Many of you will be able to relate to the issues brought up below. You'll possibly find a solution that will work for you too. If not, Ask Peggy. She personally answers appropriate questions and posts on the site within a few days.

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Q: Can you give a suggestion on the "type" of planner/calendar to use for the most effectiveness. Weekly, daily, etc.? - Paula

A: Hi Paula, whether I use a paper calendar or electronic, I have to see more than a day at a time. In Outlook, I keep the calendar view at a month at a glance. When I used a paper calendar, I always purchased a week at a glance model.

Anytime you schedule anything, you'll need a clear sense of what you're doing, so a daily calendar just won't do...not if you're busy. Looking at a week or a month, you won't make unnecessary trips (e.g., going to a part of town on Tuesday because you see you'll be in that same area on Thursday, and can handle both then).

You'll have to decide whether you want paper or electronic, but electronic is the only way to go. Several people can view your calendar, you can back it up to a PDA, you can keep up with more details, and you can print it if you need to.

Q: As a student, I have a horrible time staying organized with assignments and stuff like that. I also have a problem with time managenent. Simply keeping my binder and bookbag organized is a feat and i never have time to do anything because i am so laid over with assignments, reports or homework. PLEASE HELP! - Chantelle in West Africa

A: Chantelle, if you think you have it hard now, wait until you have a job or business, family, volunteer work, etc.

As a student struggling with time management, you're going to have to examine how you spend your time, organize everything from the clothes closet to your computer, look at how you do everything and figure out a smarter way, and then learn how to take advantage of whatever technology you touch every day. Every busy person has to do this.

The biggest time management mistake people make is not realizing how much time they waste. Turn off the TV, reduce social activities, and spend your time on work and activities that will help you reach your goal of finishing school with honors and tons of job offers or business opportunities. Click here for a list of time wasters and see where you can do better.

Are you using a calendar with due dates for projects (and not the calendar on your cell phone)? Are you procrastinating and waiting until the last minute to do the work instead of scheduling time to complete each phase? Map out a time plan for the month, week, and day. Always stay focused on what's most important and keep your eyes on that prize. Everything else can wait.

Practice better habits now because you'll always need them.

Q: I travel a lot and am not doing well getting my bills paid. Do you have any suggestions? - Wayne

A: For finances, streamline your bill-paying whether it's via high-tech, low-tech, or no-tech.

High-Tech: If technology is your thing, opt for online banking and pay your bills from anywhere via the Internet.

Low-Tech: If you're not ready to make that move, create a low-tech process. First, set up your main bills with automatic bank draft. I travel a lot so my mortgage, cell phone, and land phone bills are automatically withdrawn from my checking account. For a bill such as American Express that may vary too much from month to month, you could call in to get your balance, and pay by phone whenever you want to.

No-Tech: All other bills could be paid once a month instead of your trying to pay them by various due dates.

For other financial dealings, the Internet will be the way to go.

Regardless of which method you use, streamline bill paying activities by setting up a bill-paying station that would have everything you'd need to pay bills. This is also where all your bills will go until you get ready to deal with them (instead of all over the house or office). Your station would include stamps, letter opener, rubber stamp with full return address, ink pens, blank envelopes, tape, etc. Your station could be a desk drawer, a basket, etc.

And perhaps you should set aside a particular day to handle everything.

Products I've Hand-Picked to Get You Organized!

Q: I need help figuring out how to organize/store office supplies. I have a small space and have made GREAT strides in purging and downsizing, but I just don't know what to do with all those little things - paperclips, envelopes, pens, etc. I've tried little baskets, but those just seem to end up causing more clutter for me. Any suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated! - Rhonda

A: Great job on downsizing! For those little things, I use stackable drawers. You can get them anywhere, but if you have a Dollar General store in the neighborhood, they have great prices. These are small stackables, 3 drawers each, about 10 inches wide. (Label each drawer for easy retrieval.) For my envelopes, I use a printer dock with sliding trays (my printer sets on it and saves space). This holds my envelopes and paper I use most often. In the supply cabinet, I use a set of regular paper trays and have a different type of envelope on each level. You could set this unit under your desk if you need to grab envelopes often. The main thing is to keep like things together so you always know when you're running low of  certain items.

Hope this helps.      More>>

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