Getting organized

 For a lot of us, the change of the calendar from one year to another results in us trying to get organized again. For some people it can be a large change in how organization work, and for others it can just be doing that bit of cleaning that you have been putting off. For businesses, it is also a time, especially If it is also their year-end, a time to get all those old files moved and new files set up.

It is always interesting when you look at some stores in the New Year and what is available, storage boxes, file folders, etc. because these companies know what people are going to be wanting to do. I know that sometimes right after Christmas all the various storage boxes are in the stores and available knowing that a lot of people are going to be grabbing those up to start that yearly organization routine.

For businesses with year-end there are a lot of different things that need to get done from setting up the new files and moving the old files, but there are also those once-a-year things that need to be completed and remembering how to do each of them can be a challenge. It can be a challenge to remember everything that needs to be completed, but that is when some good documentation comes in handy to help you get those things done on a timely basis.

Getting organized either at work or in your personal life can be a challenge and of course there are going to be things that will probably be missed but starting the year off right does make a difference. For us, in the past year I decided to set up all the standard files that I use on the computer each year for our business, what this means is that when it’s time to start the new year of financial records I just have to copy one folder and change the year, and the files are ready. Having a lot of the various standard files set up and just be able to copy them to a new folder does make getting things started so much easier.

Working on getting organized can be a challenge no matter what it is, but especially at the beginning of the year it can feel a little overwhelming, and we need to take just one step at a time and see how things go. I hope you can get everything organized the way you want it but don’t rush or get stressed because it is a process that takes some time to get done.

Gettings things organized

 Yes, this seems to be one of my biggest challenges, and that is getting my planner organized and into a method that makes me happy.  I know that I have tried quite a few different planners that I purchased, but all of them seem to have something missing that I want in my own planner. 

Standard daily planners

I have tried the standard daily planners but that just doesn’t seem to work for me because my work isn’t based on a time in the day, it is based on getting things done that need to get done when they are needed to be done.

Blank books

I have turned blank bullet journals into my planners, but again they just didn’t seem to work for me. When I was sitting and looking at the last bullet journal that I used, one thing stood out to me about why I didn’t like it, and that was it wasn’t organized.  Yes, a bullet journal isn’t something that should be super organized as it is meant to capture tasks, ideas, etc.  For me, the bullet journal ended up being something that I just couldn’t seem to handle. 

For me a structure is something that I like, and now I am going to try another method and something that I tried to try last year, but it just didn’t work with everything else that was going on in the world and my own life.

Traveler’s Notebooks

When I first heard about these notebooks, I immediately thought of something very large, where you wrote about all your travels. Yes, it can be used to do just that, and I know that there are people that use this set-up to document places they have been and places they want to visit.  For me, it is a method of getting a little more organized and have things in sections. The purpose of a traveler’s notebook is to capture inspiration, ideas, thoughts, journals, and everything else.  Yes, the magic words for me are “and everything else.”

This summer I decided it was time to pull out the cover for my traveler’s notebook and start to set up my own version of what I wanted and now to see if it is going to work for me.  The first challenge was finding the books that I wanted to use for the inserts in my notebook.  I had made some in the past, but I have to admit that took a lot of time, and it started to get frustrating, so that just didn’t work. After some looking on various website for sizes and layout, I finally found what I wanted on Amazon.  I ended up purchasing the Coopay 24 Pack Journal Notebook Kraft Brown Cover Dot Grid Bullet Notebooks for Travelers A5 size. I compared a lot of things, and what I wanted was basically a standard letter size piece of paper folded in half.  That was the size of notebook that I was looking for, and the A5 was just that.

Once the books arrived, it was time to figure out what I wanted my traveler’s notebook to contain, and I ended up with five books in my cover.  To make a traveler’s notebook work, you need an odd number of inserts, so that is what I did.  Here is the list of the inserts that I have and the basic idea of each of the inserts:

1. Notes – this captures all the quick notes and thoughts that I have.  I normally am writing down all those quick ideas that I have so that I can either get something done later or work on setting something up.
2. Writing – here is the book that I normally use to capture the various blog ideas that I have.  I have more than one blog, so that means that I have lots of ideas and need a method of making sure that I can capture them when they occur.
3. Calendar – this is a weekly calendar that I have set up and on one side of the page I note all the things that need to be done that week.  It is set up with each week day having its own block, and then the weekend is combined.  On the other side of the page, I work on documenting the accomplishments that I have made that week.  I find if I can note what I did, it makes me feel like I am making progress, even if it wasn’t something that had a deadline that week.
4. Reference – this book is used to capture the things that aren’t going to have to be written too often such as the list of patterns that I have for cross stitch, the fabrics we have for our ETSY shop and items like that.
5. Spare book – this book is available when I need it, and it is currently just empty and will see when it either gets its own name or when it is used because I have filled out one of the other books.

