Laundry. You sort, you wash, you fold, you blink and the pile of dirty clothes has grown all over again. Laundry is a fact of life, but approaching the task in an organized way can make it more manageable.

Our children are probably the biggest clutter creators we have in our homes -- even more so than the dreaded paper flow. It starts out innocently, when we find out we are expecting; then the purchasing frenzy swings into high gear and does not let up until, well, lets just say many years down the road.

One of the hardest things for most individuals working from home is to stay focused. One of the best ways to stay focused is organization. In addition, being organized will help your time management skills. The two are very much intertwined.

Planning out your day is very important. What you will do in the morning, afternoon/and or evening, depending on what hours you work is paramount.

Have a trigger that starts your day. For example, my trigger is I finish my morning walk. Once this is done, I make a cup of Java and to the office I go.

Take time to declutter this summer...

Writing can certainly consume the better part of your day... Especially when you consider all the other responsibilities most of us take on each day.

Sometimes you can overlook the benefits of cleaning up your work area. If you're like me, you may put off rather mundane tasks like - reading and actually responding to email messages, sorting through snail mail, paying bills, going through files etc...

I recently had a conversation with a friend about clutter. She shared that at times there was so much clutter around her home that she simply concluded her home was in a stage that she referred to as CHAOS or Can't Have Anyone Over Soon. We talked further and what she has discovered is that when there is too much stuff in a space, clutter simply cannot be organized. Of course eliminating our belongings can be quite a challenge. Words like, "I may need that sometime" can quickly come to our mind and shut down the activity.

In part 1, we discussed a system you could use to organize your office. In this article we will discuss what material is needed to implement that system.

You will need the following items for your office system. Calendar/Daily Planner; Accordion File (1-31); Manila Files with the Months of the Year (Or you can make them up yourself - a lot less expensive); Hanging Files; Manila Files; Boxes and Envelopes (9 x 12).

The calendar/daily planner will contain all appointments, meetings and deadlines for project.

The following procedures will insure an organized and well run office.

1. Have a daily To Do sheet. This is made up at the end of the day. You might have items left over from the previous day, put those items first and work from there. If you make deposits on a daily basis, add them to the list. Plan to file at the end of the day or before/after lunch breaks. Doing this daily will avoid the "pile syndrome". This list should also include any marketing strategies you employ. This will insure you set time aside to implement them.

3-Step Clean Sweep Program

1 - Purge

3 - Organize

Getting Started

(This is the third in a series of three articles on "The Organized Move")

The National Association of Professional Organizers has dedicated January to clean out those closets, but don't wait for January -- now is the time. Exciting this task is not, but by devoting a couple of afternoons this month you can reduce unnecessary search time and you may even find some extra storage in the process.