Personal Organization

Whether you own your own business or handle your family’s finances, chances are you could benefit from some personal organization. We all struggle with keeping our personal organization in the top ten of our priorities. Most of us put our personal needs off until the last minute. Ultimately if we were to put ourselves first, we would have more time for our business and our finances and less stress. While we ignore our personal organization it continues to linger in the backs of our minds and causes us stress – and when it’s all said and done, it still needs to get done.

Joe Cirillo, author of It’s Your Time, offers helpful suggestions to get you on the road to personal organization in no time. Your calendar and appointment book should be a huge part of your daily planning. Cirillo recommends a format that works for you; don’t force yourself to use a PDA (personal digital assistant) if you prefer paper.

“Use what works as long as you have some sort of efficient system to record important family dates, social events, birthdays and anniversaries, doctor appointments, and vacations,” says Cirillo. “All of these dates should be entered as soon as you are aware of them. If you receive an invitation to a function that requires a RSVP, the date should be entered and the RSVP done at once, to save time and energy later. The calendar should be placed where it is visible and accessible.

“Appointment books and PDAs are generally portable, so you’ll be carrying yours along with you and entering dates throughout the day; but when you arrive back home, keep it where you’ll be able to access it quickly if you need to make an entry.”

Another personal organization suggestion from Cirillo is the much dreaded but highly important task of vehicle maintenance.

“This can seem to be a time-consuming task,” says Cirillo, “but your car is your assistant. It must be reliable and healthy to be of service and to avoid future time wasters like breakdowns and flat tires. Besides, the downtime associated with planned car maintenance can be productive personal organization time as well.”