Disorganization - Scarey Stuff

It doesn't happen very often but today is the day I put in a plug for the industry. On the afternoon of the scarey night and just one week before the Canadian national association for professional organizers - Professional Organizers in Canada - starts it annual conference here in Toronto, what could be a better time?

Being disorganized can be stressful and very scarey. Maybe you or someone you know consistently pays their bills late, if at all, because they either can't remember to pay them or can't find the bills. Have you ever added up the late fees incurred by those last payments?

This is just one example of the cost of disorganization and there are many more. Costs can be evaluated in money, heartache and physical or emotional stress. If you or a loved one is constantly or chronically disorganized either at home or at work, you already know how painful it can be.

The good news is that there is help. Both the Canadian association Professional Organizers in Canada , or POC, and our American affiliate the National Association of Professional Organizers, or NAPO have online directories to assist you in finding an organizer in your area. In addition, the National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization, or NSGCD, has resources available on its website for the public looking for information. With NSGCD you can also look up the certificates that a professional organizer may have earned if they are pursuing education with the study group. Here is a list of the certificates that I have earned.

It may be spooky out there tonight, but living your life ought to be joyful, not frightful.

Strategic Goals Revisited - The Links

To review development of your goals click here.

To review measurement of your goals click here.

Strategic Goals Revisited

The Hallowe'en gools are around the corner and third quarter is history. And then there's this thing called the global economy and those volatility indicators.

You can't stop the Hallowe'en loot or make time stand still. November 1 will arrive this Saturday whether or not you have been tracking progess on your strategic goals this year. Nor do you have much control over the global economic factors which will play out for better or for worse.

But you do have control over tracking your progress on your business or personal goals. The good news is that if you haven't started yet, you still have eight weeks to get your tracking systems in place. That bad news is that without concrete information about your progress in 2008, it will be pretty hard to set realistic goals for 2009.

Where are you at?

Hot, Hot, Hot - Keep Those Files Close

Do you have hot files in your office?

Hot files are the ones that either you are working on everyday because of their importance or contain the key To Do items because of their relevance.

Often when a hot file system has not been set up, people tend to keep the key files out on their desk. Eventually a whole bunch of files are on their desk and a few get moved to the credenza. Then there are a whole bunch on the credenza and a few get moved to the floor... you get the picture. You may be looking at that phenomena in your own office or that of your key director/manager. Try this strategy:

• Pick a separate colour file folder for your hot files. Pick a hot one that will grab your attention.


• Clear out of the things in/on and around your desk the key projects on which you are focussing.


• Find either a desk top file vertical file holder or pick one of the side drawers of your desk and empty it out.


• Put the files in the coloured folders and label them accordingly then file them in the spot you have chosen.


• This is the new home of your hot files and you will find them there, in prime real estate, each time you need them.
  

Time Tamers 1 - Hyperfocus Alarms

If you suffer from ADD you may be all to well aware of the dangers of hyperfocus when you get into a project. Four hours after starting, you pull your head out of the project to find that you are over an hour late for dinner with your boss and you have only worked on a small component of the overall project at hand.

Consider keeping a time tamer alarm close at hand for these situations. Set the alarm for 45 minutes to an hour. When the alarm goes off, get up from your desk, walk around, get a drink to stay hydrated. After 5 minutes or so return to the task at hand and reassess the degree of focus you have given based on your objectives for the time you have to work.

Remember to reset the alarm before you return to work.

Organizing out of Procrastination

Are you a procrastinator? Are you overwhelmed with the tasks at hand and would rather just avoid them?

Here is an excellent, short discussion around procrastination at the office and what to do about it:
http://www.lifeorganizers.com/office/procrastination-at-work.htm

Top 5 Series - Strategies to Increase Organization in your Business

You've been working diligently to increase your personal organization. As the paper clears and the dust settles, you realize your staff are also working in a cluttered, ineffective environment. It's time to change the culture in the office from "No one really cares since these aren't public offices" to "We are proud of the professional environment in which we work". These strategies will help.

1. Set the standard yourself. As head of the organization, directorate or department, your leadership sets the tone. If your office is a pile of disorganized papers, you give your staff the impression you don't care what the place looks like. Why should they? I know, I know. You can find anything you want in the office right? Are you sure? How long will it take you? And if you don't show up tomorrow is that the way you want your leadership role remembered?
2. Start talking about professional presentation and image at meetings. Add it to performance appraisals to make staff accountable.
3. Ensure that every staff member has immediate access to a blue box for recycling; right beside their desk in place of a garbage can wouldn't be tool close.
4. Ensure that every staff has the tools they need to be organized in their work space. Do they have reasonable access to appropriate filing space? Do they have a desk that works? Is there a book shelf or alternative for holding company policy manuals or obligatory preventative maintenance reports? If you aren't sure what is missing or why an employee is so disorganized, consider having a professional organizer conduct an assessment of the work space in question. There may be more complex organizational issues that the employee is struggling with.
5. Schedule a semi-annual clear out day. The rules for the time are simple. Everyone participates in a clear out of their work space on this day. No other meetings or activities are booked. Order lunch for the gang.

Managing Email 3

I am going to stay with the email theme. A common challenge for all of us is dealing with the email messages in the Inbox that have been read but not deleted or filed. Some days/weeks/months later there is a significant backlog and clearing it out is such a huge task we all avoid it.

Try this: Dedicate 10 minutes every working day for a month to email clear out. Start by changing the sorting criteria for your Inbox (just for clearing out purposes). If you have email sorted by Date Received, switch to Sender or Subject. Start anywhere at all, it doesn't have to be at the top, and quickly scan the messages in the reading pane. Notice how your perspective on the messages changes?

By changing the order of the email on your screen, you change the perspective for your brain which is often all it takes to boost the Keep or Delete decision making process. In organizing, its the equivalent to moving all the material you need to sort through out of its usual living place and sorting it in a completely different environment. Try it and remember: 10 minutes a day.