For me, a To Do List is of the secret behind a seamless transition from one work day at home to the next.

As I’m wrapping up work at the end of the day, I am careful to study what’s coming up on my calendar for the rest of the week as well as what is on tap for the month. And then the last thing I do before calling it quits is to make the next day’s To Do List. I then tidy up my work area and leave the To Do List right next to my computer. Sounds simple, doesn’t it?

The problem for me is that by nature, I’m not an instinctively neat and organized person. There is a part of me that revels in making messes. I can’t explain it – but I know I’m not alone due to the proliferation of professional organizers in the last ten years.

I find that I need a strategy to talk myself into eliminating desk-top clutter. Often I’m tempted by late afternoon to walk away from the notebooks, stacks of business cards, open files, scattered trade journals, and random notes on various legal pads, (not to mention the half-eaten bag of Ranch-flavored potato chips) by promising myself, ‘Oh, I’ll worry about it tomorrow morning.”

It’s those moments when I remind myself how it feels to walk into a messy kitchen early in the morning. Who wants to face yesterday’s dirty dishes and sticky counters before coffee and breakfast? Yuck! What a depressing thought. Well, it’s just as much of a downer to start the work day with a messy desk. It is a reminder of unfinished business rather than the promise of a new and productive day.

My day is more productive if I sit down to a clean, well-organized space and pick up my marching orders for the day, i.e. my To Do List.

If YOU have any suggestions on keeping the home work space neat, organized and productive, please share your ideas. And now I can cross off sharing this tip from today’s To Do List!