ORGANISE YOURSELF!

GENERAL

1.  Don't start any job if you don't have the mental energy to cope if it doesn't come right first time.  Instead, come back later when your brain is fresh.

2.  Backup all your new computer files when you create or change them.  If your computer fails, you will have very much less to fear.

 LISTS AND RECORDS

3.  Save fruitless journeys by keeping a record of the opening hours and early closing days of your favourite local shops.

4.  Keep a ready list of plumbers, electricians, handy men and so forth you can call on in an emergency, with their contact details.  You may be unable to prevent disaster from striking, but you can be prepared for it when it does.

5.  Keep an up to date list of annual or regular events and when they are next due, eg:

            car service and MoT

            pet vaccination

            insurance and subscription renewals

            dentist or hair appointments

 Check this list every week so that you don't miss one.

TIME AND PRIORITIES

6.  Stop complaining that you never have enough TIME.     If you think this is your problem, it almost certainly isn't.  What is wrong is your PRIORITIES.  Does anyone really need to spend as much time in front of the television as you do?

7.  Instead, get up ten minutes earlier and spend ten minutes at the START of the day doing nothing.  Sit down with a notebook or old envelope and think through the day.  As ideas come, make a list of all the things you want to do today.  By organising your mind and planning your day in advance you will

            SLOW DOWN the pace of life

            REDUCE your STRESS level

            REMEMBER vital things that otherwise you would have forgotten

            SAVE much wasted TIME and ENERGY

            GIVE OF YOUR BEST to those whom you encounter.

Ten minutes so invested will pay dividends.  You will begin to stop being short of TIME.

8.  Once hooked, try spending ten minutes at the END of the day reviewing it  (Again, the television won't miss you.) Ask yourself

            What did you learn today?

            How well did your morning's plan work out?

            How did you manage your relationships?

            Are you pleased with the way you handled the day?

            Would you want to handle tomorrow differently?

You may find it helpful to put your thoughts down on paper, say, into a notebook, to be strictly private and absolutely off limits to all other members of the family.

Whilst hardly trying, you will find yourself reshaping your PRIORITIES.

                                                                                    Martin Mosse,