• In an organized office you should be able to lay your hands on the object you need the moment you need it. If that means that you have a few items sitting on your desk at arms reach then that is where it should stay.
  
• It's also not enough that you know where everything is, somebody else should know it too. If for some reason you are not able to be at the office, somebody else should be able to find what is needed. This is where labels and tags can prove to be vital. Every single file should have a name tag and everything should be filed properly. It is not enough that you name things according to your convenience. The names should be intelligible to others as well. Often we tend to use abbreviations like ARCS, CRBER, WHOSH which might make sense to us but may sound like double dutch to every one else.

Now that's enough about office organization. Let's move on to getting yourself organized. The best way to get organized is to find out the loop holes where we usually end up in a mess and see whether we can get around them.

For every working man or woman, the following are often pitfalls:

• Forgetting appointments
• Forgetting deadlines
• Being unable to meet deadlines
• Being late for meetings and appointments
• Forgetting Names
• Forgetting telephone numbers
• Forgetting to take important documents along to meetings and appointments
• Misplacing objects

I have used the following tips in my life and they have proved to be quite effective. Maybe you could also try them out and see whether they work for you:

1. Accept the fact that we cannot rely too much on our memories. The human mind is exposed to a hurricane of information every day. As a result the  mind does a very nice filtering process and very little of what we see and hear is retained in our minds. So instead of depending on our very selective memory why not depend on a piece of paper.
   
2. Carry a tiny scribbling pad and a pen with you all the time. The moment you set an appointment or are asked to attend a meeting, jot it down on the scribbling pad or better yet use the memo recorder on your cell phone.
   
3. Each time you tell somebody to do something or when somebody like your boss asks you to do something write it down or record it.
   
4. If you have an electronic pocket organizer be sure to use it. Each time someone gives you his or her telephone number, immediately enter it into your organizer, along with the person's name of course.
   
5. Use the backside of business cards to help your memory. Usually we get a lot of business cards as we go about our daily business of life. The business card of course contains the name of the person, his or her telephone number and probably the name of the company for which the person works. But the problem is, the next time we meet the person, the face may seem familiar but we won't have the foggiest idea as to where we met the person. The best thing to do would be to jot down a few points about the person and probably the reason for meeting him or her and the place as well.
   
6. As soon as you can put the information from the business cards you collected into a database, excel spreadsheet, or contact program that you use. Toss out the one's you don't think you will need.
   
7. Prepare a to-do list everyday. I cannot over-emphasize the importance of to-do lists in getting yourself organized. It is probably the  most sensible thing that a busy person should do.
   
8. Plan what you have to do well in advance for the future. It is a good idea to have daily, weekly and monthly plans.
   
9. Have a fixed timetable. It may seem kind of mechanical but it would be wonderful if you could have a fixed time for everything and try to stick religiously to the time table. Believe me it really helps because in that way you will have time for everything and everything can be done in the time for it.

And so you are now moving towards becoming a more organized person. For more tips on how to manage your time you can download a free report titled "Tips To Create More Time" at http://www.easmyworkload.com