So many hours in a day and so much to do. Keeping it all organized can be a nightmare. Where do you keep all of of your information regarding appointments, meetings, notes and other "life" related items? Despite the fact that some may try to convince you otherwise, organizers are still an excellent way to keep your life in order. Not sure how? Here are 8 tips to getting the most out of your organizer:

1 - Use only one organizer. While it may appear to be easier to have one organizer for home and one for work, it’s not. Combining all of the information in one book keeps all pertinent right at your fingertips. You won’t have to open separate books to find out what commitments you have that evening. Consider it to be a one stop shop.

2 - Make it colorful. The use of sticky notes and color tabs help to quickly direct you to the important information. You can also use the sticky note paper to make lists of groceries you need or errands that you may need to do on the way home. At the end of the day, switch the sticky note to your wallet and you’ll have your list all prepared when you go into the grocery store. A small investment in colorful sticky notes will go a long way.

3 - Choose an organizer that has closure. It’s inevitable that you will be sticking cards and miscellaneous paper into your organizer. If that’s you, find one that has some sort of binding or closing mechanism so that the binder won’t fly open and send your life scattering to the winds.

4 - Write in pencil. Meetings change dates or get cancelled, using a pencil will help you to remove and re-enter appointments and meetings as needed. If it’s important for you to keep a record of these cancellations, go ahead and write in pen, but be sure to draw a single diagonal line across with “moved” or “cancelled” so that you know to look elsewhere in your organizer for the new date and time.

5 - Keep room for notes. If you don’t use all of the lines for meetings, consider writing yourself a few short notes or even action plans in the space provided so that you don’t forget.

6 - Don’t be afraid of staples.Stapling appointment cards and receipts to the appropriate pages is a great way to not lose them. Just be careful not to stick yourself or tear the pages when you remove them.

7 - Pick the organizer that works best for you. If you have a lot of meetings, need to see an entire week or month at a glance, choose the organizer that best suits your life style.

8 - Never throw your organizer away once the year is over. You never know when you may need a visual recollection of your activities or retrace your steps. Keeping your organizers for as long as you keep your tax returns may be overkill, but at least you will be able to go back and determine when you took that business trip you claimed on your return.