Achieve the Most Popular New Year’s Resolutions with Organization
1. LOSE WEIGHT
2. EAT HEALTHIER
3. GET MORE EXERCISE
These first three resolutions go hand and hand and the chief enemy of their success is time. It takes time to exercise, time to grocery shop, time to prepare an unprocessed meal and time to get the amount of sleep you need. Getting organized will give you back time into every day. The average person spends 55 minute of their day, looking for lost items (Newsweek). From car keys to important paperwork, everything must have a home, a location where you put these items every time you are no longer using them. The home should be prioritized according to how often and where you use the item. It shouldn’t be hard to retrieve or difficult to return (or you won’t put it in its place). Once you have a home for the important (and trivial) items in your home, you will never waste time searching again.
Multi-task: This important skill has gotten a bad rap recently with dangerous combinations like texting and driving or worthless ones like answering email on a conference call. However, getting more than one thing done at once can be a real time saver. Here are some things that are enhanced when you do them together and save time in the process. Fold laundry while you watch TV, prepare snack sized servings of foods when you put away your groceries, listen to a book while you are driving, watch the news while you make dinner, group errands together so you can do them all at once, read newsletters while you are in line/waiting for things, sort the mail while your kids put their school things away. Think about all the little things you do in the day and see how many of them you can creatively combine to save time.
Plan your day: Take five minutes each night to plan out your day. See what things you might be able to group efficiently together and where you need larger chunks of time to work on a project.
4. EARN MORE MONEY
Being more organized at the office will help you earn more money by fitting more into your day, reducing costly mistakes and improving your job performance making you more likely to get a raise or promotion. At home, organization can save you money and improve your bottom line. Being able to access the things you already own keeps you from buying more of the same. Simplifying and buying only what you will need and use cuts down on wasteful spending. Paying bills on time eliminates interest and late payment fees. Eliminating items you don’t have room to house, saves hundreds of dollars in off-site storage fees. Living without the stress and frustration of disorganization is priceless.
5. BE MORE PRESENT WITH THE FAMILY
We are so busy, have so much going on and our “to do” lists are so long that we often forget to live in the moment and enjoy those who are most precious to us. When you are organized, the extra time in your day allows you to focus on priorities like family. You are also able to concentrate more freely on the activities of your family when you aren’t distracted by the chaos and frustration of disorganization. Finally, you will have so many more activities at your disposal when you can access games, supplies and other things important to your family. Games have all the pieces, supplies are stocked and working order and options are in plain sight.
6. QUIT SMOKING
Organization reduces stress in so many areas of your life. The urge to smoke is often triggered by stress so reducing stress may reduce your desire to smoke.
Enjoy your new year and much success in achieving your new goals. If you need help, call us at 727.304.4664
