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Organized?? Me??

Jul 20, 2001 Write an essay on this topic.

The Bottom Line Determining your needs and wants is the first step.

My life is a whirlwind of activities. Most of the time I do not know whether I am coming or going. I will give you an idea of what I am dealing with. The kids have cub scouts, girl scouts, drum practice (American Indian), dance team practice (American Indian), play dates with friends, home school activities and field trips.

Myself, well, I have a ton more.

*I run a cover school for home-schoolers and plan all of the activities, field trips, parties, science fairs, geography fairs, spelling bee, and well, you get the idea.

*I also run my own hand-made craft business (mostly American Indian arts and crafts). I must keep up with contacts on a daily basis.

*Of course, there is Epinions. I love to participate in write-offs. You should have seen all of the post-its all over my computer area. A bit obsessive? Maybe, but I consider Epinions a hobby. Addicted? Yes, that is why I joined EpinionAddicts (www.epinionaddicts.com).

*I also work part-time waiting tables. I need to keep up with my schedule there and everything else that goes on there.

*Then there is powwows. I attend about 3 powwows a month and I have to keep up with it somehow. Not just powwows, but other events and festivals. Next spring I will setting up vending tables so that is another thing to keep up with.

There is so much more for me to keep up with but I won't bore you anymore with my crazed life. I will say that it was time for me to buy an organizer. I decided that I was going to be very picky about which one I bought. I had to first figure out what it was I actually needed and go out and find the organizer that best matched what I needed.

THINGS TO CONSIDER

Each person has different needs so, each person my need many features or just a few. Ask yourself the following:

Calendar - What kind do you want? Do you want a daily time schedule? Do you want a weekly schedule? You also need to decide whether you want one that already has the calendar pre-dated or whether you would rather fill in the date. I recommend that you also get an organizer with a condensed four year calendar. This has definitely come in handy for me.

Address Book - Do you want to keep your addresses and phone numbers of your friends and contacts in your organizer. If so, look at how many pages between each letter section. You may need to go ahead and buy extra inserts. The address book area in my organizer has of course, places for me to enter all of my friends and associates. It also has a separate section for classified listings. This keeps me from putting the veterinarian's number in with my personal friends' numbers. It is set up like the yellow pages, alphabetically categorized.

Budgeting - Do want to have your monthly budget with you at all times? Some organizers come with monthly budget sheets that allows you to estimate your expenses and record what you actually spent. My organizer even has what they call Expense sheets. This is just like the ledger in my checkbook. I can now keep track of my bank account in my organizer. I even have envelopes to keep track of coupon and receipts.

Things To Do - Instead of making "mental notes" on what you need to do, would you rather keep tract of it in your organizer? I am so thankful that my organizer has this feature. This allows me to write down anything that I need to get done and I am not as likely to forget about it.

Notes and Notepads - My organizer comes with both. I have a section located right after my weekly calendar where I can take down notes quickly and enter it in the proper place later. My friend uses this section for shopping lists, but since I have a notepad in the back of organizer, I use the notepad for shopping lists. I think that Notes and Notepads are great and every organizer should include one or the other if not both.

Pockets - Some organizers come with pockets to keep your license, credit cards, library cards, movie rental cards, business cards and well, you get the point. Mine only has one slot for this cards and a larger pocket that I use to keep spare cash in.

Information - Some, not all, organizer will include a section packed full of information. Mine includes the following information:
~toll-free numbers
~US Time Zones
~US Area Codes
~International Direct Dialing.
~US Road Mileage
~Travel Preparation Sheet (Checklist)
~Medical Directory (Keep tract of all of your doctors)
~Nutrition and Health (Tells about each vitamin and mineral, what its function is, sources and what may happen if your body does not get enough. Also includes a recommend weight chart)
~Calories and Carbohydrates (Mine has tons of food listed and tells me the approximate calorie and carbohydrate intake)
~Birthstones and Anniversaries Chart
~Clothing Sizes (Keep tract of relative's clothing sizes for gift ideas)
~Conversion Tables
~15% and 20% Tip Tables

I know that there are some organizers out there that include much more than what I have listed here. My mother has a built-in calculator. My friend has a spot where she can put her checkbook and write checks from her organizer. You can also personalize your organizer with different inserts that you can buy separately.

As far as the outer cover, it is a personal choice. A friend of mine bought one that was covered in a beautiful tan suede. The only problem is that when it was rained on, it became spotted and smelled pretty bad. Mine is a vinyl leather. Nothing fancy -- yet. I plan to add beadwork to it to spice it up. My friend in Georgia, decorated her organizer with stickers while another friend used paint pens to personalize her organizer.

So, as you can see, choosing an organizer is actually up to the individual. What needs do you have and what kind of features would you enjoy.

I bought Day Runner's FactCentre at Wal-Mart for $13.96. I can hardly believe that I am organized!! Well, almost. Now, if I could organize my house, I would be totally set!!

visit Day Runner at:
http://www.dayrunner.com

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