Your Organizing Coach

Checklists for Smart People

Smart, capable people have a thing about checklists. Checklists are for dummies. They're for people who's grasp of the task at hand isn't strong enough to get the job done without one. They're for people without the wits, expertise and inventiveness just to wing it and succeed. Does that sound like you?

In a recent New Yorker article, physician Atul Gawande shows that being too smart, capable, inventive, etc. and disdaining anything as simplistic as a checklist costs lives in the hospital. Aunt Liz died not because she was too far gone for the operation to save her. She died because no one checked to make sure her IV drip line wasn't infected.

Okay, maybe in your daily life following a checklist won't save lives, but it can insure that your project doesn't go belly up because you forgot one small detail. People often lament that life is getting too fast and too complicated, but they also take pride in keeping on top of it by wits alone. It's not just doctors who are guilty of this.

Think of it this way: the best use of your smarts is to come up with great ideas, to devise better ways of doing things, to think outside the box. A checklist is just a tool to take care of the boring, everyday details that must be taken care of, but that don't need to be thought about. Smart people use tools.

Checklists can be used for any sequence of repeated steps. Here's a sample checklist for leaving the house, based on one in the book ADD-Friendly Ways to Organize Your Life. (This is a great book, by the way; you don't need to be ADD to get a lot out of it.)
 

• Find keys, cell phone, day planner and glasses and put in purse or pocket
• Pack briefcase with files or paperwork
• Turn off stove, TV, iron, etc.
• Lock doors, turn on alarm
• Stop and think: Did I forget anything?

Reminders for "Messies"

Author and "Organizing Lady" Sandra Felton has written many books about organizing for "messies." She herself is a recovering messie so her advice comes from first hand experience.

Cleanies vs. Messies
She often writes that "cleanies" tidy up automatically, without having to be reminded or nagged at. That's because they immediately see what is out of place and feel uncomfortable until it's put away. Cleanies can find it hard to understand why messies don't just spend a few minutes getting rid of the obvious mess in front of them.

But messies tend not to see the mess until it gets so big that they can't find anything or put one more thing down. At that point, it seems too overwhelming to do anything about. What messies need is a way of reminding themselves to tidy up regularly, since visual cues don't work for them.

Make a List
I suggest having a list of all the tidying tasks in the house posted prominently. Breaking the clean-up into smaller tasks means you can glance at the list, find a task and do it in a few minutes. It also means that other family members can do the same thing (yes, enlist all of them!). Note that this list is for straightening up, not for house cleaning, so it should be obvious whether a task such as "clear the kitchen counter" needs doing or not.

Pair Up Tasks
Another idea is to pair up tasks with other activities you do regularly. One of my clients decided that she wouldn't check her email until she spent a few minutes clearing off her desk. She didn't have to finish clearing it, just put in some time. But since she checks her email a lot, it will get tidied up pretty fast!

Write It Down!
The important thing to do is write down the tasks and make a habit of looking at the list. Don't try to remember to do them. Don't worry that you shouldn't need to be told to clean up. It's okay to need a reminder.

Do It Now
Don't put them off for later. Tasks that take two minutes or less are worth getting out of the way right now, because a pile of two minute tasks quickly becomes half an hour or more. Put your purchases away as soon as you come home from the store, for example, even if it means walking all over the house.

Simple habits like these will make a huge difference in the clutter level of your home. Start right now!

Declutter the Digital

Rule of thumb: it's easier to organize things when there are fewer of them.

How often do you look through a folder or collection of digital photographs and find only a handful that you want to show to anyone? The rest are too dark, out of focus, more versions of the same thing, make you look fat, or you have no idea why you even took them. If you get rid of them now, it'll be easier to find the ones you like and share them.

Next time you download your camera, really look at each photo and decide whether you want to keep it. This is also the ideal time to tag your photos so you can find them again by keyword. If you're making the effort to tag them, the pictures should be worth keeping.

Tags can be very straightforward, such as names of people in the picture, where it was taken, what the occasion was, etc. Also, think about what else is good about the picture, or why else you might want to look at it or share it with others. Is there a fantastic sunset in the background? Is it similar to other pictures you've taken in the past (and might want to compare it with)? Is the mood calm or energetic? Do you want to remember what camera and settings you used?

Pitch those Pix
I know, you've got plenty of space on your hard drive. But think of decluttering your photo collection as a good-habit building exercise. Review all your possessions regularly and get rid of the ones that don't fit, are beyond repair, have been replaced by something better, are ugly or you don't like anymore. If you can make this a habit, you will automatically declutter your life. Automatic is good!