At the beginning of the New Year it is ever more apparent that time has passed.  While it may not be possible to recapture time, we can make the most of what time we have.  Make it a New Year resolution to incorporate strategies that take full advantage of the days ahead.  Incorporate these five simple strategies to stay organized, efficient, and save yourself time.

1. Utilize the pop-up alert feature within your electronic calendar to help stay on top of appointments, action items, and to-do lists.  Schedule in advance and use these easily accessed reminders to free your mind for focus on goals and strategies.  The details of your day will be at your finger-tips, and the pop-up alerts will keep you on track for success.
2. Review the day ahead the night before and/or first thing in the morning to prepare mentally and physically for success.  Gather items needed to complete tasks and place them in a satchel or basket near the door, ready to take with you.  This mental and physical preparedness will be apparent to others also as you seamlessly carry out your day.
3. Sync your contacts, calendar, notes, etc. among your electronic devices.  Enter data only once and access from multiple locations.  Ensure you have the information you need readily available whenever and wherever you need access to it.
4. Scan or print to .pdf file important emails and documents, then store them electronically for instant access.  When time is of the essence you will be glad you take the time when you have time, to save time when you don’t.
5. Categorize electronic information into file folders and sub-folders to reduce search time in retrieval of your documents, photos, and other pertinent items.  A bit of organization on the front end will save valuable moments previously used searching.  Use of easily remembered tag words in the folder name for quick searches will save even more time.

Congratulations to those of you already utilizing organization strategies to add valuable moments to be enjoyed in your day!  For those who aren’t very organized now, there is no time like the present to get started.  Reduce feelings of being overwhelmed by starting with items that arise today and slowly incorporating organization strategies moving forward.  The time you save will be your own.

Content contributed by Tiffany Todd, StLSourceLink.  
StLSourceLink is a proud affiliate of U.S.SourceLink, America’s largest resource network for entrepreneurs.