Spring Clean Your Life & Get Organized!!!

Where would I be without my smartphone or my planner? Ok you probably don't know the answer to that but I will tell you. I'd be in Hades with underwear made of gasoline writing a motion for summery judgment. Ok maybe its not that bad, but I would definitely be suffering. Through no effort of my own, I was forced to get more organized and stay on top of things.  Its Spring and naturally we all want to clean everything. I dont know about you but this was the time my family and I got down and dirty and we cleaned EVERYTHING. While it is a great to keep a clean dwelling and an organized living space, it is also important to spring clean things outside of the home and I dont mean your car. Because I love you here are 5 ways to Spring Clean Your Life & Get Organized.


1. Identify and reduce clutter. pen your mail every day. Or make a weekly appointment with yourself—and don't break it!—to open all your mail and pay all your bills.

• When you pick up your mail, always throw the junk mail out immediately. That leaves a smaller pile to contend with.
• Shred everything with your name, address, and any personal information, especially credit card offers and anything with your social security number.
• Once you have looked at a paper, take whatever action is needed right away.
• Get virtual: anything that you can keep as a document on your computer, do! Do not print out anything—unless you will need it outside your home or office. Always back up important information from your computer onto discs or a backup drive! Do not be afraid, computers are our friends. Backup important files at least once a month or more often if you are really paranoid. It will be there just in case your pc crashes.
• Organize your computer. Try to get files off the desktop—they are visual clutter. Reserve your desktop for the files you access every day. Create folders in your Documents folder to encompass a range of files: Recipes, Events, etcetera. Create categories and subcategories that make sense to you. Hide the icons on your desktop to reduce clutter as well.
• Give everything a place. If everything has a place it will be less stressful when the time comes to straighten up.

2. Create a junk box. This is effective for people (like me) who feel they really can't throw things out. I suggest staging those items out of your life. Put the items in a box with a destroy date written onto it—generally about six months from now. If you find yourself needing to go into it to find something—and you end up actually using that item, not just taking it out of the box—put it with the items to keep. Anything left in the box at the end of the time should be thrown out. I have found this method effective for gettid rid of clothes, items, etc. but never ever ever for shoes. The idea is that if you haven't used it by the destroy date then you dont really need it.

3. Do not be afraid to throw things away.  The biggest obstacle between you and your organized self is your fear of throwing things out. If you are a business, throw out all tax papers older than 11 years; individuals can safely throw out all financial papers older than seven years. Do keep birth and marriage certificates, social security cards, driver's licenses and passports, along with the deed/title to your home, homeowner's insurance in a safety deposit box or in a fireproof lock box and/or with copies with the family lawyer/financial advisor.

• Go through your items quickly and make snap judgments—that first inclination is generally a good one. Then repeat the process. Often, you will find more items that you can live without. If you are holding onto something in case you "might" need it in the far off future, get rid of it! You can always buy whatever it is when you actually need it

4. Get a PDA. If you back it up at least once week and back up your computer at least once a month, you will always have a copy of your address book, your calendar, your task list. It is a brain source—once you put it in there you don't have to think about it until it tells you to. It is an effective tool because of the apps it has available. You can create a To Do or task list which you can prioritize and assign all a due date. If a task needs following up, set a date to take further action.

5. Do not get overwhelmed. Pick one thing that needs to get organized—the smaller the better—papers, computer files, clothes, linen closet, kitchen, mail, children's room, and work on that one thing until you are content that it is sufficiently organized. Then move onto the next item. Never attack the whole house at one time.

Although sometimes I relapse to a disorganized lifestyle, it is an easy system to follow.  I highly recommend it!

Source; http://www.webmd.com/balance/guide/how-to-get-organized