Guide to Keeping Organized

It's much easier to find things when you store them at their point of use, says Ann Bingley Gallops, president of the New York chapter of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO). Some great tips:

• Go scissor-happy. "I keep a pair of scissors in every room so I can cut tags off things, cut articles out of newspapers, whatever," Gallops says. Rulers, paper, tape and tissue are other good multiples.
• Every phone deserves its own notebook and pen. "It can always stay open to the current page, and you never have to look for pieces of scratch paper lying around," Gallops says. "Occasionally, write down the date for reference."
• When a friend e-mails you directions to his or her house, print them out and keep them with your maps. "I have my maps in two separate boxes on a shelf in a closet," Gallops says, "one for U.S. maps and one for international, and I just slip e-mailed directions in with them."