Life is much easier when you are organized because you don’t have the added stress of cleaning up your own mess. You tend to deal with everything just once and put it behind you.

• If a guest calls in and requests the limo you send an email to your Manager as soon as you hang up; you don’t write yourself a note, stick it your monitor, and deal with it later.
• When you run a VIP party, you make a list of everything that has to be done. After the event, you keep the list, a copy of the invitation, a copy of the email, and even the menu. When you run the next VIP party, you pull out the files from last time and you don’t have to start from scratch.
• If a guest complains about their offers, you immediately send an email to Direct Marketing with the name, account number, and their complaint. You cc: yourself and put the email into a folder called Offer Complaints. If the guest comes back to you then you can easily find your email and assure them you followed up.

There are some key principles in all of these examples:

1. Touch everything just once! When something comes up, deal with it right away or give it to someone else to solve. If you cannot delegate it, and it will take some time, then put it on your schedule and forget about it. schedule time on your calendar to work on it. Yes, literally schedule 30 minutes on your calendar to write that report for your boss.
2. Move the Monkey! This is a great visual. If someone gives you a problem to solve then imagine that they have put a monkey on your back. Too many monkeys and you will feel crushed. So, as soon as possible, move that monkey onto someone else’s back!
3. Don’t start from scratch. Whenever you do anything, assume that you are going to have to do it again and again and again! Organized people are actually very lazy people; they want it to be easier the next time, and they assume that there will be a next time. So, they keep all the information about how they arranged that VIP party. And they keep the memo from Accounts on how to resolve an obscure refund for a guest because what happens once, will happen agan.
4. Put Things Where You Will Find Them. In your email, create folders labeled ‘Comp Exception’, ‘Refund Dispute’, ‘Limo Request’ and ‘How to Use Systems’. Drag emails into the folders and out of the in-box. Your in-box should only contain your current Monkeys that you are going to quickly move along before the shift ends. In your phone, keep the numbers for Guest Services, Front Desk, Housekeeping supervisor, and that helpful person in Accounts who can approve Portfolio adjustments. And your desk does not have to be tidy, but each leaning stack of papers should contain related items!
5. And finally, Plan Your Day and work your list. Stop thinking about being organized as having a permanently clean and tidy home. It will never happen. Every day, you have to clean your body, feed the cat, prepare some meals, and brush your teeth. It is an endless cycle. In the same way, you accept that when you come to work, you are going to repeat the same tasks over and over again; so being essentially lazy, the Organized Host will try to make it easier and easier to issue the comp, track the hotel reservation, follow up on the dispute, and book the limo.

Does this sound exhausting? Do you lack the discipline? Does it even sound boring?

Well that is fine, and we all make our own choices, but if you decide to remain dis-organized then you will waste a lot of your time and energy and not meet your goals.

And you certainly won’t be promoted. Management sees you struggling to stay on top of your current responsibilities and they are certainly not going to give you any more!

Remember, organized people are actually lazy and they have figured out how to do the same job as you but with a lot less effort and a lot more results.

So, how do you make the change? You decide to take control of yourself and make the most out of your 24 hours within a day. You constantly look for ways to make the everyday tasks be easier. You decide to watch and learn from organized people. And you keep reading!