28 Days To Living Organized - Day 4 - Solution Brainstorming

28 days to Living Organized

Solution Brainstorming

We've identified the cause of the issue. In my case, an inconveniently located filing system.  Now it's time to brainstorm some solutions.  This is just like the brainstorming sessions you learned about in school or at work.  No idea is out of bounds.  Some ideas, after we analyze them, will present themselves as not really achievable.  That's okay.  The point is to get as many ideas down as possible.  Even something absurd might stir the creative juices on to something innovative that will really work.

I'm going to break my ideas down into two categories.  I think this is a good idea for most projects.
1. change the environment
2. change the habit

My brainstorm....
Q: How can I change my environment or routine to keep my kitchen island clear of clutter

For this exercise I got my husband involved.  What you see below are a mixture of our ideas.

• Move my filing cabinet from upstairs to the kitchen (ENVIRONMENT)
• Create a new filing cabinet/space in the kitchen (ENVIRONMENT)
• Stop keeping paperwork/filing - trash/recycle everything - go paperless (HABIT)
• Teach my kids how to file (ENVIRONMENT)
• Get rid of the kids so I have more time/energy to file daily (ENVIRONMENT)
• Make going upstairs to file the first thing I do a fter opening mail (HABIT)
• File paperwork every night before bed (HABIT)
• File every other day at bedtime (HABIT)
• Move things upstairs every night without filing and put in a temporary "to be filed" basket and then schedule a once a week "filing time" (HABIT with a bit of ENVIRONMENT change)

Tomorrow we'll evaluate these ideas and pick one