March 25, 2013

Organizing Tip: 5 Things You Must Do After a Successful Organizing Project

When I complete an organizing project with my clients, I remind them to give themselves a pat on the back for crossing the 'finish line.' My guest blogger, Rashelle Isip of the The Order Expert, believes in celebrating the completion of a successful organizing project. Read below to find out the five things she wants you to do after reaching your organizing goal.

“I finally organized my bedroom closet!”

“I filed away that giant stack of papers on my desk!“

“The cabinet under the kitchen sink is finally tidied up!”

Congratulations! You’ve finally completed an organizing project. You’re a bona fide success!

Before you happily rest on your laurels, consider these five pointers to help keep your project a success and let you bask in the glow of a job well done for many months to come.

Plan daily maintenance.

Now that you’ve finally gotten things in order, don’t be lazy and let all your hard work go down the drain! Figure out specific steps to take on a daily basis to help keep your organizing project in order. For example, let’s say you finally organized your bedroom closet. You might decide to place shoes and belts back on their shelves/racks at the end of the day, place dirty clothes immediately in the hamper and fold and store/hang clothes right after the laundry is done to keep things in order.

Take a photo.

You’ve worked hard to achieve your goal. Why not make a record of your achievement? Snap a photo on your cell phone or digital camera for posterity and save the image in an easy to access place. Refer to your photo on any organizing “rainy day,” that is, whenever you feel you’re sliding back into your old habits or are undoing your hard work for a bit of positive reinforcement and motivation to keep things organized.

Plan a smaller organizing project.

You’ll probably be feeling very good after completing your project so consider using this feeling of accomplishment into another organizing project. Keep in mind that your next project doesn’t have to be the same size as the one you just completed and certainly doesn’t have to be completed that same day or week. If you’ve just finished organizing the garage, planning to organize the basement right away probably isn’t such a wise choice. Instead of going whole hog, keep your plans to a smaller project such as cleaning out your wallet.

Share your story with others.

One of the best things in achieving a goal is sharing your accomplishment with others. Thanks to social media, it’s easier than ever share information and stories. Share your success with friends and family via your favorite social media network or tool with photos and a short story. Who knows, you might just inspire someone else to get started on or complete their very own organizing goal!

Celebrate!

Lastly, we can’t forget the importance of celebrating your achievements. Go out for a nice dinner, listen to your favorite music, buy yourself a small gift, relax with loved ones, smile, and of course, enjoy your newly organized space or materials!

Now to you…what do you think of the above? Have you ever given yourself a reward for an organizing job well done? Perhaps you have a reward in mind for the near future for an almost completed project?

Copyright © Rashelle Isip and The Order Expert, 2011-2013. 


Rashelle Isip is a blogger, time management, and productivity consultant and professional organizer. She is founder of The Order Expert, a site featuring practical and creative organizing, time management, productivity tips, inspiration and much more. For more information, visit http://www.TheOrderExpert.com. You can follow her on Twitter @theorderexpert, on Facebook at facebook.com/theorderexpert, and on Pinterest at pinterest.com/theorderexpert.

March 7, 2013

Cool Product - 3.5" Hanging File Folder Tabs

You've decided to organize your files--that's great! I'm so proud of you.

You purchased hanging folders for this project, right? Good. You're on your way!

Open the box of hanging folders. Somewhere in the box is a plastic baggie filled with plastic tabs and paper inserts.

Take a close look at the tabs. They're small--only 2" across. You can't write much on them. I'm going to tell you right now--they're going to frustrate you to no end as you attempt to use them for your filing project.

I'd like you to consider NOT using them.

I know you paid for them. But, I'm going to ask you to spend a little more money on your files.

The 'Cool Product' that will make it easier for you to locate, retrieve and store your papers is...

The 3.5" Hanging File Poly Tab

Photo: SMEAD

What are the benefits to using 3.5" tabs?

- they have more room to write on
- larger tabs means you can write larger on them or create labels with large letters for easy readbility
- find files more quickly with a larger tab

Whenever I work with a client on getting their papers organized/setting up a file system, I always recommend they use 3.5" tabs. I pull a pack of these out of my 'magic' bag of organizing supplies, and people are amazed--most have never seen the 3.5" tabs. They only know about the 2" tabs that come in the box of file folders. Happiness abounds. Joyful categorizing and labeling begins. Another client's life made easier with a Cool Product...

Thinking of switching to 3.5" tabs?