Table of Contents
1. Quick Organizing Tips
2. Welcome to My First E-mail Newsletter
3. Resources You Can Use
4. Shameless Marketing Tip
5. Contact Info / Reprint Permission

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1. Quick Organizing Tips

Here are five quick tips for using your planner to budget your days better and create more quality time for the things that really matter.

1. Select a planner that works for you. If you need to write a lot, use a page-a-day format. If you like to see your month laid out, use a month-at-a-glance format. Take the time to find one that works. Don’t just use the *free* calendars they hand out at work. If you’re using a palm pilot, the following tips will work for you, also.

2. Mark your planner for a time to finally accomplish a task that is meaningful for you, such as cleaning off your desk. Be realistic about how long it will take.

3. Allow time in your planner for meeting preparation. Think of this as scheduling an appointment with yourself.

4. Allow time in your planner for travel time between appointments. Bring something to read in case you are a few minutes early.

5. Use your planner when organizing your day. Write in it what you will do at the start, use it to evaluate your progress during the day, and measure results at the end.

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2. Welcome

Welcome to this, my first e-mail newsletter. My objective is noble; to give you free, helpful ideas that you can implement quickly in your quest to get (better) organized. My goal is to give you direction, inspiration, and specific tools and guidelines to make this journey as painless as possible.

Why get organized? In business, reasons can range from being able to make more money by increasing sales, improving customer service, managing your time better, reducing down time through procrastination, and finding what you need when you need it.

In your home, reasons can range from feeling bad about yourself, to wanting to appease a critical significant other, to self actualization, to feeling bad about missing a payment or an engagement.

Why are people disorganized? I’ve heard every reason from “my mom lived through the Depression and saved everything and I’m like her,” to… “my mom was a clean-up fanatic and I want to be the opposite of her.” I’ve heard everything from “I have ADD,” to “I’m depressed,” to “I’m rebelling against my spouse.”

Unfortunately, when it comes to actually correcting the problem, none of this really matters. Here’s what matters. Here are the 5 “must-haves” that will make the difference between success and failure in your attempts to get organized once and for all.

1. You must have a true desire to get organized for yourself. No one can organize for someone else, it doesn’t work in the long run. You must be willing to commit yourself to full involvement in the process. You must want to get organized enough to do what it takes to get there, and to do what it takes to keep things organized, once you get things in place.

2. You must have an understand that clutter is simply postponed decisions. That’s all it is. Everything in the wrong place is there because you did not make a decision about where it belongs, or how you intend to use it, or why it‘s there in the first place.

3. You must have the correct systems. A system is designed as, “an organized or established procedure.” A filing *system* is an orderly, established procedure for putting papers in a drawer, so that you can find them when you need them. A routine is a system to help you get things done that have to be done over and over. An example of this is a morning routine that helps you get everything done before you leave the house in the morning. You should have mini-systems for all kinds of things. Where to put mail when it comes in, how to handle phone messages, etc.

4. You must have the correct tools. Filing cabinets are designed to hold paper files. They have one function. If you have paper piles all over the place, and only one file drawer, you don’t have the tool you need to correct the problem.

5. You must have the correct habits. Paper is going to keep coming, over and over and over. It’s not going to stop. It doesn’t matter how elaborate your filing system is, or how gorgeous you file cabinet is, or how much time and money you spend to get all of your papers filed correctly. If you don’t have the habits (or the personnel) in place to keep filing, the problem will recur. Habits are repetitive and redundant, yet very necessary, to maintain order.

In every issue, I will attempt to give you a perspective to help make the daunting task of getting organized not so ominous. I will give you quick, easy-to-do, step-by-step things you can do right away. And I will give you a resource: something to send for, read, a great website, and the like.

I don’t want this newsletter to be too long. I have cancelled great newsletters because I simply don’t have time to read them. There is too much information to wade through, and not enough that just gets to the point. I hope to get to the point, quickly, in every issue.

I also want to answer reader’s questions. I would love nothing more than to dedicate all of my newsletters to answering questions. Then I will know for sure that I am discussing exactly what you want to hear. If you have a question that you want answered, or feedback you want to share, please send it to me at: marshasims@aol.com.

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3. Resources

1. I have access to a FREE, 4-drawer, black, lateral file cabinet (I’m not sure if it’s 42” or 48” wide), in good condition, that’s available to the first person who calls me. 305-628-0075. You will have to arrange for pick-up and delivery (it’s very heavy). The owner moved and asked if I knew anyone who would be able to use it. Since I tell *everybody* to get more filing capacity, I thought you might be able to use it.

2. To get a FREE copy of my other newsletter, via snail mail, send a Self-Addressed, Stamped Envelope (#10) to: Sort-It-Out, Inc., PO Box 5713, Miami Lakes, FL 33014. Write “newsletter” on the envelope.

3. Need a speaker for your next event? Need an article for your organization’s newsletter? Please call me for a list of possible titles. Contact Marsha Sims at 305-628-0075.

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4. Shameless Marketing Tip

Have you been thinking about getting organized… once and for all? Let the professional organizers at Sort-It-Out, Inc. make your dreams come true! We have lots of new programs, and one might be just right for you! Call today, and ask about our new, cost effective maintenance program, or about our new electronic filing system. Not in South Florida? Call and we can refer you to an organizer in your area. Sort-It-Out, Inc., 305-628-0075.

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Contact Info / Reprint Permission

Copyright 2002 by Marsha Sims, all rights reserved.

You may copy or distribute this newsletter in whole or in part, as long as the following information is included: “Marsha Sims is president of Sort-It-Out, Inc., a professional organizing company in South Florida. She can be reached at 305-628-0075, marshasims@aol.com, or visit her website: www.SortItOut.net

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