1. Reduce before organizing. The mistake most people make when trying to organize their stuff or their tasks or their projects is that they have a whole mess of things to organize, and it’s too complicated. If you have a closet crammed full of stuff, sure, you can buy a bunch of closet organizers, but in the end, you’ll still have a closet crammed full of stuff. Same thing with time management: you can organize a packed schedule, but it’ll still be crammed full of tasks. The solution: reduce, eliminate, simplify. If you take your closet full of 100 things and throw out all but the 10 things you love and use, now you don’t need a fancy closet organizer. Same thing with time management: if you have 20 things to do today, and reduce it to just the three most important tasks, you don’t need a schedule anymore. How to reduce: take everything out of a closet or drawer or other container (including your schedule), clean it out, and only put back those items you truly love and really use on a regular basis. This will leave you with a pile of other stuff — get rid of it by tossing it, donating it, selling it or giving it to somebody who will love it. If you can’t bear to part with some of the stuff, put it in a “maybe” box and store it in your attic or basement or other storage space. Label it with a description and date, and six months later, when you haven’t needed any of it, toss it.

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