Putting the Little Things You Do in Order

When you don't feel in control of your time, everything in your life may seem as if it's running together into one big blur. An easy way to regain control is through examining the key compartments of your life one at a time.

Examine your desk and what needs to be there, then your entire office, then where you live, your car, and other important areas of your life. Here are some suggestions as to what can be merged and purged in the five areas mentioned above:

What else can you do at your desk to win back control of your time? Here are some examples: Do you have a file folder, a notebook or a magazine box holder where you keep all travel related materials? This might include booklets on hotel and air fares, brochures, your frequent flyer numbers, perhaps your passport, numbers of taxicabs, buses, and other transportation services, and vacation club folders.

I maintain such a file. I keep each of the key phone numbers and membership numbers in one long file on my hard disk, and I also keep a printout in a small point size carefully concealed in my traveling appointment calendar. By merging all travel related data and information into a one hand list, wherever I am, day or night, I have the information I need at my fingertips.

If you're worried that someone might come upon your list, you can always code it so that the first one or two digits are bogus. I've maintained such a list for more than 12 years now and no one has ever gotten a hold of it. The power and efficiency it gives me is awesome. Whether I'm at an airport, in the back of a taxi, at a hotel or phone booth, I have all the phone numbers, membership numbers, card numbers, codes--everything I need to efficiently stay in motion. This is a fabulous time saver.

You can undertake the same type of exercise in merging and purging items at your desk when it comes to key service providers, records related to your automobile, insurance forms and policies, banking information, and other key subject matters. In all cases, it takes a little time to merge and purge what you've retained to get it into a streamlined, highly useable form. Once you do, watch out-- your efficiency level is going to soar. Others will marvel at your ability to stay on top of things. Most importantly, you'll have freed-up time to tackle the other mounting challenges you face.

The same maneuvers can be undertaken around your office. What can be consolidated, reduced, eliminated, relocated, or donated? Is your office configuration serving you best? Do you need to move things, knowing what you now know, so that you're more efficient throughout the course of the day? Can hardcopy items be scanned to see if they're now on disk and you no longer need the hardcopy? If you have four stacking trays, can you reduce the number to three? Do you even need an in-basket anymore?

At home, if you maintain a desk or any type of home office, reapply all of the above and go a step further. Could you use a 31-day tickler file in your home desk as well as one in your office? If you use scheduling software at work, do you need to update your system at home?

Can you consolidate family related records so that you are in greater control? All of Johnny's documents related to grade school enrollment, immunization, early school dismissal policy, and summer camp could be put in the same three-ring binder. If you belong to an apartment association, a neighborhood group community, a swimming pool, tennis association, or clubhouse, these items could be grouped together. All records related to your car, including purchase documents, registration and tax information, copies of inspections passed, repair records, and special installations such as a CD player and stereo speakers could also fit into one file.

Note: It's better to keep your car records in your home office if that's where you make phone calls and payments concerning your car. You can always keep a backup of much of the documentation recently discussed buried someplace deep in your car's trunk.

Your car is an important area of your life and, based on what may have accumulated, requires merging and purging as well. Can you get all of your credit cards, library cards, and the like into a secondary wallet to be hidden someplace in the car? I do this, rather than carrying a wallet with 25 different cards in it. Why? Because at any given moment the only cards I actually need are my driver's license, one ATM card, and one credit card.

Anytime I might use one of the other cards, I'm usually with my car. Thus, by safely stashing the cards I would only use with my car someplace within the car, I free myself from carrying all of them. This has several time saving advantages. One, you're less likely to lose a majority of your cards if you lose your wallet. Two, it's far easier to find your license, major credit card, and ATM card if they are the only ones you carry in your wallet. As a safeguard you might want to photocopy all of your credit cards and library cards, and keep a backup sheet at home and hidden your car.

I find it to be a great time saver to have all of my maps in one place, within my reach while driving; for example, I use the side pockets built into the driver's side and passenger's side front doors. You may use your glove compartment, a compartment between your two front seats, or whatever space you have. Essentials, such as car registration and proof of ownership, stay snug at the bottom of my glove compartment.

An easy way to organize lots of little items is to use individual envelopes, or small, clear, plastic sandwich bags, or zip-lock baggies. This enables you to see through to what's inside, and keeps the items dry and together.

Half the trouble with staying in control of your time in life is staying in control of your possessions. There's so much you have to keep tabs on, it could almost be a full-time job. If you're willing, however, to occasionally kill one Saturday morning getting these systems into place, you'll find that the payoffs come over and over again.


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Jeff Davidson, MBA, CMC, is a popular conference speaker and author of 28 books, including Breathing Space (Feb 2000). For books, videos, cassettes, or presentations, visit http://www.BreathingSpace.com, FAX (919) 932-9982, or call (919) 932-1996.