Each month we have been addressing a specific task that will allow you to become more efficient in carrying out your financial objectives. Goal accomplishment is not attained by isolated spurts of activity; it’s the little actions that you do every day that will eventually help you to be successful.

This month’s money mission addresses a major problem that can hinder your effectiveness in your personal, work and financial lives. Many people find that they are not able to achieve their best, not because they lack the desire or skills to do so, but because they are completely disorganised.

Disorganisation brings distress

Marcia awakes each morning with an optimistic outlook. “Everything is going to run smoothly today,” she vows. Marcia operates a small wholesale and also makes gift baskets that she delivers to her customers. She juggles the two activities hoping that the combined effort will pay all her bills.

Despite her energetic outlook and output, Marcia has had limited success in business. The wholesale often loses sales because it runs out of fast-selling items that customers demand. Marcia finds it hard to keep track of inventory and struggles to keep on top of all the paperwork.

Since the demand for her baskets is ad hoc, Marcia usually drops everything to respond to a request. She spends hours sourcing gift products, as she rarely keeps these items on hand. At the end of her week, Marcia is usually drained and discouraged by the paltry results of her hectic labour.

Systemise for success

If you have similar issues with getting your affairs organised, you will probably empathise with Marcia’s dilemma. You may know what you want to achieve and may be very motivated to get it, but your harmful habits and poor practices continue to prevent you from being successful.

Do you often have to pay late fees because you forgot your bill payment dates? Do you usually find it hard to locate important financial documents? Are you uncertain about the state of your assets and liabilities? Do you feel that you waste a lot of time trying to get anything done?

If a lack of organisation is ruining your efforts to accomplish your goals, then it’s time to put in place some strategies that will help you to overcome this problem. Your objective for this month is to create systems that can get your financial life operating as efficiently as a well-tuned machine.

Organise your bills and spending

When you’re disorganised with money, it has an immediate negative effect on your finances. You may lose cash, pay extra costs on expenses, and even buy things that you already own or don’t really need. Over the years, you may have wasted thousands of dollars unnecessarily.

Take control of your funds by taking a regimental approach to spending. Instead of using cash which is easy to part with and hard to track, pay your bills with a debit card that offers free transactions for local shopping. Question each purchase to ensure that you are making a wise spending choice.

Use the cash flow calculator found on www.financiallysmart.org to input upcoming bills for the month so that you can quickly see when these are due. This will help you to moderate your discretionary spending to ensure that you will have sufficient money on hand to pay your bills on time.

Organise your documents and accounts

When you are clueless about your money affairs, you may put your family’s financial security in jeopardy and miss out on opportunities that could have been rewarding. Losing key documents, such as your will or property title, can cause you to incur additional costs for replacement.

Keep physical or electronic copies of transactions relating to your savings, investments and loans. It’s important to verify your financial institution’s reports with your own records, to identify possible errors or omissions. Periodically purge your files of outdated information to keep them current.

Merge small accounts at different institutions to achieve greater efficiencies and take advantage of higher rates of interest. Have discussions with your financial advisors to ensure that your account options are best suited to help you achieve your money objectives.

Organise your time and schedule

When you are haphazard with your use of time, you lose an asset that can never be replaced or renewed. Having an informal schedule, or no set plan for how your time should be allocated, can lead to stress from unmet deadlines, incomplete tasks and lost leisure or sleeping hours.

Assess your goals to see how much time you need to commit to achieve your objectives. For example, you may decide to spend a few minutes per day learning about investing or a few hours each week creating side income. Be realistic in deciding how much effort will be required.

To use your time effectively, make a written agenda for every day. Create a timetable to record what you should be doing every hour, and try not to make impromptu changes to your schedule. Your efficiency in carrying out your daily activities will definitely improve your goal achievement efforts.

Copyright © 2013 Cherryl Hanson Simpson. No reproduction without written consent.

Originally published in The Daily Observer, June 6, 2013

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Cherryl is a money coach and business mentor, and founder of Financially S.M.A.R.T. Services. See more of her work at www.entrepreneursinjamaica.com and www.financiallysmart.org. Contact Cherryl