Getting it Together - 2013

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By Terry Orr

Last year in our “Getting it Together” article, I mention my desire/goal to move more into the digital environment and rely less on paper.  Short version – it is still ‘a work-in-progress’.  Both my wife and I are trying to enter our appointments and activities into our iPhone – but we both forget sometimes and like others, find conflicts from time to time.  The other challenge is keeping my contacts up to date on all our devices (iPhone, iPad, iMac, and Windows Laptop and desktop).

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There are seven articles planned for January on helping us get organized (probably more needed for some of us folks). This is article – “Getting it together – update 2013” is an overview with the following topic specific articles to follow:

Get Organized Month;

Clean off your Desk;

Organize your Home Day;

National Clean Up your Computer;

Clean out your Email Box; and

Home Office Safety and Security.

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I might be inclined to seek some help this year – shocker I know – but it just might be money well spent.  Instead – I spend four hours in the garage and it shows it – in a positive way no less.  I’ll still keep an open mind about seeking help – some of the other challenges may require an expert.

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Organize Your Home

Enough!
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By Akindman,

This is the third of four articles this month regarding organization – January seems like a great time to clean things up and get the New Year started off on the right foot.  There are hundreds of thousands of folks offering free advice, professional services, books, videos, TV specials on getting one’s life and surrounds organized.  My Google search on ‘organize your home’ yielded more than 54 million results. Searching the same topic under books on Amazon.com yielded 652 books.

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From the lessons learned department – the easy part is getting things where they belong and the hard part is getting the family to help maintain it!  Learning new habits is a true challenge for most of us, especially when we have so many bad habits when it comes to putting things away – in their proper place.

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Getting your house organized will go a long way to maximizing efficiency. There is no single right way to do it: The trick lies in finding the way that works best for you.

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Here are a few of the Web Sites that I reviewed and believe you might find helpful in your home organizing endeavors:

Organized Home - Clean House, Cut Clutter, Get Organized at Home! (http://organizedhome.com/)

HGTV Start at Home (http://www.hgtv.com/topics/organization/index.html) - Simple storage solutions and 1-day projects.

Unclutter (http://unclutterer.com/2008/05/27/where-to-start-organizing-your-home/) suggest four ways to get started: 1) Start by organizing the area you first see in the morning; 2) Start by organizing the area you first see when you come home after work; 3) Start with the area of your home that makes you seethe; and 4) Start at the top and work your way down.

While reading magazines, paper or browsing the internet, I am always looking for neat ideas and that might me.  Here are a few images that might appeal to you:

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 Now it is time for you to get started and tackle you home.  Please let us know some of your ideas and how things went for you this year!

Getting it Together

By Akindman,

Mobile Brains
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As I continue to modify and establish a new routine as a retired person, breaking old habits has harder to do than expected.  For example – I have been using the Covey (Franklin/Covey) or similar method for keeping my calendar, contacts, and important information for over 30 years. My notebook was often referred to as ‘my mobile brains’ and without it, well – things got difficult.

Digital Mobile Brains
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In 2011 I moved away from the daily calendar to a weekly one – while making that transition was more complicated than expected – overall it was beginning to work.  Then in April, I got an iPhone – so what better time to migrate to a smartphone!  Makes sense, right? Well….perhaps.  So for 2012, I have not purchased any paper calendars and forcing myself to use my smartphone – to be one with the digital environment.

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January has also been the month in which I set about setting goals on getting things around the home front organized and get rid of the old, and things that are no longer needed.  Clean up the files, file things that have yet to be filed, especially the tax related stuff, and “clutter control” everywhere.

While doing some research for this article, I found this interesting checklist http://www.getorganizednow.com/cl-month.html that you might find helpful.  Another handy site to visit is http://getorganized.franklinplanner.com/page/organizing_month_0112. 

We will check back with you later in the month to compare notes and see how you folks are doing and to report our status as well.  Good luck!

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