Organize Your Life

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Ever wonder what it would feel like to be the most organized person in the world? Well it is not that far beyond your reach. Sometimes everyday life can get us down as we struggle desperately to find the right balance between work, family, and our home life. Things can continue to pile up and we can begin to feel cluttered and unfocused. This simple guide offers 12 ways to organize your life. It is focused on the primary objects within our life that seem to gather the most mess around us.

Digital Organization

The computer age seemed to make our lives easier. Pushing a few buttons can help tasks be completed faster and it just seems to be so convenient. However, digital clutter can pile up so much quicker than traditional messes. When you would suffer from a few dozen pieces of junk mail a week, now we suffer from hundreds of email digital junk mail a week. Here are some tips to get your digital life organized.

Organize Your Desktop
Your desktop is what you look at first thing when you turn your computer on in the morning. Maintaining a cluttered desktop full of icons is no different than having an overly decorated wall or a bunch of post it notes stuck everywhere. Does it really make life easier having all those shortcuts in front of you? It would be no different than having your files spread out across your desk.

Having programs listed under the start menu helps you to maintain a clutter free desktop and works just as well as a traditional filing cabinet. Applications are even made available that will automatically organize your desktop. Examples are Belvedere for Windows and Hazel for Mac.

Organize Files
Organizing digital files can be as time consuming as shuffling paper around. Focus your attention on one folder for all of your files. Sub folders can be created and quickly identify the information it contains. For Windows 7, try the users folders.

Consider using cloud storage such as Google Drive or Drop It. These apps will automatically sort documents you provide while providing ease of access and sharing to all your mobile devices.

Clean Up Email Messages
One of the best ways to keep your email under control is to have separate work and personal email accounts. Providers such as Google offer features in account consolidation, folder labeling for increased organization, and filters that automatically sort messages. You can even use the search feature to locate specific messages with ease.

Establish a To Do List
Not all technology should be considered high maintenance. Some things are created to make our lives easier. Personal to do managers such as todoist.com and wunderlist help you to create, organize, share, and manage everyday tasks.

Organize Your Social Presence
Managing your social presence is more than just posting status updates. Networks such as Twitter see a low retention rate and people becoming inactive without you ever realizing it. Tools such as UnTweeps can be used to remove and lower the number of people you are following when they become inactive. You can also utilize the lists feature to view tweets easier.

Schedule your tweets ahead of time with tools such as HootSuite and Buffer. This will help you plan your whole week in one day. However, if something trendy pops up, you still have your smartphone to use. Hootsuite also allows you to dedicate streams to monitor favorite tweets, mentions, and direct messages.

Filter RSS Feeds
Having RSS (Real Simple Syndication) feeds available help you to manage subscriptions to different content sources. You can follow the articles and blog posts you are specifically interested in with ease. Google Reader is considered one of the most popular RSS providers and is treated like your own personalized newspaper.

Home Organization

Bedroom
Your room should serve the primary function as a place to rest and relax. You should place the television set elsewhere in the home that is better associated with ‘free time.’ A room divider can be implemented to make your room multifunctional.

If you need additional storage in your bedroom to make space, use the following ideas:
• Hollow ottomans to store excess bedding.
• Bed with drawers for out of season clothes.
• Hang shelves higher on walls for pictures or books.
• Hang jewelry, memo boards, or other items that would normally sit on your dresser or desk.

Kitchen
The kitchen is one part of the home that can be considered high maintenance. A lot of items are stored in this room and is used daily requiring ease of access. Some tips for organizing the kitchen and making it a more functional room is listed below.

• Store items close to where you normally use them.
• Keep plates and cups near the dishwasher.
• Store pots and pans near the stove.
• Use labeled and clear contains to easily identify food or condiments.
• Store smaller items in bins or on shelves in one place.
• Place cooking utensils in a colorful tin next to the stove.
• Bolt other utensils to a wooden cutting board and hang on the wall.
• Hang up pots and pans or other cooking supplies on a frame or pegboard.

Bathroom
Bathrooms are not considered to be the largest or most spacious room in the home. Therefore cleaning out your bathroom and organizing it to be more functional can help it become seem more relaxing and peaceful. Use old cabinets and convert to a towel storage area. Use adhesive cups to store combs and toothbrushes, keeping the counter clear. Designate a specific area for toiletry storage and make it easily accessible. This will also help you keep an eye on diminishing stock. Prevent mold build up on your shower curtain by cutting it short and keeping moisture and dirt off the curtain.

Workplace Organization

Desk
Organizing your desk is more than just keeping your space clear. It actually helps to make you more productive as well. Consider what items are actually necessary for daily tasks and only let those remain on your desk. If you think you may need an item, place it in reach inside a drawer or on a nearby shelf. Examples of these items are paper weights, loose cords, unfiled papers, and more. Do not keep duplicates such as 2 staplers, 3 letter openers, and 12 pens. Be realistic in what you need and store excess elsewhere. Keep only the newest paperwork together and do not let it pile up.

If your desk has drawers, store frequently used items on the top near the side of your dominant hand. Might need items can be placed in the lower drawers to reduce an abundance of clutter. Feed all cords to your office equipment and computers through the holes in the back of your desk and plug into a surge protector. Cords that are unused should be kept in wire baskets. Label all cords with tags to mark what machine they belong to.

Purse
Your purse is one item you have to carry around everywhere with you so it makes no sense to keep it weighed down with unnecessary items. Toss anything you cannot really see yourself using. Split the remaining items into three categories.

1. Phones and PDAs
2. Money and Credit/Debit Cards
3. Personal Care

Consider downsizing your purse to reduce the empty space of filling up with unnecessary items. Do not allow yourself random and unnecessary items in your purse such as food or office items.

Top Apps for Organizing Your Life

In the age of smartphones, more and more apps are appearing that help to organize your life. Here is a collection of some of the most popular options available.

1. Time Master by iPhone
This app helps individuals that work a lot outside of the office. Keep track of time spent on projects and group them by client. Search through completed tasks and track expenses or import files.

2. eWallet for iPhone
This app helps you to remember those million of passwords and personal information in case you need to go through a recovery.

3. Mint.com for Android and iPhone
The mint.com has been known for being a great option for managing your business finances. With this app you can compile all your assets into a single easy to read to format without losing track.

4. COL Reminder for Android
This is a great app for managing the simple tasks and setting up reminders for activities so you do not forget.

5. Catch for Android
For the creative individuals, Catch is a great way to record your notes through text, audio, and visual methods. Make special notes and reminders for yourself.

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