General thoughts

One of the biggest things that I have discovered through trying to figure out my planer is I am not alone in this journey.  There are so many people that are having problems finding what works best for them.  Being able to sit back and figure out what you want your planner or organizer to really be.  It will probably take a few tries to get something that might work for you, but you learn so much during this.

I know that I am still learning what works best for me, and that doesn’t bother me.  What I have learned is that I need the information that I need, and it is going to be different from another person. My notebook is always beside me at my desk and the calendar is open so that I can see what needs to be done and document what gets done.

A planner or organize needs to be something that works for you, and you have to first figure out what you want and then look to see if it is available and if not don’t be afraid to make your own.  My journal probably isn’t over yet, but I know that at least I have something that is working for me right now, and that is what is important.

 

Organizing

I think everyone goes through a time where they look at all the stuff they have and then think do I really need all of this stuff.

Recently we have been doing through just that thought process as we have been preparing for the new windows at home. Sure there are things that you will keep some for sentimental reasons and then there are the things that you are going to keep because they are used. There are then the things that you keep because you aren’t sure if you are going to need them or not. Of course, this is the group of things that are going to be sitting and not used for a long time but you kept them because of some other reason.

During this clean up we have been going through a lot of things and what is nice is finding new homes for some of the stuff. When I say new homes I am meaning places outside of our home and we continue to do this even now that the windows have been done. For us, we didn’t get a chance to go through everything before the windows so we are now working on doing through the rest of the stuff as we continue to put it into spots.

There are a lot of ways you can find new homes for your stuff that you no longer want and we have used some of them. Here are some of the different ways you can find new homes for your stuff.

• Consignment stores – this are good for some things but you will have to remember that the store is going to take a percentage of the final purchase price and if it doesn’t sell you are going to be getting the items back.
• Thrift stores – a thrift store is a great place to give your gently used items and this is great for clothes and smaller kitchen items.
• Habitat for Humanity – here is where you can give your gently used furniture and appliances. You can either drop it off at a depot or you can also arrange to have it picked up.
• Used books stores – depending on your books you may find a store that will take them for a small amount of money or a credit to the store.
• Environment day events – this is a great way to be able to get rid of stuff in one location because there are different types of areas to give items to. The list at least in Toronto are, electronics (this is where you ca dispose of old electronic devices, computers, etc); hazardous waste (old paint, lights, etc); thrift store (they will take all the items that a thrift store can sell so a good spot for clothing, books, etc); and craft supplies (this is a stop where they will accept craft supplies that schools can use for arts and crafts).
• Recycle bins – good spot for all the paper that you have around and not longer need but not for sensitive or personal information.
• Shredding locations – a spot to get rid of all the personal papers that you have accumulated and need to dispose of. This can be done at home if you only have a little bit and you also have a shredder available or a fire place.
• Garbage – this is for all that other stuff that isn’t good enough to be given away to anyone or is broken.

We have used a lot of these items and are looking into some of the other ways as we continue to find things that need to have a new home. I am thinking that over the next few months we are going to be continuing to clean up the place and continue to find the different methods of disposing of some of the things that we no longer want.

Organizing every once in a while is a good thing because it gives you a chance to go through all of your things and really think about if you still want them or not. If you have things that you no longer want but are still usable, check out where you can donate them because it is a way to help other people out as well.

Figuring out how to organize ideas

It is always interesting to sit back and see if how I organize all of my ideas is actually working for me at a given time. Lately I have been trying to figure out a better means of keeping all of my ideas with me so that I can write whenever I want to write.

There is always a challenge for a person with lots of ideas and that is capturing all the thoughts and ideas as they are racing around in your head. There have been times when I have thought of a wonderful idea but by the time I try and capture it I can't remember what it was. Yes, that happens to everyone so just making sure you can capture a lot of the ideas is better than not capturing any of the ideas.

One of the methods that I use for tracking all my thoughts and ideas is just a simple word file that I can edit when I have the various thoughts. I also track some of the thoughts if I cannot get to the word file on a piece of paper or even on my mobile device. Yes, capturing the idea as quickly as you can is the best thing to ensure that you don't get frustrated because you keep losing all those ideas that you have. Of course, not all the ideas are going to be the best ideas that you have but at least writing all of them helps you figure out which ones you are going to use and which ones will stay on the list for ages.

The ability of capturing all the ideas is getting a lot easier now with the ability to have a tablet with you most of the time. No, my tablet doesn't end up in the bedroom but it normally close to me the rest of the time so that I can capture those thoughts. I do have a notebook beside the bed so that if I get ideas when in the bedroom I can capture them as well.

