Be brilliantly organised

This is a regular topic in women’s magazines, right up there with losing weight, living on your budget, and discipling children.

I have printed off this list of goals, with today’s date, and am going to add one more goal – not to change any for 3 weeks! Then I will be putting a number of them to ‘give up’ temporarily, to enable me to concentrate on key ones. With them all printed off anyway, they will all be used/worked on to some degree, but it will help me focus when I do log on to have a much shorter list.

•Planning ahead

•Using ‘tools’ like calendars, diaries, alarms etc

•Designating a certain place for things, and only storing each item in its designated place.

•Putting things away straightaway after use/enter appointments straightaway

•Using the computer effectively

• Dont put things down planning to deal with them later – sort them immediately! Eg, only pick up post when ready to sort it, write letters that same day

I’ve sorted all my bookmarks out, into categories, like Art, Health, ethical, fun etc. I was wasting time trying to find websites on the long list, or forgetting I’d bookmarked them in the first place. Finding ways to use the Mac efficiently should reduce the time I spend on it – freeing me up to do other things, like create that beautiful home I have in my mind, and make progress on my other goals.

I take a supplement and a medication every day, and found a way to remember – programmed an alarm on my mobile, and the last couple of days this worked. How healthy am I going to be?!

Just moving this up to the top makes me optimistic and enthusiastic about getting my life organised.

• Home
• storage
• finances
• diary keeping
• correspondence
• diet
• daily activity
• health (dentists, opticians, etc)
• weekly menu
• Uni
• social life
• meditation, Tai Chi, spiritual life
• laundry, wardrobe
• books, cds, dvds, tapes
• Emails, phone calls, mobile
• Business
• Creativity
• Writing
• Shopping
• Caring for the environment
• Charities, campaigns, issues
• Art, culture visits
• Remembering to take supplements

I am going to move this up the list. I’m realising just how important this goal is. Today I read someone’s entry about refusing plastic bags, to help the environment, and it’s through being disorganised that I end up using plastic ones – have plenty of cloth bags but keep forgetting them. End up eating fattening, energy sapping snacks and sandwiches because I havent prepared a healthy – and tasty – lunch. There are so many examples I could give how this adversely affects different areas of my life – health, Uni work, caring for the environment etc – as well as the waste of time and money.

Need to really think about, and jot down – and then DO! – ideas and plans for firstly what areas I need to organise (eg paperwork, lunches), and then how to go about it. But not to spend far too much time writing lists and plans and not actually doing anything!

Wasting time, losing things, missing appointments, eating quick meals, oh so much anxiety! So today is decison day to start being a tidy, organised person. Always feared that being that way would turnn me into a predictable, over-tidy person, but actually finally realise it will free me to have more fun in life.

As a first step, going to look at http://www.lifeorganizers.com/ And will write out precise areas that need organising. Specific goal setting, coming to a message board near you!