Ruth Linné Lander, FACMPE

I am going to start this business article with something personal. Dec­ades ago I read a book that had a very good chapter on personal time management. I have followed one tip in this chapter ever since. In summary: pick the 5 outfits you want to wear Monday through Friday of your workweek during the current season. If there is a jacket, accessorize it with a pin. If there is a necklace, hang it on the outfit hanger. Have your shoes picked as well. After you have worn the outfit, say on Monday, move it to the end of your 5-day row, leaving the accessories in place. This saves you many decision points in the morning on what to put on, as well as what shoes to wear, and if you are female, what jewelry to add. If you are working in an office setting, you usually can get several wearings from an outfit before laundering or dry cleaning temporarily moves it out of the rotation. Let’s face it, you only wear your favorite outfits anyway, so you could declutter your closet and save time every workday morning, and save money and time on shopping for additional clothes, with this approach.

Remember the good old days? I do, and not everything was that good. When I started post-college work, I had no calculator, no personal computer with Excel or word-processing software, no fax machine, no internet access, and no smartphone. I love technology, so I have been amazed by and embraced advances that have come along as the years have passed.

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