Don't Buy An Expensive Personal Organizer - Create Your Own!

By Author: Jesse Whitehead
Total Articles: 130
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Do you often find yourself late for appointments? Do you feel unorganized? Have a hard time finding phone numbers, addresses or other important information when you need it? If so, then you need a personal organizer. A personal organizer system is an ideal way to help you stay organized and keep all of your information in one place. However, personal organizers -- both paper-based and electronic -- can be very expensive, and they usually contain categories or sections that you don't need.

Fortunately, it's not really necessary to spend a lot of money on a fancy organizer, PDA or smart phone. You can do it yourself and save a lot of money. Here's how you can create your own custom personal organizer that is inexpensive and perfectly meets your needs.

1. Materials you will need:
a. Small loose-leaf binder. You can find these at just about any stationary store, drugstore, discount, or grocery store. Make sure the binder has pockets in the front or back so you can put in a small calculator and your business cards.
b. Loose leaf lined paper. The paper needs to be the same size as the loose ...
... leaf binder.
c. Divider tabs.
d. Appointment calendar. These are small booklet-form calendars you can buy, or you may be able to get one for free from your bank or other merchants that offer these to their customers at the beginning of the year.
e. Small Calculator. Very inexpensive these days - sometimes as cheap as one dollar.

2. Create your categories:
a. Next, you will create the categories that you are going to put in your organizer. Common categories used by many people include addresses, telephone numbers, appointments, expenses, projects, to do list, notes, and so forth. You may create any category that suits your needs. Don't be afraid to be original, because this is going to be custom -made just for you.
b. Write the category names in the divider tabs. Place the tabs in the binder, and include several pieces of blank lined paper behind each divider section.
c. Put the calendar in the appointments section. Remove the outer cover first, and then punch holes along the inside crease of the calendar. Make sure the holes you punch are spaced the same as the binder rings.
d. Finally, put the calculator and your business cards in the inside pocket. The calculator will come in handy anytime you need to make calculations at work or when shopping, and your business cards will be readily accessible when you need to give them out.

3. Use it! Start using your new organizer right away. Any system, no matter how good it is, will be of no practical use if it is not used regularly. Get in the habit of writing down all of your business and personal appointments and important dates such as birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, etc. Also, write down the addresses, phone numbers, e-mail addresses, and other contact information for your family, friends and business contacts. Track your expenses, and write your to-do lists. Everything is effectively organized right there in one place to increase your efficiency and productivity.

That's basically it. You have created your own custom personal organizer for a fraction of the cost of the name brand organizer or a PDA. While it may not be as fancy-schmancy as one of the expensive organizer s, it will work just as well. In fact it will probably work better since you created this system just for you. Now, all you have to do is use it faithfully every day. You will be surprised at how well you will stay organized and keep all of your information in one place.
Jesse Whitehead lives in the San Joaquin Valley of California with his family. He enjoys writing articles on a variety of different subjects. His newest interest is in wall mount tub faucets. Learn more about wall mount faucets at WallMountFaucet.com