I love New Year’s Day! If I am not traveling somewhere it is my favorite time to organize for the upcoming year by closing out the past year and setting up for the new one. I like to be completely ready for the next year of living.

Sometimes when I coach a company they have a challenge with the right hand not talking to the left hand-i.e., there is no set method for how something should be done. Often times, things are done differently by different people, and the lack of consistency can cause havoc with production both in the business or even at home.

When Spring Break arrives, for many, everything else in life comes to a halt. We drop our normal routines. Our schedules become more relaxed, and not much may get done. And that's the way it should be. This goes along with the old saying, "Stop and smell the daisies."

My last column discussed teaching order by having young children learn to organize their toys and rooms. This time we go to the next step of keeping track of schoolwork and the accompanying papers. This can turn into a lifelong concern, as "papers" seem to plague the world and challenge even the most organized individual. Learning how to circumvent the problems early on makes sense.

After my last column on Teaching Our Children, which was based around learning to do laundry, the next logical subject seemed to be organizing skills of a more general nature. With all the toys, clothing, and school items that young ones are surrounded with daily, these young years are a wonderful time to impart the concept of order.

Yes, that's what I just said, "Do the laundry" to aid your child in learning and success. There are many excellent skills learned in doing the laundry. Let me explain...

The holidays offer us the opportunity to dig out many items we only use annually and see what we have. Might I suggest a little “cleaning up” while you are starting to “set up” for the holiday season?

I have just two digital cameras, yet there is all the associated cabling. What a mess. I end up stuffing it all in a plastic bag, which is even messier. Organize that, Juli!

Spring Cleaning often involves clearing out drawers and cabinets, tossing out papers, and even changing out clothing for the warmer season ahead. It’s also important not to overlook taking care of cleaning out the computer files that ---while they may get ‘shoved out of the way’ --- remain as clutter in our technology.

You know you should be using a calendar on a regular basis – but do you? And for those who do, are you overdoing it with too many calendars to consult in your busy life? If you answered NO and YES respectively to those questions then you may be just like the multitude of people who miss appointments or are late or simply don’t get as much done in a day as they wish.

You see, calendars and the proper use of them allow us to stay on track – to keep up with