Organize by dealing with it once!

Keeping ahead of the pile takes a little organizational effort. But getting rid of the pile takes a lot of effort. It is better to stay organized by "dealing with it once!" Some examples:

When you are looking through your mail or e-mail, do what needs to be done with it immediately -- respond to it, file it, forward it, delegate it, or toss it. Then you can put it out of your mind and be satisified that you took care of it. Otherwise it is easy to forget about it until it is too late or forget it is there and never get to it.

If you run across a magazine or newspaper article you want to keep, tear it out and file it where you'll be able to find it when you need it again. Then go back to reading. When you would like to refer to it again, you will know where it is, rather than trying to remember which magzine it was in, where you put the magazine, and which earmark it was.

When you get a phone call requiring follow-up, do it right then. If you are busy at the time, jot down a note. Then take care of it as soon as you have time and deal with the note just once. Then when it is time to leave work, or do something fun you'll thank yourself when you don't have to make a bunch of phone calls first.

If you are finished with a tool or a piece of garden equipment, deal with it once by putting it back where you always keep it. That way you won't have to try to remember to put it away later, or where you left it when you need it the next time. And it won't get left out in the rain.

By dealing with things once, you will be able to avoid the proverbial "To do pile." The pile just keeps getting higher with the things you should take care of first on the bottom "out of sight, out of mind." You'll notice that by the time you get to the pile, many of the items are out of date and it is too late to do anything about it. Being too late has some advantages. Now you can toss it. However, it may have been an important task which needed to be taken care of days ago. Now it is too late. But if it didn't matter enough deal with it right away, you should have tossed it then.

Taking the extra few moments now to deal with it once will save you a lot of time later and prevent missing some important tasks before it is too late. Try it and see how much time and frustration you save yourself. Then give yourself a pat on the back for a job well done and the feeling of being much more organized!