Guide to Keeping Organized

Still waiting around for an eight-hour day you can devote entirely to organizing, but it never seems to arrive? Not unusual.

"I think people think of it as an event — 'I'm going to get organized, period,'" says Heidi Goodwin, a professional organizer in Portland, Maine. "But it's a matter of developing good habits. If you don't incorporate organizing into your day, especially with so much information coming in all the time, even the most organized person will struggle."

Goodwin offers examples of some great five-minute habits that reap a hefty reward for a small investment of time:

• Make your bed.


• Sort your mail.


• Straighten the entryway to your home.


• Delete 10 e-mails from your inbox.


• Clean out your purse.


• File 10 papers.