Get organized and stay that way
By Amy Brenna
It's hard to believe September is almost here, along with the back-to-school rush. The end of summer is one of the
busiest times of year for professional organizing companies such as mine, Brenna Consulting. Many longtime clients, as
well as lots of new ones in New Jersey and New York, start phoning with SOS calls, panicking because they have too much
they must get done before Labor Day.
They're usually not in as bad shape as they think; all they need is help breaking down their to-dos into easy steps,
and putting together a schedule to make it all happen.
If thinking about all the things you have to do before Labor Day makes you hyperventilate, here are some tips for how
to get them done and still enjoy the last weeks of summer.
Get started by making a list of all the tasks you'd like to complete over the next week or two, so you're not standing
in line behind dozens of other parents buying school supplies the day before school starts. Perhaps you have to buy
clothes for the kids - and you know they've outgrown their shoes. Some household chores may have been put on hold so you
could enjoy the summer. Or your parents have asked you to help them manage their affairs.
Whatever you need to do, when you're listing a task, try to keep it simple. If a task includes multiple steps, you'll
be tempted to give up and grab the remote, or hit the chaise with an iced tea before you can even think about getting
started.
Once your list is finished, prioritize the tasks. You may look to others like a superhero, but you know all too well
that the laws of time and motion apply to you like everyone else. Start by listing the tasks that absolutely must be
finished before Labor Day under the heading "High Priority." The tasks that must be finished but can wait until after
Labor Day should be listed under the heading "Next Steps." The rest of the tasks on your list fall under the heading "Wish
List." They're the things you'd like to get to someday, although you probably have no idea when that day will ever
come.
Now, pour that iced tea and move on to the last organizational step. It may seem silly, but it will make your life
easier if you separate the tasks on the High Priority list into categories. Some common categories are "School," "Kids,"
"Health" and "Financial." Each category should group tasks together that are usually related to one another so that doing
one task helps the others get done. But don't get too creative with the categories and list, oh, a dozen or two. It will
make making your High Priority list way more complicated and daunting to manage than necessary.
Now you're ready to begin tackling the tasks on your "High Priority" list. If you finalize the list by Saturday, you
will have nine days until Labor Day. Set aside two hours each day to accomplish the tasks on the list. One hour during the
day and one hour at night should do the trick. Don't believe it can work? Look over one of my clients' High Priority list,
along with a nine-day schedule to make it all happen. Believe me - she did it.
What didn't make my client's High Priority list and ended up on the Next Steps list? The tasks included making a weekly
school schedule for October through December, cleaning out and organizing her desk, and donating the clothes that she
purged from her closets.
The key to successfully organizing yourself before Labor Day is to take it one day at a time. If you schedule tasks so
that you can realistically accomplish them within the time allotted, your to-do list becomes manageable. The result? A
relaxing end to August and a sense of accomplishment to usher in the rest of the year. NOTE: Amy Brenna is the founder of
Brenna Consulting, a company that offers professional organizing services for homes and businesses in New Jersey and New
York City. For more of her organizing tips, look online (www.BrennaConsulting.com).
To contact us, you can email us at Amy@BrennaConsulting.com or call us at (212) 387-8536.
