that comes in, with the ultimate goal that you handle the piece of paper only once.
Planning
Planning is simply a more understandable word for ‘Time Management’. However, I always find the notion of managing time quite funny as no matter what we try to do and how hard we try to do it, we all end up with the same 24 hours every day! So, rather than trying to manage time itself, we have to learn how to manage ourselves in such a way that we use the time we have available most effectively.
Also note that I’m not just talking about being efficient. Efficiency is about doing things right – effectiveness is about doing the right things right!
I find that I work best by making an overall plan each month regarding what I need to do during the following month. This gives me an overview that I can work to each week. Every weekend, I then sit down and plan out the coming week. Finally, I take a short time every evening to schedule out the next day. Doing this is the only way that I’ve found to hold down a full-time job, write 2 blogs, market on the Internet in several niches and be a loving husband – as well as fitting in time every day for God.
Take some time to think about how you can apply these ideas to your own life and please share your thoughts, tips, experiences and ideas in the comments below.
Best wishes,
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