A more recent update of this blog can be found here.

Your iPod, CD player or car stereo is a veritable vault of education, motivation, fun, and relaxation.

All it takes is a little organization to liberate the goodies. You’ll upgrade your knowledge, make better use of your time and improve your mood.

Here’s how…

Organize Your Music

They say that music is food for the soul. Well, how about a little lyrical nourishment?

Decide on the kind of music you want to listen to. Choices could include:

• upbeat to boost your mood
• classical to chill you out
• high-energy to power your workouts.

Mine your CDS – your own and maybe your kids’ – for songs to rip to your MP3 player or to make a ‘mixtape’ CD.

Browse iTunes or use the Genius function and download tunes that tantalize your musical taste buds.

Organize Your Audiobooks

Don’t forget to feed your brain, too. Audiobooks are a convenient way to take in stimulating or educational works while doing housework, working out, waiting for your bus or flight, or doing mindless errands.

Decide on the books you’d like to listen to. Choices could include:

• classic works you’ve always wanted to read
• business or motivational titles
• new releases by today’s big thinkers.

Check out Audible for a fab range of audiobooks you can download direct to your iPod, and Amazon for a good range of books on CD.

Organize Your Podcasts

For short, current grabs on almost any topic, subscribe to podcasts. They’re free, and iTunes has more than 100,000 to choose from.

Organize Your Playlists

Create playlists to match your moods. Here are some ideas:

Workout/Gym

• Select upbeat tracks, perhaps with a couple of slower ones at the end for your cool-down and stretch, or create your own interval training playlist

Cheerful

• Choose songs that make you want to dance, smile or sing along

Moody

• It can be comforting to have a playlist for times when you just want to feel sorry for yourself – but I suggest keeping this playlist short. 🙂

Motivating

• Fill this list with songs that inspire you – and use it to fire yourself up when you want a burst of encouragement

Getting ready

• Here you want music that gets you in a party mood – excellent accompaniment while dressing for a party

And with that, you’ve transformed your iPod, CD player or car into your own personal learning and pleasure machine!

Your iPod Worksheet

Here’s an iPod Worksheet for organizing your MP3 player. It’s an interactive PDF, so you can Type-&-Save or Print-&-Write. Download it by clicking the link below.

This worksheet is from my Life & Goal Organizer Program.

What’s on your MP3 player? How do you organize it? Please share any tips in the comments!

[Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/subharnab/ / CC BY 2.0]