2 Tips to Finding More Time in Your Day By Keeping It Simple

We all want our homes to look like House Beautiful when we and our families would be much happier with a home that is just the best our own home can be. I know as a professional organizer, organizing for women it is possible to have a clutter free home where we can walk in the door and take a deep breath, close the door and feel a sense of relief and happiness because we are home.

Time management skills can help us feel this way when we come home. Keep it simple is one of the keys to learning how to organize for a happier, less stressful life for us and our families.

Nancy Kirk from The KirkCollection.com a web site for quilters tells this great little story about an editor friend who was on the night desk at the Omaha World-Herald several years ago.

The paper made a decision that they would try to answer any question from any reader and bought a full set of encyclopedias to keep in the news room. When the students of Omaha learned of the policy, it became the research tool of choice for school reports and papers.

One night a young person called asking "What is the Diet of Worms?" Dutifully the editor pulled out the D volume of the encyclopedia and proceeded to read a lengthy article about the Diet of Worms convened in 1521 by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, which took up the issue of the behavior of Martin Luther. At the end of his defense Luther reportedly said "Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise. God help me. Amen." And after another week the Diet declared Luther an outlaw and the Reformation was irrevocable.

When he finished, the editor asked the student "Did that tell you everything you need to know about the Diet of Worms?"

A small, hesitant voice queried "But what do they eat?"

Sometimes this is how it is when we think about organizing. We make it too complicated; Keep it simple, set up a system, this will save an enormous amount of time. Take a look at how you do everything in your home and consider how you do it. For instance, do you have a basket or container you put your mail in when you get it out of the mail box or do you just toss it on a flat space somewhere in your home for it to live and grow and scatter? Have you signed up to get off of junk mail lists? This will save you an enormous amount of time by not having to sort as much mail.

A free web site that that stops junk mail, stops and starts catalogs, and manages credit card offers is www.ProQuo.com. After creating your free ProQuo account, you will be presented with your own personal electronic "dashboard" where you can easily decide which offers to start or stop receiving. It's completely up to you. Once you make your selections, ProQuo either transmits your requests electronically or provides detailed assistance in guiding you through the removal process. It is very user friendly. Take a look at the site; it is free to sign up.

As I organize for women I know time management is a challenge for most. Just by getting rid of junk mail and catalogs we will never use and unsolicited offers we don't know what to do with, will save us all a lot of time and help the environment at the same time. Remember to keep it simple.

Marilyn is a creative organizer who helps women, seniors and their families create space and end clutter in their homes and offices by setting up custom made systems.