Just in Time Organising

 Just in Time Organising

Guest Post by Helen Butler

Why is it that complete strangers expect me to be completely organised, all of the time, without fail? Is it because of “what I do”?

Even the best of us fall off the organising wagon, have times in our lives when things are less-than-together, with chaos building up around us with what seems like no end in sight!

That’s what’s been going on at my house since the start of school term. In the last eight weeks we have sold a house, bought a house, moved house, had more open houses than one woman should ever have in one lifetime all followed by Mr 6 going to hospital to have his tonsils removed (and then re-admitted following complications).

Fun times!

From a distance it might look like I have all my ducks in a row, like everything’s sorted and I’m really “together”. If I apply the 80/20 rule to my life, usually 80% of it is “together” while the other 20% is kinda-maybe-sorta organised. But you know, that’s OK.

I live by the “just in time” organising rule. Yes, I already have systems set up in our home that works for us the mail goes there, the files go there, Mr 6’s school bag goes there, hubby’s bikes go there, my yoga mat goes there. Everything has a home. If something new comes into our home – which needs a home – I find it one!

Sometimes things come into my life which don’t really need to be actioned right now. I love these sorts of non-urgent jobs because I know I’ll get to them before they’re due.

“But how do you remember to do these non-urgent tasks?” you ask. Easy! I have two systems that work side-by-side to keep me on track:

1. My planner (you might know it as a diary). Even though I am a technology girl (read: I can build websites, use Facebook and Twitter like a semi-pro and create groovy images if I really need to) I still absolutely LOVE my planner. It is a decent size (A5) that fits in my handbag and has a lovely leather cover. This planner holds my entire life! On any given day I can write in my appointments, schedule and tick-off my to-do list and write notes from meetings all at a glance. It’s nearly one of the best things in my life (besides Hubby and Mr 6 of course!). When a non-urgent job comes across my desk/kitchen bench/life I allocate a day and time to do it and then forget about it until my planner tells me to action it.
2. Side-by-side with my planner, as part of my “just in time” organising strategy, are my ‘Requires Action’ and ‘Pending’ files. These files live on my desk, in lovely green manila folders, inside a step file. It may not sound that attractive but honestly it looks good! Anything I need to access on the given day and time I have scheduled in my planner like an invitation, document, instructions gets put in one of these files ready for when I have decided to action this particular to-do.

So that’s it. By following this system I was able to get through the past eight weeks with my sanity (mostly!) in tact!

The biggest tip I can give you here? Delay tasks that are non-urgent. Just come up with a system to remember to do them!

Until next time, happy organising!

Helen

Helen Butler is Director of Clutter Rescue (www.clutterrescue.com.au) and an Accredited Expert with the Australasian Association of Professional Organisers. Helen works with busy Mums to bring calm and clarity to their Space and Time.