Establish a place for everything, and put everything in its place.

I always smile when people say that “it’s out because I have nowhere to put it.”  How can that be?  It has to belong somewhere.  It is somewhere now!

Seriously, this happens because of either a lack of space, or a lack of thinking about how to use your space.  Before you put away something that has no place, consider whether or not this is something you need, or something that has real value to you. 

If you need it, where do you use it?  That’s where it should go.  If it has value to you, where is the first place you would look for it if you needed it?  That’s where it should go.

If you don’t need something, and have no idea where it should go, consider that this is something you should give away.  At the very least, store it away in a “maybe I’ll give this away someday” box, and put it away for now.

Nothing should just be “out.”  Either it belongs somewhere, or it will just stay where it is... in the wrong place.

Think about where things belong, and put things in the correct place.  Think through this process.  It becomes important at the time of finding things. 

The same principle holds true for papers you are planning to file.  Don’t think about “filing” your papers, think about “finding” them when you need them.  Just putting papers away won’t help you when you need them, just a just “putting things away” won’t help you when you need them.

Think, then act.  Decide where you would look for something if you needed it, and then put it in that place.

Everything left out represents a decision not made, about where it belongs.

Have a terrific day!

Marsha Sims

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