As I pontificated to a willing audience of seekers, I looked around my office and realized that if I didn't get control, I was doomed. I've been feeling like I was slowly sinking in a quicksand of poorly organized information: piles everywhere on my desktop (unfortunately, I have a pretty large surface area to pile stuff on) and a computer hard drive that is so packed with files that I'm now getting weekly notices to free up disk space.

There are some time management practices that I have integrated into my daily work pretty well: I keep only one electronic calendar on my desktop (not the two or three I used to have); I set weekly and monthly goals; and I keep a task list. I usually know where I'm supposed to be (most of the time) and actually get there on time (most of the time).

But, alas, when I'm working in high gear, I tend to pile, not file. At some point, those piles always get away from me! So on Saturday, I spent the day throwing out, reorganizing, cleaning and preparing myself for the continued growth of our business. I had the able assistance of my 6-year old who was thrilled to be responsible for recycling paper and putting new file labels on old file folders.

Ahhhhh.....here I sit in my pristine, well-organized office. Please check back with me in a couple of months to see if I've maintained my resolution to keep this place under control.