The clutter is there. On your desk. In your office. In your car and briefcase.

Don’t ignore it.

Important documents, business cards, information, and, yes, sometimes bugs (especially in swampy areas where I live), can be found squashed between piles and piles of paper and folders. And when you need a document in that growing pile, it takes up too much of your time to sift through it all.

Creating a well-organized workspace will save you enormous amounts of time and frustration. And it will relieve unnecessary stress from your life. Solid structure is what keeps things from falling apart.

Here are some tips on getting your life on track with organization:

·       Hit delete. If your inbox is suffocating with the build-up of information you no longer need, toss it. It’s important to clear the way for new information and store any of the old in a folder on your computer. Seeing an organized inbox every day will make you feel less stressed.  

·       Store business cards and contact information in an alphabetical or categorical organizer. It will save you time when searching for a specific contact.

·       Organize important documents in folders, which should go in a file cabinet. It would be highly effective for you to have folders with personal information separate from business folders.

·       Finish a project before moving on to the next. This goes for business projects as well as home projects. Don’t put off what could be done today. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself overloaded with unfinished business and, therefore, more stressed.

·       Don’t save more than you need. Sometimes people save magazines, photos, books, newspapers, and other items that only create clutter. We even forget why we saved them in the first place. When going through a magazine, for example, take out the pages you need and place them into categorized folder. Throwing the rest of the magazine away will eliminate the extra space an entire magazine would take up.  

It’s not difficult to organize your life. With the right mindset and the right tools to get the job done, you’ll find yourself with more time and less stress.

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