How do you stay organized? How do you keep from forgetting to pick up something you’ll need tomorrow while your out running errands? I know some of you are naturally organized…what an awesome trait.
Let me just say that organization does not come easily for me! A few years ago my husband bought this book…
It was intended to be for organizing his office. Well, it turned out that this book was so helpful that I got my own copy! {We don’t share that well…lol!}
Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress Free Productivity, by David Allen
The more you have going on, the more you’ll love this book. It promises early on that it IS possible to have amazing, incredible (enough for fifty people, I want to jump off a bridge!) amounts of work to do and still feel great, and calm, and soothed. (as I calmly relieve the force on the keyboard buttons). Shhhhhh…it’s okay.
Anyway, this is a great book and I would recommend it.
I know many of you have Etsy shops, take care of your children, make cupcakes and wash clothes daily…you might need a bit of help so I thought I would share this with you.
I’d love to hear how you manage everything? Care to share your organizing tips?
~Kim
If you love organization ideas… you should see this beautiful list of DIY ideas:
Hi Kim.
Tell me more about your last photo. Do you do that for each item you order in quantity or do you put multiple items on one card titled artbeads.com? I think that is a great idea and wanted to see what you do since I love learning from others on organization.
Ashley
Hey Kim,
I’ll check this out.
I make lists, tons of lists. It’s the way my brain works and I can’t do it without my checking off hand-written lists… it just sticks better w/me that way.
Thanks for sharing the book!
Ashley- That is a card from my “At the Computer” section. I write down what I need to order {while in the middle of working on an order} and file it there.
The the next time I’m at my computer I can grab my card and place an order in just a few minutes. It really works!
Tracie- I like lists! I have been know to end up with a giant list or 5 lists and drive myself crazy looking at things on my list that I knew I couldn’t do anything about right then. {Oh, and I don’t like my lists to look messy, so I would rewrite them…ha}
This is like making lists, but only one item goes on a card {or piece of paper}… and sometimes just the next step in the process of getting something done.
Here’s an example…
If I want to list a necklace in my shop my next step would be to take a photo. Once I’ve completed that, I cross it off and write “Photoshop my photos” and it goes from there. Sometimes one simple to-do can have 3 or 4 steps.
There’s a bunch more to it, but maybe that will make the process a little easier to understand.
~Kim
Thanks Kim. Makes perfect sense. You have a good system. I make lists of items I need and order at that point. But then again, I do not have kids. Probably an easier task for me. I have no idea how you do it…most mom’s days make me exhausted.
Thank you for the book suggestion. Lord knows I need it!! Look forward to checking it out!
Thanks for the suggestion!! This sounds like the perfect book for me right now… haha!
I’m fairly organized, but there are just times that it seems to get all away from you.
I have storage boxes for completed items ready for photos, then once the photos are taken and audited they move to the ready to list box and then once listed the item goes into a category drawer, i.e. earrings, necklaces, etc.
I have all my pretty packing supplies pre cut and measured; envelopes, tape, business cards and free gift tags are all kept together in a cabinet.
I love your little basket there with the supplies marked out on cards. I was going to do something very similar but in a notebook. I never got around to it. ha!
I’m pretty organized naturally (in my own kind of way) but my typical point of view is if I can’t remember it, it’s not important enough for me to remember. It helps me not stress out so much 😉
I am a huge list maker! I’ve never heard of this book, but am going to look for it.
Dear Kim, thx for telling us about this book. I’m also a firm believer in Excel lists…but if there are tooo many lists..it’s gets messy once again. I’ll check out this book right away… Michaela
I have learned to do a personal flow-chart. It really works for me. I have shared this with others but they thought it was too much. I run it for weekly not daily. Make my chart on Sat nite. I have never missed an appointment and have been on track with my Etsy shops. I think I will check out the book you are talking about. Everything helps when you know there is always room for improvement. Thanks
Hi Kim! I stumbled across your blog while I was looking for a picture of the Getting Things Done book. Your blog is so cute! And yep, Getting Things Done really is the BEST book. I’ve been soooo much more productive since I bought it 🙂
Thanks so much! Great minds think alike…lol!
~Kim