First thing you need to organize is your time...
make a schedule with time allotted for organization and stick to it

Sort paperwork
School separate from house separate from legal separate from keepsake... etc.
Put important legal documents in a firesafe
put a round file at or near the door so more junk makes it to the round file than you are putting in files... throw the envelope away unless the date is important if it is open it and staple envelope to it and file immediately or on scheduled time..
have a to do box on your desk and when done file immediatly dont wait.. you lose the battle..

Just remember it takes a bit of work to change habits, you have to keep on truckin.

This is my technique"
Immediate organization:

Like the MAIL: I have a "burn" bag that I use for all mail, bills, personal papers, etc. I keep it right in my kitchen, and as soon as i get my mail I sort: junk mail, envelopes, inserts, etc gets put in the bag right then. Then I take my bills and immediately put them by the computer, since most of them are paid on~line. I then use the outside fire pit to burn the bag.

Toys: I buy the clear plastic containers / buckets with lids from wally world, target, etc. Nothing expensive, and sort their toys. The containers stack too. I stack them along one long wall in their room, so everything is visible and easily available, without having to dump them or dig them out. And yes, I ride their butts to pick up! and for the most part they are wonderful at it *8 and 3 year old*

I even use these containers for rolls of film/cameras that need developing. It keeps them all in one place til I can drop them off to be processed.

Bags& Purses: I use bags/big purses for loads of thing. I have one for the library that sits by the door. As soon as I finish the book, I immediately put it in the bag. I have my "art at the moment" bag that I keep by the couch in my sitting room for what ever project I'm working on. I can bring it with me. Clothes and Items for goodwill are also put by the front door in a bag.

Art Supplies: I use watchmaker tins for all my beads and tiny jewelry parts. I bought mine from Lee Valley www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx As soon as I'm finished with the tins I put them back. Same with the tools.

Kitchen Spices: same tins or glass jars for sugar, flour, coffee.

Clothes: Usually twice a year when we buy hot and cold clothes is when we do a quick cleaning. Besides, we need the hangers! ")
They immediately go into the goodwill bag.

Thats all I can think of right now. Its all the little things that run amok, and need organizing. For me, its the IMMEDIATE action that makes it work. I set it all in place so ts easy to use, and replace it IMMEDIATELY, when its time to.

See a theme here? lol..........

Lists.

Make a list and stick to it.

...just get started.

Looking at the stuff and getting that way-too-much-to-handle, overwhelmed feeling will stop you in your tracks. Pick one room, then one corner (or table or desk) and work for at least 15 minutes. Stop and go about your day. Tomorrow, work another 15 minutes in the same area. Keep a notepad handy to make notes about anything you need to keep that particular area *organized* - like storage containers.

Also, this website is worth a look-see www.flylady.net I don't think you have to register to read through the site and she really does have some good tips and methods.

I'm still struggling with that one myself.

It's taken me a long time to realize "less is more".

Less stuff = more time to do other things.

The less time it takes to get any chore done = more time to do other things.

Do extreme mental exercises. What if you had only two pairs of pants, two shirts, two sets of socks? One to wear and one to be dirty awaiting cleaning. And you'd be able to keep track of what was clean and what was dirty. You would never, ever have a PILE of laundry.

If you had ONE key, and you had to use it to get in and out of your living space, you'd ALWAYS know exactly where that key was, otherwise you'd be stuck. Give the key a place of it's own, and ALWAYS put it there. ALWAYS.

If you had ONE plate to eat off of, you'd have to clean it before using it again. You'd never have a sink of dishes.

If you had only ONE school course, you'd probably do the homework the night after the class, while things were fresh in your mind, and get it out of the way.

Get rid of stuff you don't need, don't use, don't have storage space for. Arrange your home life to be for the way you actually live 95% of the time. If it's just you, you don't have dining for 12, 5 bedrooms (4 of which are full of STUFF) and the 3-car garage (also full of STUFF) so that you have to park your 4 vehicles (!) on the street. That's only a slight exaggeration. People DO accumulate a lot, as if the person with the most crap wins a prize. LOL!

Set yourself up for what YOU do and what YOU need. If you're attending school, you have some specific NEEDS. You NEED a place to study, in comfortable seating, with good lighting. You may need a place to spread out papers, take notes. You may need a computer area. Take those needs and combine with products that WORK. They don't have to be products that have the name "desk". You can use a dining table if you really need to spread things out, so that you have a big surface area with a computer on one side, a place to write or read on the other side.

Yup, I'm using a very small dining table as a desk. I have two "office" chairs at it, so it can also be used for dining. And it's much easier to get in and out of any seating if the chair swivels and is on casters. The hard drive is on the floor, with the small monitor, speakers and small keyboard on the table. Easy and lightweight to remove as needed. Plenty of room to eat at the table without moving anything.

Maybe you can be specific...what is it that you have problems with?

"Can't find..." problems are often because whatever it is you can't find doesn't have a place of it's own.

"Not enough space" problems can mean you simply have too much stuff, or have not adapted to the reality of your space.

"Not enough time" may mean you're trying to do too much. No matter who you are, time won't bend and warp to accommodate your own needs or lack of planning.

Someone mentioned dealing with mail and bills. So many bills can be auto-deducted from your checking. Or can be paid online. Paperless billing. Paperless statements. Even magazines may have online subscriptions, meaning you can read online, print out a page or two of something you like, without the burden of what to do with that magazine. It's there online, whenever you need it.

one of the biggest problems I have is things get piled up.
I learned this several years ago- every time you leave a room or the house take something with you to put away or throw away.

List are a good start, but useless if you write it out and forget about it.

I like to have a couple lists going- short term, long term, and someday. I make short term lists for what I plan to do tomorrow. Often things on this list go undone, so they get rolled over into the next day. I try to check something off of my long terms lists every couple days.

Having less stuff is HUGE. Especially for me, with my boxes and boxes of craft stuff- it's hard to keep perspective. I'm always telling myself my life would be more fulfilling if I had less stuff, and trying to get rid of that which I won't use soon- ad use things! I'm lucky enough to have a money-making outlet for lots of the things I make, so piles of craft supplies unused is just silly. Be realistic with your needs, and don't feel bad passing things on to others that you won't use. Learn to enjoy sharing your resources! It's easier to donate crap to a good cause than throw it out. Freecycle is great for this- that thing that you think you might use- will get used immediately by someone else. Let it go!

Less stuff really does mean more time for the things you enjoy.

As for organizing the stuff you have left, build lots of shelves and find lots of storage containers. I like to put smaller boxes of stuff in bigger boxes, organized by type. Always put things back, and you'll know where everything is.

Good luck!

I found the best way to get organized, in many areas of my life, was to bring a professional. Or in my case a really organized friend or friends of mine. I told them I would pay them whatever they like if they'd jus ttell me what to do . I do all the work and walk away with a bunch of new knowledge of systems for organizing my life.

I have taken what was learned and carry it with me to this day. It's been 20 years.

Oh, and my Franklin planner still runs circles around my Treo.