Lists and in-out folders

My first step toward getting better organized was the resurrection of a daily to-do list. In the worst of my dad's illness, when situations changed at the drop of a hat, I kept a running list of what stories and projects I needed to get accomplished over the course of a week or a month. Somehow that went away over the last two years, but it was a tip I read in almost every organizing web site. So I went back to creating two lists one for work and for home. The work one I write just before leaving for the day. The home one I write just before I go to bed. I showed my work list to Hoffman, who praised my effort, but told me I was trying to accomplish too many things (I write down everything for fear of forgetting something). She said that I should have just the three most important things I need to get done in each area of my life on that respective to do list. "By writing it down and getting it on paper you get it out of your head and open up space in your brain," Fischer Hoffman said. "The act of writing it down also helps you to remember it." She also suggested I use Sunday night to plan my week's errands and incorporate them into my daily to-do lists (I haven't gotten that far yet). But I have implemented another anti-clutter device for my home space- this one to handle the pile of must-do things that seem to accumulate near our main telephone. I'd read in a back-to-school article on Joan Goldner's BusyBody Book web site (Goldner runs a company that produces grid-type calenders to organize family life) about assigning each child an in and out folder for school papers that need to be looked at and/or signed. I decided to use the same approach for my telephone table clutter, creating an in file for those things we need to attend to in the near future, and an out file for those things we need to mail or return. I popped the folders into two of three previously cluttered slots in a wall-mount keys/letter holder file ( I made a coupons folder for the last slot- another clutter tamer) and I have to say the system seems to be working well! Tackling the bigger mess I know I still have to schedule time to take on the bigger clutter problems on my respective desks. Hoffman suggested I come in on Saturdays to tackle my work desk so my project won't be interrupted by colleagues or deadlines. Her prescription to my clutter involves breaking the project down into smaller tasks, such as cleaning the left side of my cubicle, then tackling the right side. I'm also supposed to use a timer to limit myself to 30 minutes or one hour per task. "The clutter wasn't built in a day. It's not going to take a day to get it all out," she said. She also suggested I start on the left side because "we read from left to right." She said my goal is to "pick up and touch every item" as I clean out and organize, so that I can better decide if an item is going to go (as a donation or in the trash) or stay. Then I have to decide if it is going to stay on my desk or in another storage area. Her assessment is that finding another storage area for many items especially books and CDs that I have not yet reviewed will help me control the clutter in my work space. That, and devoting 10 minutes at the end of each day to filing to keep the clutter from accumulating again. "Everything has a home," she said. "If you take it out, put it back."