My home work space

As far as my small work space at home goes, I'm going to try and implement Christa Green's office organizing program, which involved establishing a hot, warm and cold filing system. On my desk will be only "hot" items things that I need to touch or work with within the next two weeks. My file cabinet will hold "warm" items, those things I need to access within the next month. All "cold" items things I only access once a year at best will go into the attic in labeled boxes. Of course, to accomplish this task, I still need to make an appointment with myself to do the initial sorting of my paperwork by task (the first Friday morning after school starts looks good). This will initially clear my desk. Then I can choose to go through and further sort each box at my own pace one per day, week or month, "Don't overwhelm yourself," Green said in the webinar. "Just focus on getting your 'hot' items razor-sharp." "Organizing is like driving," she said. "When you first start it's hard to master the brake and the mirrors and keeping your hands on the wheel. But as you practice, it comes easily." Hoffman concurred with this need to practice, saying that when you start a new behavior, be it opening the mail when it comes or putting things back in a file after you have used them, it takes about a month to ingrain this behavior as a habit. But the rewards, I've been told, are worth the work. "The benefits are that it saves you time during your day, and gives you more time to do the things you want to do, instead of what you have to do," Hoffman said. "Understand that when you are making changes in the outer area of your life, you can't always see the spillover effect in other ares," Green said. You'll find increased confidence and energy. Getting organized will change your life." Julie Anne Jones (Formerly Julie Weitz) is a professional coach and trainer. A sought-after motivational speaker, she is the owner of the company Outward Image (www.OutwardImage.com) which offers organization and training for individuals with careers in the home party plan industry. Christa Green is a recognized expert in the fields of personal branding and productivity/organizing. She founded the franchise business, Organized for Life. Named to the Top 40 under 40 list of outstanding young professionals, she is the author of "Get Noticed. Be Remembered: Creating a Personal Brand Strategy for Success." Carleen Eve Fischer Hoffman is the owner and operator of The Clutter Doctor, Inc. A local authority on the subject of organization, she has received the prestigious Golden Circle Award from the National Association of Professional Organizers. In addition to her consulting business, she teaches classes on organization at Springfield Technical community College and has written articles on organizing for magazines and newspapers. Her web site is www.clutterdoctor.com