Follow A Few Simple Steps To Keep Home Organized

In the middle of balancing your checkbook, you flip through a mailorder catalog. Then the mail is delivered and that’s added to the pile. The kids come home from school, toting papers that need to be reviewed and signed. The next morning you can’t find your checkbook. Sound familiar?

Now that tax season is behind us and most people have emptied their files looking for missing receipts, it’s a good time to get the household organized. What you need is a plan, says Jan Sagal, an organizing consultant in Auburn, Calif.

“Not only will getting organized save you bundles of time; it will give you a calm mind,” Sagal says. Here are some of her tips to help you take charge of your time and possessions:

Set aside sufficient time to handle your mail every day. Spending 15 minutes each day is painless compared to what you face if you let it pile up.

Plan your schedule a week in advance. For every minute you spend planning how to use your time, you can save three to four minutes in carrying out your plan.

Good time management means getting the most important things done first. Make a priority list. Start at the top, handle that task and move on to the next.

For telephone efficiency, “bunch” your return calls and make them one right after the other. If you’re put on hold, use the time to do something useful, like clipping coupons, updating your Rolodex or cleaning the kitchen sink.

Develop a household binder for information that’s referred to frequently, such as phone numbers, car-pool schedules, and church and association rosters.

Keep business and personal files separate. Save yourself the confusion of looking for your water bill while having to sort through business bills and client invoices.

Finish what you start, and put things away when you’re finished. If you get into this habit, you won’t waste time looking for tools, materials or important papers.

Get into the habit of performing odd jobs while watching television, such as shining your shoes or sorting papers.

When you make a purchase, whether it’s a home appliance or a piece of office equipment, staple the receipt to the warranty information. Keep both with the operating instructions.

Develop a filing system for magazine articles you want to keep, instead of saving piles of magazines.