Getting organized is on many Top 10 lists of New Year’s Resolutions. Most of us have more papers than we know what to do with. We are inundated on a daily basis. Who has time to manage it all?

On January 1st, do you promise yourself that you’re going to conquer your clutter? Then what happens? Come March you look around and wonder what happened to your re-solve? Do you feel like you have to start again from scratch each year?

What’s the solution? Let’s finally solve it so you won’t need a re-solution.  Do one little thing, today. Develop the habit of doing one little thing each day. Doing just one little thing each day is much more manageable than trying to take on the whole enchilada. Your place will look tidier, you’ll be able to find things and you will feel light years better.

I know how it is. You say, "Just one little thing? My place needs a complete overhaul. What’s one little thing going to do?"

One thing is better than no-thing! Doing one little thing at a time is the most manageable way to make progress. (Especially if you’re feeling a little stuck!) If you’re willing to move forward a step at a time, I’ll make some suggestions:

Make a list. On paper.
First of all, do you have a list or do you have dozens of tasks rattling around in your head? I know you know what you have to do, but writing it down can help you to sort it out much more effectively.

Assign each task a value.
Write down all the tasks in no particular order. Just get them out of your head and onto paper. Then assign a number to each, using one through five; one being most important or urgent and five being the least pressing. You can use as many of the same number as you want. When you finish, if you have multiples of number one for example, repeat the process, assigning each of them another one through five number.

Do one “number one” item on the list.
Now, just do it. What’s wrong? It seems overwhelming? You feel a knot in your stomach when you think about this thing? Are you on strike?

Ask yourself, “What am I willing to do?”
It’s much easier to keep moving than to begin. Doing something is better than doing nothing and you might just want to continue once you get started. So if you won’t do that thing on your list, doing something else is still productive.

It’s bigger than it looks.
Let’s go back to your list. Perhaps that number one thing on your list is not one little thing. Maybe it’s a big thing. Just because its on a list doesn’t mean it’s small. An item can be deceptively daunting and have many steps to it which is why you avoid doing it.

Break it down.
Let’s take an example: "Clear off bulletin board", seems easy enough but really it can have several parts to it. Make it more manageable by breaking it down into steps so you can see what’s involved. It becomes less threatening because you can see what you have to do. 

1. Take the stuff off the board.
2. Toss anything you don’t want.
3. Find a container for the pushpins.
4. Make a file folder for XYZ stuff you want to keep. File it away.
5. Put phone numbers into your book/database.
6. Buy a new wall calendar.
7. Pin up the new calendar.

Now you can do one little thing at a time.
Then cross it off your list. Ahhh! Isn’t that good?

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