Yes, even professional organizers have junk drawers.  We are not perfect… just recovering perfectionists!  I do practice what I preach and to prove it here are the steps I took to organize my junk drawer.  It’s rather elementary but I thought the photos would be interesting. And who knows, it just might motivate a few of you!

1. Before

This drawer is beneath my printer and has been a catch all place for office tools.

2. The Stuff

Here is what is in the drawer.  The top half of the photo shows the essential office supplies. The cords at the bottom left were also essential. The rest… how did that get in there?!

3. Bonus tip

If you have cords that sometimes need to go with you, store them in a zipper pouch for easy transport.  This pouch contains my cell phone and iPod chargers as well as a car adapter. When I am at the office they are in the desk, if I think I may need them, I just throw them in the bag that I am taking along.

4. The Configuration

For my drawer the six components fit like this.  I love that there are many ways to configure the interlocking pieces to fit any drawer!

5. The Result – ahhh, organization!

Now I bet that’s what you thought my junk drawer would look like!

Do you have a junk drawer that needs organization?  Rubbermaid has given me an extra set to give away.  There are 2 ways to enter to win:

1. Post a photo of your junk drawer or a comment about it on my blog. OR
2. Sign up to receive my monthly ezine by registering at www.organizedhabits.com.

Do this before midnight on March 5th and a winner will be selected at random and notified by email. (So be sure to include your email if you post a comment.)

Recently, I received some fabulous products made by Rubbermaid.  this set of drawer organizers come in many shapes and sizes. There are many ways to configure them to fit virtually any drawer in your home. They have an interlocking “lip” on one side to hold onto the next organizer, so no more separations where things are likely to disappear in the cracks!  They are black with a tan bottom.  Some of their components are featured in this photo. I used four different size organizers in my desk drawer and it fit perfectly. Really a well made product with great flexibility. I highly recommend them.

Using these organizers I was motivated to clean out my junk drawer…. See my next post for a blow by blow of that project.

Today I was frustrated with the time it is taking to get a refund from PacSun for something I ordered online for Christmas.  I have been following up on this issue for over 30 days! So I’m turning the energy of the frustration into a constructive blog post…..

How is your follow through?  Whether you have to follow up on projects, employees, homework, or refunds – do you have a system in place to remind you?  My all time favorite tool for this purpose is the tickler file!  I know you were expecting me to talk about some iPhone app but the tickler is a tried and true method, so I use it.  Even the GTD expert, David Allen, uses a tickler file.  Here’s a photo of his product:

In my example of following up with PacSun for a refund, here’s how I used the tickler:

• Jan 15th – called phone number on packing slip and was told it takes 2 weeks for refund.
• Put packing slip in the tickler under “27″
• Jan 27 – called customer service again and was promised an email in 48 hours
• Put packing slip in the tickler under “2″
• Feb 2nd – no email, called PacSun to find out refund was being processed
• Put packing slip back in the tickler under “5″
• Feb 5th – Called PacSun and demanded to speak to the President of the company (oh, yes I did!)
• Feb 5th – Received a personal phone call telling me the refund was processed and gave me a confirmation number.
• Puting packing slip in tickler under “9′  and on that day I will check my bank account for the credit to my account.

This was very easy to follow up because the packing slip was moved each time to the “next action” date and I just made a call every time I saw the packing slip.  Of course, you have to look in your tickler file once a day.  It’s called an organized habit!

Many times when I speak to moms groups or have mothers in my audience, there are always these sort of  questions:

1. How do I get my child to keep their room organized?
2. How do I organize all the stuffed animals?
3. How do I get my ADD/ADHD child to stay organized?
4. How do I get my child to let go of some things?

Bottom line – Is organizing your kids possible? Yes.

Will they keep things organized the way you want them? Probably not.

Think about the things your mother suggested you do in your room.  Did you always do it as she suggested? If you say yes to this question, then I guess you were the perfect child so you can skip this blog post.  We’ll address perfectionism another time…..

Your children are individuals who are uniquely created, having their strengths and weaknesses that may differ from yours.  They will also have different ideas about what being organized looks like. There is no “one and only way” to organize. What you can do for your children is to set some boundaries as far as your minimum expectations for their room and possessions. Give them time to get used to these boundaries; give them tools that will help them be successful.  And most important, be a good role model.  My friend, Kevin Bracy, reminded me yesterday that children can’t hear what you are saying because your actions are speaking so loudly.

So how organized are you? What are your children seeing?

Since the beginning of my professional organizing career, the most asked question has been “How to I keep up with all the paper in my life?” (or some variation thereof). Paper is prolific in our lives as Americans. The fact that we now have computers seems to have compounded, rather than relieved, the influx of papers. Even though we may receive less letters and billing statements in our postal mailbox, we are still inundated with the circulars, ads and the charitable and political donation requests.

So the biggest key to controlling the paper is to stay on top of it.
I have seen ignored stacks of paper grow to reach ceiling heights. Sometimes the paper is collected into boxes that then clutter the garage, leaving the cars in the rain! How do you keep up with all the paper in your life? By staying on top of it. Here’s what I mean:
You come in from work, mail in hand. Don’t throw everything on a horizontal surface, instead, quickly sort thru the mail and throw out those pesky circulars, ads and anything that is junk mail. By only doing this you will have decreased the amount of paper in your hand by 50-70%. Get used to the fact that when you think something is junk mail, you are probably right – it’s junk mail! Don’t feel like you have to open the envelope from your political party unless you do plan to make a charitable contribution. They are not sending you a check! Just shred it and move on with your day!
Now what to do with the rest of the mail in your hand? You have a few options here:
1. Look at everything right away, make decisions, and put things where they belong, OR
2. Have a mail basket or container of some sort that you put this mail in until you have time to look at it.

