The New Rules for Getting Organized

Where did all this stuff come from? It just seems to keep coming. When it comes to staying organized, we can say two things:

• Rule 1: The act of living attracts belongings. Some of these belongings are important and useful, so we seek them out. Others just seem to show up on their own. Since things keep coming in, it means that things also need to keep going out-preferably at about the same rate.

• Rule 2: The act of living creates chaos. We need to regularly put back what got taken out, clean occasionally, and replace what gets used up. This is a perpetual process.

Let's talk about the point of being organized, about why it matters. The goal is to be able to find the right thing at the right time, so you can do what you need to do, and hopefully move on to better things. You don't want to spend more time getting organized than you save by being organized (i.e., no obsessive-compulsiveness here).

Keep in mind that keeping your belongings organized goes hand in hand with keeping your tasks organized. Usually guys who are struggling with one are also struggling with the other. So getting your stuff organized should help you more efficiently move through your to do list.

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