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Getting Organized

Submitted by Lorene Bartos, UNL Extension Educator

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If getting organized is on your list, now is the time to start working on a plan to make the resolution reality. “Clean Off Your Desk Day” is one of the special days set aside to start finding the bottom of the stacks of papers that appear on desks or tables. Although the day may have past before you completed the task it is never to late to start.

Some tips to getting organized are:

• Take a look at what is on the table or desk. Many families have areas in the kitchen, office or other areas of the home that seem to be good collection areas. Start removing all the items that have another place.
• Have two containers next to the area you are cleaning one for trash and one for recycling.
• Sort items as you go. Put them away, in a “take action” or “immediate” box, in recycle or trash. Handle papers only twice.
• Place keepsakes such as children’s school papers, clippings, cards, and photos, etc. in an area to be displayed or out of the active work area.
• Shred any unwanted papers containing personal information or valuable to an identity thief.
• Magazines, journals, periodicals and catalogs taking up valuable space in your work area should be put in a “read” file or recycled.
• Evaluate all the personal items on the desk or table. Do you really need all the photos and mementos cluttering the top of the desk? Can some of the items on the top of the desk be put in a drawer?
• Clean the area. Amidst the dust there may be food and other stains. Clean with an all-purpose cleaner with disinfectant.

Celebrate or reward yourself for completing the task. Completion of the task may not be done at one time. Breaking a big job into smaller parts makes it easier and not so overwhelming. Start in one area of the home and move through the home. We all have a desk and collection areas in more than one area of the home.

• Last but not least, make it a daily habit to go through mail and school papers — file, display, recycle or throw away each item.

Remember the old saying “A place for everything and everything in its place.” Make it a family goal to not just drop or lay items on the first place they come too but put them away when they are finished. This will reduce the clutter and help you keep your resolution of being organized.