You might have already discovered your trick to maximize your productivity when it comes to daily or weekly tasks such as chores. Whether it’s a reminder or to-do app on your phone, you’re hard-wired from years of repetition, or you have another trick up your sleeve, you’ve mastered what needs to get done.

There are, however, many others who have not yet figured out how to finish these tasks as quickly as possible. More importantly, there are many others who simply leave the house and forget to get certain things done.

One method that we use is by using the lights in each room. Before we leave for work, we want to make sure the dishes are clean, the litter is clean, all doors are closed, electronics are off, and things are put away.

In order to make sure nothing is neglected, we turn the lights on in every room where an action item is required. As we complete all the chores in that room, we turn the lights off. When you walk through the house before leaving and see all the lights off, you know that all tasks are complete.

In the featured picture the litter needed to be scooped. In the kitchen picture, it’s typically a matter of leaving clean dishes and an empty sink. The dining room has the animal’s water bowl in it, which needs to be filled with fresh water.

Try using this system if you struggle to keep the house clean and organized. Let us know if it solves any of your problems because coming home from work to a house like this allows you to either maximize productivity later at night, or allows you to relax.

Translation might not be the best word for this situation, but it sure does sound cool… or even appropriate. What situation am I talking about? One that creates so many opportunities for failure and disappointment.

Twenty years ago, you only had to worry about communicating with people in a few ways. You’d either talk to them in person, speak over the phone, or send a written letter. If you didn’t take care of business right then and there, you’d only have three different places to look for what you have to do.

Fast forward to today, and someone like myself, who has few apps compared to others, has a much larger list of places where people need to be answered in order to get work done, or even, if not anything else, avoid having people made at you.

Multiple email addresses, text messages, voice messages, Linked In messages, Facebook messenger, Instagram direct messages, Twitter, LetGo, OfferUp, Yelp, and YouTube are all places on my personal cell alone that leave me vulnerable to the situation, or trap, described above.

Here’s the big question… how do I avoid falling into the trap? How do I maximize my opportunities and minimize my risk here? Well, there are plenty of different strategies, but here’s mine. Delete, delete, delete. Screenshot, screenshot, screenshot. Email.

My email addresses and the cloud are my central nervous system. Whenever I’m dealing on another platform, as soon as I’ve done my part and am now waiting for a response, I delete the conversation. If there is some form of agreement that needs to be upheld, I take a screenshot and email it to myself for record-keeping.

If it’s a big deal, as in a possible major opportunity, I’ll either leave it or screenshot and save it to my photos in my phone, since I always keep less than 100 total to avoid clutter. I never want to leave the ball in my court so I always respond as soon as possible and avoid allowing things getting lost in translation by clearing the court.

That’s one strategy to increase your organization in order to improve your communication. What do you do?