Experts in the organizing industry agree: there are no "cookie cutter" solutions. There are many different personality types, work styles and environmental influences, so each person must find the systems that work best for him or her. There are an ever-increasing number of products and services designed to help you get organized. First, determine the areas in which you want to improve. These might be filing, clutter control, time management, maximization of storage space or juggling projects and priorities. Then sift through the product and educational tool options and develop your solutions by designing systems and evolving them through a trial and error process.

Organized people save time and money, make more money, and have lower stress and frustration levels. There is no one right or wrong way to get organized, and you only need to change what you're doing if you're not happy with how you manage your time, paper, information, and space. The amount of information available to us continues to grow at a rapid pace, as do the number of demands on our time. Organizing systems help you deal with everything from your paper to your professional responsibilities and give you parameters on what to keep, what to toss, and what to take action on.

• Take children with you when you go to donate unused items. This helps them learn to part with things and learn the value of helping others.
• Look up to identify storage spaces in a room; bare walls and above the cabinets are often underutilized. Also, don't forget behind the door, within closets and pantries.
• Evaluate whether you want to continue receiving magazines you're not reading, or consider rotating subscriptions. You can also donate magazines to libraries or sell them for a small price at Half-Price Books.
• Group items together according to how you use them. For instance, keep all ingredients needed for baking together on a stair-step organizer or small turntable.

• Break large projects down into small, sequential steps. Schedule these steps into your day with your planner.
• Keep only the supplies you need on a daily basis on your desktop. Find another hoe for your supply "extras."
• Be clear about the response you need when sending a message to a colleague. They can then provide a full response, even if they don't reach you directly.
• Keep a file index (a master list of file names). Check the index before creating a new file so you avoid making duplicates. Also use it when deciding where to file a piece of paper.

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