5 Ideas for staying organized

Hello. My name is Leah and I'm a clutter-holic. It hasn't always been this way, actually I'm supposed to be more of a minimalist. It all changed when I got busy, really busy. It all started when I would get an info packet, a magazine or a letter that I wanted to look into but just didn't have time for, well they kept coming and I kept being short on time until before long - the piles had taken over my office and 1/2 pieces of information were taking up 90% of my brain power. I want to change, that's why I'm here. It's been 21 days.

If you can relate at all, here are a few ideas to help simplify your work life that I've been doing or am doing.

1. Clear your desktop! 
That's right, I mean close out of all other applications (especially your email and the internet) so that you only have ONE project on your screen at a time. When clicking all screens it should not appear to be a connect the dots game! Close everything else out and watch how it helps your mind do the same thing and stay focused. Multi tasking is not always a good thing. Take one project at a time, open it work at it and close it than move on to the next! I also suggest not checking any social media during designated project time! Every time I check an email while I'm working on editing there is inevitably a link, the link wants to be clicked and who am I to hurt it's feelings? But it always leads to more links and by the time I get back to editing an hour (or more) has passed. 

2. Know Your Schedule

How many times have you, your husband or someone in your family not known what was going on? It's stressful and chaotic and the absolute opposite of being organized! I'm great at putting those appointments into my iCal, I'm not so great at remembering to check that calender and that has most definitely caused some unneeded stress more than once! Finding a calender system that works great for you and your family is crucial! Taylor and I sync our iCal's on our iPhones, I forget to check so thank-goodness that he  knows me well enough to remind me and as back up Kathy (my studio manager) also knows my schedule and can remind me as well!

Here's an adorable way to know exactly whats going on for the month and the rest of your family only has to take a peak to know what's going on too! Found on MarthaStewart.com

Tip: Plan out your family time well in advance with your spouse! When you get busy it's easy to fall into a vicious cycle where you haven't left a single weekend or night open to just be a family. If you plan out special weekends, weeks or even months in advance you'll save your self and your family from burn out!

3. Touch it Once

This is a rule my dad was always trying to teach me and I'm only now truly starting to appreciate what he was trying to help me understand. For all those times you open an email that could have a very quick response but put it off till later, every time you open a letter, read over it in it's entirety and than push it to the end of your desk for a later response and each time you put off finishing the client order you just received you're making way more work for yourself in the long run! So the pile climbs, the emails accumulate and you all together forget to order the prints for 3 days after the order was received. You're creating drama, unnecessary drama and I completely disagree with Chandler Bing (old Friends episode) on the idea that woman enjoy and need this kind of drama in our lives! Quite the contrary! We need simple effective solutions to help maintain order in a life that's constantly set at turbo time! So touch it once. Don't open the mail till your checkbook is open and ready. Don't look at your email till you've carved out 30 minutes to respond. By scheduling time to complete tasks fully the first time, we can shave off a lot of wasted time in "get back to's".

Tip: Now of course there are things that come up daily that take time to handle properly. Thats okay! Put it in a folder for more time later and than actually carve out the time you need to get it done otherwise that folder will be bulging before you know it! 

Organization boxes from Martha Stewart.

4. Block out the time

This is actually something Kathy (my studio manager) suggested for me to do. And she's totally right to have done so. We were having a meeting and talking about how quickly I'm off on another tangent, doesn't that sound better than saying that I get side tracked easily? I can't help that I'm bursting at the seams with new ideas, can I? lol. As we were sitting in my office for this meeting, the pings of new emails kept coming in and I was commenting on how when I'm editing, curiosity constantly gets the better of me and I go check, and than the scenario from above plays out, "please click on me or I might cry". Kathy suggested that I work on one project at a time in 30 minute increments, after the 30 minutes I can decide if I want to set it aside or if I've gained enough momentum I can keep on keep'n on. 

Pocket Watch Image from Flickr

5. Plan ahead


Be a planner. If you're not acting out a plan all your doing is reacting to a problem! Think about that for a minute. How can you (or I) progress in our business, in our goals, in our dreams if we have no plan to take us there? By creating a plan (broken down into tangible steps to help get you to the end goal) you are telling your mind that it's achievable and you know just how to do it. Sure the plans may change, of course one road may turn out to be a dead-end and a little back tracking is needed but there is still a goal in mind and you've laid down the path to make that goal real! In contrast if you say that you want something but don't believe or see anyway in which it could be obtainable than you're mind will never seriously consider opportunities that could bring that dream closer.
Tip: Write it out! Start with 3 goals. One that you feel is a fundamental step in building your business (i.e. create a senior program), the second goal is where you would like to see yourself/your business (i.e. bringing in 40K take home at part time) and let the third be something that's part of your wildest dreams (i.e. travel thru Europe for 2 months). Now break down each of those goals into stepping stones, you may even need to create smaller goals with steps to bring you to your ultimate goal. Write it out and pin it to your wall so that you look at it often.

I'm very serious about getting organized. It's the only way that I will be able to manage Go{4}Pro, Leah Remillet Photography, a home and have the time I need to love my husband and children so get ready for a lot more posts from me and people who know a lot more than me on the eluding topic of... (insert sinister 'duh, duh, duh') Organization! If you would like to write a guest post on how you're staying organized, email me!