by Liz Franklin
www.franklinizer.com

You know those days. You're searching for *that* pen and you find every other color but the one you need. You have a conference call scheduled in half an hour and the number's been programmed on your Palm Pilot, but it's somewhere buried beneath all of the paperwork you still need to file. And files... that's another horror story!

It's in those instances that you actually consider chucking the PC out the window, tossing everything in the trash, or heaven forbid, setting the whole place on fire. We all need a little help now and then, as we're not all rocket scientists when it comes to tidiness. But a daughter of a rocket scientist and professional organizer, Liz Franklin believes there's some hope, and she's written How to Get Organized without Resorting to Arson.

In order to get to the root of your organizational handicaps, Franklin asks readers to consider the following "Franklin-isms":

If you are an "out of sight, out of mind" person, you're not out of your mind, you just respond to strong visual cues. So use bright colors, large labels, and signs and you'll remember where you put things.

If you are a "time traveler" you simply and naturally access paperwork according to when things happened or when they must happen. So leverage your innate skills and use systems with dates and numbers not colors or places.

If you are a "Cross-dominant," you switch rapidly between starting and finishing. You will become better organized only after you improve your delegation skills, which you'd better do because you assign yourself more than is humanly possible.

Ignore the saying, "If you haven't used it in six months, throw it out. That could be your spouse!

Procrastination is usually a sign that you have more important things to do. A clean desk is a sign of a person who's on vacation, new to the job, part-time, delegating, or mentally elsewhere.

You are not obligated to return any phone calls made by machinery.

Arrange your desk into U-shape and circulate your work around you. This mimics your hand, body, and arm movement, and makes jumping to conclusions so much easier.

Keep everything you want to keep. Just label things according to when you'll want to use them. Instead of, "Tax Stuff," call it "Open in January" or better yet, "Open or Go to Prison!"

Bonus tip: Too many items on your To-Do List? Ask yourself which of those items might you be sorry about tomorrow if it's not finished today. Then prioritize according to regret. And if you won't regret it, you can forget all about it.

Above all else, before you embark on your task to organize once and for all, remember as Franklin says, "It's not going to happen simply overnight. After all, how long did it take you to get as organized as you are?"

Credit:
For more information about Liz Franklin and her guide to organization, visit www.franklinizer.com. Her new book, How to Get Organized without Resorting to Arson, is available online and in bookstores nationwide.

Related Information:

NBA Benefit Provider - Records Locator

NBA Resource Article - 10 Tips for Growing Your Business the Organized Way

NBA Resource Article - Oh No! You are LATE again!