Be Organized Be Effective and Be Happy

Getting organized is getting more productive by getting more out of life by doing less in less time. It is also about living a balanced life. Take a closer look at your daily activities and find out how you can be more efficient and effective. The most important thing in life is to keep your good habits and change what is not working for you.

• To organize is to plan: To be organized is to plan ahead. It is assumed that you have already set your long-term goals and you have your short-term objectives in place such as yearly plan, monthly activities, weekly and daily tasks. It is important now to work on your plan and to achieve your goals.

• Daily to-do list: A daily to-do list helps you to get through a day smoothly and orderly. Prioritize your list and do the most important things. It is taking advantage of the 80/20 rule. By doing 20% of the work you get 80% of the output.

• Manage documents: What do you do with incoming documents? If you just leave it on your desk, it will soon be an unmanageable pile. Take action immediately and deal with each paper only once. There are four things you can do. Throw it away if it is useless. When it is necessary to act, do it now. If it is just for reference, file it. When you need to take action on a future date put it in a tickler file.

• File Management: Use uniform files especially for A4 paper. A big file for all related documents is better than filing separately in a few smaller files. Name the file such as Utility bills, banking, and credit cards and date the files like 2011 or January to June 2011. 

• Manage time wisely: The key is to live a balanced life. Do your work at the workplace and do not bring home more work. At home, it is family time.  Allocate time to relax and exercise. Take time to read and enrich your mind. Whatever you do, it is crucial to living in the moment, be mindful, and focus on the activity at hand. When you play you are free and relaxed. When you work you are immersed in doing the job well. Take breaks to release stress and renew your energy.

• Simplify: A good way to make life simple and easy is to automate all your recurring payments by using your credit cards. Living within your means is another great way to enjoy a simple life. There is no debt when you do not buy on credit to get more material things. The key issue is to do just the things which are meaningful to you and enjoy what you do.      

• Good habits: One such good habit is to get up early. Get the on- top-of-the-world feeling.  On a practical aspect. When you start a new day early, there is no need to rush about getting things done and be stressed. There is time to do what you have missed in the past like enjoying a leisurely and nutritious breakfast or doing exercise. Other good habits are writing  things down, thinking  positive, and be happy

• Avoid multitasking: Your mind can only pay attention to one thing at a time. Doing many tasks and shifting your attention tires the mind easily. You will more likely make mistakes and your work is further delayed by correcting the errors.

• Avoid clutter: Imagine staying in a room full of things and hardly any space to move about. You feel breathless, uneasy, and constrained. Remove all unwanted items in the room and other places in the house and make your home spacious. You will breathe easily and feel calm because you allow  more positive energy to flow freely in the house

• Avoid delay: The motto is to do it now. Don’t leave things at the last minute and rush at it. It may crush your schedule and leave you in a panic situation and under a stressful situation. A good example is to file your income tax return on the very last day. Supporting documents may not be available and certain figures are not available.  It gets on your nerve.

An organized life gives you peace of mind and happiness.