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It's About Time
Ruth Wong
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This checklist will gauge your progress
In this column I begin a recap of the tips and action steps I've offered this year.
As a professional organizer, it's my pleasure to share time and organizing tips, but my goal is not just to provide reading enjoyment, but rather to move you to action.
You can use this as a checklist to gauge your progress.
1. On Jan. 13, I likened the New Year to a blank book that we, as authors, write into -- day by day, page by page.
How does your "2006 Book of Life" read so far? Are the pages full of interesting experiences and accomplishments? Or are they blank from good intentions not realized? I hope you've been writing your best book ever!
2. On Jan. 27, I stressed the importance of not keeping things in your head.
Did you get your to-do list onto paper, a computer or PDA? Did that give you greater clarity of all that you needed to do? Using the list, have you been getting important things done?
3. On Feb. 10, I encouraged establishing routines to stay on top of regular chores. It can be as simple as assigning certain tasks to certain days.
Using routines, are you getting necessary chores done on a regular basis?
4. On Feb. 24, I suggested you begin early to get your tax forms and receipts organized.
Did you make it simple for yourself by keeping your tax receipts in one place? Did you begin early? Was tax time less stressful?
5. On March 10, I discouraged letting your freezer become a "black hole" where food goes in but doesn't come out.
Do you know exactly what you have in your freezer? Have you been systematically using what's in there? Are you more careful of what you buy and freeze?
6. On March 24, I shared two practical lessons from the book "Rich Dad, Poor Dad":
» Have you been wary of buying doodads, those unnecessary, inconsequential things that have no real value and end up as clutter?
» Have you avoided time doodads so that you can spend time on things that enrich your life and not just occupy your time?
7. On April 14, I applied tips from "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" to time management:
» Have you ceased being a lazy thinker and found ways to make time for the things you really want to do?
» Have you realized the interconnectedness of your minutes and hours, and how what we do or don't do today affects where we are tomorrow?
» Have you been making time work for you by starting early, giving others lead time and investing time in getting organized?
8. On April 28, I encouraged you to counter procrastination by changing your perception from "There's always tomorrow" to "Taking care of this today un-clutters tomorrow."
By applying this new perspective, did you have a new, healthy urgency to get things done? Have you enjoyed the relief from having a schedule that's less cluttered by carryover items?
This ends the recap of the year's first quarter's columns.
How have you been doing? If not as well as you had hoped, there's still time before the year ends to pick some action steps and get going!
See you in two weeks!
"It's About Time," by
Ruth Wong, owner of Organization Plus, runs the fourth Friday of each month. Contact her at "It's About Time," care of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, Honolulu 96813; or e-mail
features@starbulletin.com