Organizing, Redesign & Staging

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Handle It Once - A Reminder

Handle it once. Easier said than done, you say? Anything that requires you to read it, such as mail, invitation, kids’ schoolwork, do something with it – that ‘something’ could be to put it into a file marked “Action Items” or “To File”. As long as you are dealing with it in a way other than saying “I’ll deal with that later” and putting it in its original place of limbo, you’re going to be more organized.

The same goes for stuff to be put away. As an organized person you will come to realize that it is always easier to put something away rather than set it down “temporarily”. If you set something down you will have the second and third step of actually remembering that you need to find it and put it away. Very often, these temporary homes turn into permanent homes. Keep adding more stuff to those areas and you'll end up with tons of clutter. Then you'll have to spend tons of time putting it all away.

Realistically, you won't be able to handle every action immediately, but if you keep item shuffling to an absolute minimum, it won't get out of hand.