Einstein said ‘the important thing is to not stop questioning’ and I tend to agree with him, particularly when it comes to questioning ourselves. In doing so we can gain greater clarity, feel more in control and become more organised; who wouldn’t benefit from that triumvirate?

So let me throw a few questions your way for you to mull over with regards to your organisation. It’s unlikely you will have an immediate answer to them, or if you did it would probably be more of a reaction than a response, so I suggest you reflect on it for a while before arriving at a considered response to fuel your next steps.

In fact, this is my first question for you to consider - Where do you need to spend more time in reflection?

Reflecting is when you take time to look back on what has gone, what has been said and what’s been done.

It’s when you consider the action or inaction that has taken place that you are able to identify the successes that should be captured, bottled and repeated and the ‘failures’ that can be learned from. In turn, this helps us to find the most streamlined and effective processes.

Often it seems that our lives are too full for a spot of reflection, so maybe we need to remove some of the clutter. If you were to declutter your life what would you throw out?

Whether it be the annual emptying of the cupboards, a trimming down of the number of people that you are following or being followed by on social media or a review of the tasks that find themselves on your to-do list with monotonous regularity, what should you be looking to reduce or remove for personal gain?

Taking these things out gives us more room for the things that are important to us.

Which leads me to my next question - What should be on your not to-do list?  What are those topics that occupy your time, effort and energy that quite frankly are not worth it?

They stop you from focusing on the things that matter - those tasks that add value, give you a sense of achievement or that you actually enjoy doing. Start every day with a not to-do list and you’ll soon be making improvements in your organisation, yet you might not be aware of it unless you ask yourself the next question.

What do you need to start measuring so you can make improvements? Athletes the world over are setting personal bests, and they only way they know they’ve beaten it is to measure - the previous, current and the future.

Where are you ready, wanting or needing to beat a personal best at the moment and what is your personal best? If you don’t know it, then measure it and you’ll have one! It’s that simple.

That takes me to, what do you need to simplify? I’m not the tidiest person you’ll come across and I need to find a place for everything so everything has its place.

Yet keeping things simple doesn’t have to mean just keeping things tidy, so what aspects of your daily life would benefit from greater simplicity? We tend to continue with processes that work but often these can be simplified over time.

Is it your work, your relationships or your finances? If that were met with three resounding no responses then what option would be met with a yes?

And, if they were all met with a yes, then maybe the last question is for you. What do you need to start saying no to a bit more often? We live in a world where we often feel coerced into having a can-do mentality where the answer should always be ‘yes, now what’s the question?’

When did you say yes, when looking back you probably should have said no? Was it that extra work you agreed to add your already long to-do list? Spending money on something you might have wanted but didn’t really need?

Agreeing to a night out at the end of the week when a night in is probably more beneficial? Just think of what some of the benefits could have been if you’d have provided the answer you really wanted without a concern for how it may be received by others. Thinking about what you should say no to more often will only benefit your organisation.

These are six meaty questions to help you consider how you choose to organise all aspects of your life. Good luck at arriving at the right answer – your answer.

Mike Jones is Managing Director of Momentum (People Development) Ltd and has nearly thirty years’ experience in the Learning and Development industry. Mike has delivered at conferences, facilitated workshops and is a highly sought after speaker. Mike is the author of Questions You Should Be Asking Yourself (Panoma Press) which poses 52 questions to help readers to arrive at the answers needed to move on to the next stage of their life with greater desire, determination and optimism for the future.