by Usha Krishnan

Created on: April 26, 2008

If you find yourself scrambling for a pen and piece of paper, to jot down that all important phone message, or hunting through your purse for your car keys, then maybe it's time to re-evaluate your organizing methods.

While each person has their own method of staying sane in a cluttered environment, the following steps will help you polish up your time management skills and get your home organized in a most efficient manner.

START SMALL:
Organizing both your home and your time can be quite overwhelming! The key is to take it one step at a time and do only as much as you're comfortable doing. Most of us are not born with organizing skills. It takes time and effort to learn them.

KNOW YOUR CLUTTER PERSONALITY: What kind of thinker are you?
The Hoarder: This is someone who usually collects the most unlikely objects. Hoarders will save everything, right from plastic bags to safety pins, with the you never know when you might need it' excuse. Hoarders need to remind themselves that resources will always be available.

The Deferrer: The deferrer puts things off with the I'll do it tomorrow' excuse. And so in a deferrer's home, you are likely to find unpaid bills, items that need repair and projects that are still to be completed. Deferrers need to remind themselves that tomorrow has no more time that today. There's nothing like the present to complete or trash an unfinished task.

The Perfectionist: The perfectionist will not do something until he/she finds the time to do it perfectly'. Clothes may stay in a heap till he finds the time to buy the perfect coordinated hangers. The perfectionist needs to be reminded of the 20:80 rule. By doing 20% of the job today, 80% of the problem is fixed.

The Sentimentalist: We all have one of these in our families. The person who hoards great grandma's moth eaten quilts and grandpa's broken mantle shelf clock. All their children's art work is kept, along with totally unnecessary wedding gifts given by unknown guests! The sentimentalist needs to figure out the really important stuff, from truly excessive clutter, and keep only those things that have true meaning to him/her.

MAKE TIME/TO DO LISTS:
This is one of the most important steps you'll need to take. By making time in your daily schedule to free up your home's clutter and get more organized, you are essentially acknowledging that it needs to get done. The easiest way to stick to a schedule is to get a diary and jot down the things you need to do. Making notes the night before ensures

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