Going thru the mail basket once, twice or even three times a week will help you keep the paper to a minimum. The key, however, is to do something with the mail once you decide to go thru it. This means put the bills to be paid together, read the newsletter, add that “Save the Date” to your calendar, make a note of things that require a response on your to do list. Like the Nike slogan – just do it! Getting rid of that visual paper clutter will go a long way in helping you begin to sort out the mental clutter. Did you know they were related??? More on that later……

Getting organized is usually at the top of everyone’s

New Year’s resolution list in January.

…and goes by the wayside in February.

You cannot get organized if you do not have a plan.  In conjunction with your personal planner, I have just released Organize for 2010 . This planner is for your organization projects!

Cool, I know… This planner lays out your organizing projects by month and and by theme.  It gives you a place to make notes and set due dates.  Best of all it’s simple to use and encourages rewarding yourself when you have accomplished the monthly projects!

You can order your electronic copy now for only $10.00.

The first 20 people who order will also receive an instructional video that I have recorded to show you how to use the Organize for 2010 planner.

The “S” in FOCUS stands for:

Setting goals

Imagine jumping in your car, with your family in tow, for your much-needed vacation.  Your destination? Yosemite National Park.  You put the car in reverse, back out of your driveway and roll down the street heading towards the freeway.  As you get to the on ramp to the highway you ask your passengers which direction to head – north or south.  They respond with a blank stare.  They don’t know how to get to Yosemite, they thought you knew…..

Going to any vacation destination without a map or set of directions is futile.  So is going about your day, your week, your life without goals!  Setting goals helps you set a certain direction for your life.  To be better focused, you must have goals.  To reach your goals you need to create action steps.  These action steps help your focus to stay on what is important to you.

Goals can also help you evaluate those things that come at you in life.  They help you to make better decisions; if an opportunity presents itself, you need to make sure it aligns with your goals.  If it does not and you take off in that direction anyway, you have lost focus.  Many people have goals for their personal growth, their careers, the financial well-being and other areas important to them.   What goals do you want ?  How can you take action to achieve them?

The “U” in FOCUS stands for:

Use a planning tool

Dwight Eisenhower said, ” Plans are nothing, planning is everything.”

In other words, it’s not about what you are going to do, it’s about what you have planned to do.  So set up some type of planning tool.  There are many varieties to choose from: white boards, wall calendars, paper planners, pdas and smart phones just to name a few.   Use what works for you.

Set aside time each week to plan your schedule, not just your time sensitive appointments but time allotted for your projects, your family and, most of all, time for yourself.  Make sure to leave margins in your schedule too. These are gaps of time that allow for things like travel time, meetings that run late, and last minute errands. Remember we have already discovered that you can opt out of a few things…. To be productive also think in terms of time blocking.  This means using chunks of time for similar tasks.  For example:

1. Run all your errands on the same day instead of going one or two different places each day.
2. Set up a specific amount of time to spend checking email and being on the internet.
3. Make all your phone calls in one chunk of time, instead of spreading them throughout the day.

If you need help finding a planner or learning how to do weekly planning, I’m here to help!

The “C” in FOCUS stands for:

Curb your screen time

The screen time I am referring to can be two different things – the computer and/or the television. To improve your daily focus, decrease the amount of time you spend in front of those screens.  If you want to increase your productivity and accomplish more each day, you must be aware of how you spend your time.  Many of my clients have made comments like “the internet is a black hole”, “I get sucked in if I sit down and turn on the TV”, or “I am addicted to Facebook”.  I understand that at times we are so overwhelmed by our situations, that the screen can be a nice escape. But we must control our time and how much we sit in front of a screen has a direct correlation to how productive we are.

To manage your screen time you can:

1. Set boundaries and manage when and for how long you will be in front of the screen
2. Use a timer to remind you when you need to step away from the screen
3. Plan your day and use the screen time as a reward for getting important priorities out of the way first

The “O” in FOCUS stands for:

Opt out of a few things

As you go through your week be on the look out for things that crowd your life but do not bring value.

My mentor, Barbara Hemphill, always said  that a productive environment is “an intentional setting in which  everything around you supports your goals and who you want to be”.  Sit with that for a minute. ….   Now look around your desk, your home, your emails and what do you find there that does not support your goals and who you want to be?  Here are a few examples of things I have found that don’t bring value to my life:

1. Subscribing to a blog feed that I never read
2. Getting an weekly email that had quotes that I never found useful
3. Magazines that I never read
4. The weekend newspaper
5. A networking group that met in the evening

This short list is an example of how, over a period of time, we fail to see the things that are not useful.  While we do not “see” them, they do add to the mental clutter of our minds.  Seeing the weekend paper, for example, stack up on the entry table makes me feel guilty for not taking the time to read it.  I also feel the neglected newspaper is a waste of natural resources if I am not using it; after all, trees were cutdown to make that newspaper.

In order to focus, we must opt out of a few things.  These things may be in the “background” of our day to day life and we may not pay much attention to them.  However, they are still in our peripheral. If we want better focus and more time in our day, we need to get rid of the unproductive things to make room for life.

So, I’m curous. What can you opt out of this week?  Post a comment here.