The other thing that you need to figure out when you are trying to capture your thoughts is how much detail are you going to capture. I try and capture as much detail as I can about the idea because then I will know where I was heading with the thought instead of just a quick note and I will have no idea what I meant. There is always the challenge that as soon as I start writing one idea down I get a bunch more so then the list looks really interesting as I bounce between the ideas and try and capture all of them.

Being able to organize the various thoughts and ideas that you have is very important. No, you don't need to complete an entire thought as soon as you have a spark of an idea. The spark sometimes will never get further than that spark but at least noting it will help. The original spark may never get further but it could result in a bunch of other ideas that do end up resulting in something or even a bunch of somethings. I know that I have noted an idea and it has ended up no where but just getting that idea out resulted in a lot of clearer ideas.

Now, organizing your ideas will change over time and it is something that you just have to deal with. I have bounced between a number of ways of capturing all of the ideas that I have and I am still trying to figure out what works best for me. Your ideas are yours and you need to figure out what works best for you. You are different than everyone else so listen to what they suggest and maybe try it and then see what works best for you.

Getting organized

There are so many ways that someone can get organized and it will depend on what they mean when they say it. For me getting organized could be organizing my thoughts, to-do-list, craft items, work stuff or even things around home.

Yes, getting organized can take on so many different meanings depending on what the person is really talking about when they say it. I have said it a couple of times and those were the times I am trying to organize all the thoughts that were bouncing around in my head. Yes, I was trying to organize the thoughts and get them down onto paper so that I could actually do something with the ideas.

Getting organized no matter what part of your life you are talking about is a good thing. Sometimes it is simply just sitting back and looking at things a little differently than you have been doing. Of course, getting organized around the house is normally a lot bigger task than some of the others but at least you feel better when you do any of them. For me, organizing my to-do-list helps me remain focused and ensure that I can get the things done that I need to get accomplished on a timely basis. Recently I moved my to-do-list from a long list to smaller project based lists and it is helping me a lot more. It did take some time to get everything into the smaller projects but now it means that when I want to focus on something I can see all the tasks that I need to do for that project.

Being organized no matter what you are talking about can really make you feel better about your surroundings. It will also help you be more productive in general because you will know where things are and be able to find things quickly.

Getting organized may take you a bit of time but at least the end results are rewarding. You may change how you organize things a few times along the way but when you find something that works for you that is great. Your organization might not be good for someone else but you have to have it so it works for you.

Organizing your work area

Clean desk top

Have you looked around lately and noticed that the area on your desk and around it was getting a little out of control? Well, I did and decided that it was time to do something about that.

Of course my desk is used for a number of things both for the home office for myself but also for the personal stuff so a lot of stuff ends up on the desk and around the desk. I have to admit that just sitting and looking at the desk was getting very frustrating.

Over the last week I have had a project and that was to find the top of my desk because I had room for my computer and that was about it. I use a laptop so that meant I didn't have a lot of clean space on the entire desk area which wasn't good.

I was looking at different websites to see how they would recommend setting about cleaning up an office area and organizing it and I came to the conclusion that the best person to decide how to set up an area is the person that is going to be using it. Yes I probably took little bits of the different ideas but after a lot of work I came up with what was going to work for me and now I have a clean desk and am going to start tackling all the other areas around the desk.

Now you see that I do have a lot of different things on my desk besides a second monitor and a scanner. Those are other reasons why I never really have a lot of room on my desk but at least now I have room for my coffee cup and some other things that I can use while I am working on a project.

Getting organized

This last little while I have felt that life has been a little too crazy for my liking, so have decided that I am going to try and get myself a little more organized.  Part of my organization is deciding that I am going to schedule my workdays a little more than I have in the past.  I am hoping that having my days scheduled a bit more it will mean that I get more accomplished, and the stress level should also be reduced.

A lot of people probably do things like I do and bounce from one thing to another and really don't feel like they are getting much done.  I know that instead of focusing on each of the different roles that I have, I try and do a bit of everything and therefore end up stressed and frustrated.  Now my goal is to try and work on my schedule for the month of February and see how it goes.  It should mean that I get things done, and maybe I won't worry so much about all the other things because I will know that they will be handled on the assigned day.

I have actually decided that I am also going to schedule some me time into my evening schedules so that I ensure that I remember to take time for myself instead of always putting everyone else first.  This is going to be the biggest challenge for me because I normally start taking time for myself only to put it aside because something else for someone else calls out to me.  I started the evening schedule last week and have to admit that it does feel great taking some time for myself and actually seeing stuff getting accomplished and not feeling guilty about doing it.

Getting my life a little more organized should also mean that I will be able to get more done, both professionally and personally.  Now to start my day and see how much I can accomplish.