The following are some tips that have worked well for me:
1.Decide to become organized. Although this may seem like a statement of the obvious, being an organized person is a commitment. You must first tell yourself that you are organized and make it a goal and a priority before it will actually happen.
2.Get the necessary tools. Make sure that you have enough file folders, bins, containers, envelopes, plastic bags, files etc. in order to accomplish your task.
3.Label everything. Make your labels specific to the category of item included. For example, mark a file folder containing letters with a clear label indicating Letters, a file with Tax stuff should be marked taxes etc.
4.Be careful about trying to overdo it. It is possible to make things too well organized. If you have only one or two items in a certain category combine categories.
5.Make sure that you have enough space to organize everything well. If you are lacking in this area, get rid of some things.
6.For each item you are have, ask yourself how long it has been since you last used or looked at the item. If it has been more than 2 years, only keep it if it either pertains to taxes, your will, private information, or important documents such as your social security card, birth certificate etc.
7.Take advantage of technology. Are there certain items you are holding on to in paper form but which could easily be scanned into a computer, stored in electronic format and the paper version thrown out?
8.Store similar items together. That is to say keep all your tax information in one place, all of your letters in another, all of your personal information in another and so on.
9.If you have a lot of items such as old school papers, old birthday cards, old Christmas cards and such consider combining them into a collage, a journal or another work of art in order to consolidate and save space. You may also want to reconsider whether or not you really need to keep everything.
10.You may also have certain items, which would be better used by storing them on the wall or in an open space, such as pictures in a picture album or in frames, university diplomas in frames etc.
Lastly, remember that organization is a process. It won't happen overnight but piece by piece if you commit to make it happen, it will.
