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Frustrated by the many log-ins and passwords in your life? The 74 messages in your in-box or your mounting To-Do list? Read these three simple steps to organize and save an hour a day.

#1 – Organize your many passwords and logins to keep them easily accessible. Use an address book to do just that. Start by making a ‘new contact’ for each of your on-line accounts (i.e. frequent flier account, business email accounts, etc). Record pertinent information, such as the URL, password, login and account number, in the notes section under the contact heading. Be sure to set up a code to protect this information. For example, add two numbers and two letters to the beginning and end each password. Your real passwords will be obvious to you, but not to anyone else.

#2 – Simplify Your Email Inbox! There are three types of email: 1. Junk mail. 2. Emails that require an immediate response or action. 3. Emails you want to read or are interesting in content (but do not require immediate action).

Immediately delete the junk mail and respond to the important emails, if you can. Make a “To Read” folder. “Reference” emails should go in a corresponding “Reference” folder. Have a goal to clean out your inbox at the end of every day to keep all your email traffic from getting out of control, or deleting that important email that’s in the middle of the junk mail. When possible, address urgent emails immediately. Never feel obligated to read email forwards, or to even open them! If you do find an email forward interesting in content, make a “To Read” folder and place those types of emails there for you to go through later. Maintain only non-urgent emails in that folder. Take care of personalized emails as quickly as you can and end the interchange when it has served its purpose. Make time at the end of every week to go through that “To Read” folder. Read what you like and delete what you do not need.

#3 – Make the next two weeks a trial period to schedule your to-do list into your daily calendar. Say there is an item on your To-Do list that requires you to “find a party equipment rental service”. So schedule that task into your week-day schedule: “Wednesday, 11:00am-11:15am, find party equipment rental service”. You’d be surprised to find that many things on your To-Do list will take less than 15 minutes, but make a point to schedule each such item for 15 minutes anyway. This leaves you with about 12 “to do” items scheduled in a 3-hour time block. You will most likely accomplish everything on the list early and will have had time to handle unexpected interruptions, like bad traffic and family issues. As a rule, the time frame in which you allow yourself to complete a task is usually how much time it will take. Give yourself two hours for your To-Do list and you will probably get the list done in two hours. Plan it to take you all day and it will most likely take you all day.

When you focus your energy and give yourself a little deadline, you will get more done in less time and usually do it better. It’s like finishing that 5-page college research paper in one night.

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