Thursday, February 26, 2009

Keep it all Contained

I'm staying on the limited real estate theme today. With a small desk/work space, it is more important than ever to ensure all your work tools - pens, rulers, paper, drafting tools, memory keys - are as contained as possible. When small items have a home to be returned to, they are less likely to wander around your work space.

The containers for these items could be anything at all that works for you. If you are using vertical storage space, you will want something the fits on the space and is easy to get to. If the work space is in the open and subject to the public eye, you may choose decorative containers. If you have only yourself working in the space, why not use a clear container to help you locate what is inside.

If you are a tosser and dropper, and not likely to open a lid to put something away, then use open storage like bins, open boxes, baskets or a similar item. Once again, make sure the items you use on a regular basis are at your finger tips and the items you use occasionally are not sitting in prime real estate!

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Solutions for Limited Real Estate

Is your desk too small for the stuff that sits on top of it? Are you feeling cramped and penned in by hot files, current files, your computer and just the mere presence of your coffee cup?

Whenever possible, move to vertical storage and even a vertical desk. what? Put my desk on the wall?

Pretty much, that's it. consider placing shelving units above your desk or, if space does not permit, even to one side of your desk. Then set up the items off your desk onto the shelves. Those things you use daily will be closest to you while the occasional items can sit on the shelves farther away.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Label those E-files

Enough about organizing paper, I can hear you shouting.

OK, let's get a grip on all those files on your desktop.

Computers don't read or count. They recognized yes or no. When labeling your files, the computer will automatically try and sort either alphabetically or numerically depending on the symbols you have chosen (letters or numbers). If you want a file sorted by it's name in a date order use a number to represent the date. Use "0" placeholder for single digit months i.e. Jan to Sept otherwise your computer will put October first in the list.

Monday, February 23, 2009

Ecofriendly Labelling

While there is no doubt, many of us print as little as possible, sort only what we can't avoid and file what is left over, paper seems determined to be here for a long time. As a result, paper files are still an organizational structure that must be managed.

Here is a tip to limit the number of file folders that end up in the recycling. When labelling the folders, use a file label to write on. They are readily available from most stationary or business supply stores like Grand and Toy or Staples. If you put the file name right on the label, when that file is finished, the file folder can easily be reused by simply putting a new file label over the old one.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Desktop Disco

What's dancing on your computer desktop? Virtual clutter can be just as bad as the stuff kicking around the floor of your office.

Do you habitually leave documents sitting on your desktop so that you can find them easily the next time you want to work with them?It's not a bad idea - until there are so many files or shortcuts on your desktop that you can't find any of them. That's right; just like the top of your physical desk.

Don't panic, the solution can be relatively simple. Set up folders as hot files on your desktop to house the material you are currently working on just like the hot files on your desk. Keep them specific and time limited. When the project is over or completed, purge the folders and move them off your desktop. By then there will be other files that need to be moved into hot files.

Friday, February 13, 2009

Weight Lifting with your Computer Bag

When was the last time you cleaned out the laptop bag? First of all, are you still using a carrying bag or have you switched to the more ergonomic backpack yet? These are not always feasible for the business environment but they are certainly better for your back.

Clear out those files that you haven't used since the last project finished - and while you are at it, purge the files before putting them away.

Reduce the number of pens, pencils you carry around. How many do you really need? And what about all the computer attachments? If you carry your computer regularly, do you really need all the bits and pieces that you use once a year? Could some of that be stored in a dust free container in your office and be packed for the overseas trip once a year when you need the electrical converter?

Do your weight lifting at the gym - not getting in and out of your car or the bus.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

To Store or not to Store

Yesterday over on Calm the Clutter, my residential/home office blog, I wrote about open versus closed storage. It is important to remember that, while storage containers can be pretty, handsome, can calm the visual noise and look very productive on the book shelves of your office, they may not be necessary at all.

Before finding a container for anything, take a really good look at whether or not there is any point in you keeping it. Do you really need to keep all that scrap paper? (Can it be sent to the local school/daycare for crafts?) Do you really need to keep all those trade show giveaways? (Can they be donated somewhere they will be used?)

You get the picture?

Anniversaries are Special

Are you using your electronic calendar to it's fullest potential? It can help you organize some of those annual other repeat events that are worthwhile remembering - like your best client's birthday.

Book the event into your electronic calendar and use the Recurrence function to book it again the next time it occurs. Then set a reminder a few days ahead so that you can prepare for the event, like calling him/her up with good wishes. Won't you look organized!

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Travel Light

Are you still fussing with liquids and containers when travelling? Have you invested yet in the travel size containers for your business travel kit? Make the commitment. They are widely available in a variety of price points. Do yourself a favour and pick up a package.

They usually come with several bottles and a couple of jars, all measured to meet international travel requirements. I have found them available at Canadian Tire Corporation and the Solutions Store. They fit perfectly and without fuss into most travel kits - even for those of us who don't travel as much!

Monday, February 9, 2009

Shopping Addiction Revisited

It seems more than a few people are becoming concerned, and now willing to discuss, the very real concern that is a shopping addiction. This recent Chatelaine article on Shopaholics, by Rebecca Caldwell (no known relation), is a healthy discussion on how this addiction looks in real life.

Friday, February 6, 2009

Committing to Turnover

It's the end of the first week in February - have you turned over your year end yet?

Are you still mixing 2008 invoices/receipts with the new 2009 items?

Have you collected your 2008 documentation for year end reports and income tax preparation?

Do you have a designated location for your 2009 invoices/receipts i.e. e file/folder, paper file, folder, envelop or even a plastic bin?

Have you opened up a new file/folder for February 2009 so that January 2009 can be easily identified/located/sorted/recorded ___________ (fill in your own blank).

How much does your small business/home-based business pay in bookkeeping fees?

Would a little more organization reduce that for you?

What could you reinvest in your business with the proceeds?

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Have you scheduled your semi-annual clear out day yet? When was the last one?

Book a day or half day, order the pizza insist that your staff commit to be present for the clear out. This is a very effective tool to ensure your offices do not become a cluttered, unprofessional place that causes you to cringe when clients come knocking!

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Top 5 Series - Excuses Professional Organizers Hear for Disorganization

This probably isn't you, but perhaps someone you know, is chronically disorganized, forever holding everyone else up and causing deadlines to slip, and shrugs off the suggestion for help form a professional organizer or complaints from colleagues with:
  1. "I don't have time to worry about tidy piles of paper". You don't, however, mind asking everyone else to wait while to try and find the quarterly report or have to reprint it because it is truly lost in your mess.
  2. "I don't need to be more organized; I can find anything I want in my office". Except that it takes you three hours to find a single piece of paper or file folder and meanwhile, everyone else is held up in their work.
  3. "I'm not disorganized, I just like to keep things in case I might need them, someday". Meanwhile you keep insisting you need twice as much filing space as everyone else, your office is a stack of boxes covered in dust i.e. haven't been touched in 5 years.
  4. "I am actually very organized. I know exactly where everything is". Have you noticed you are chronically late for meetings, late on work submission, rushing for completion of tasks at the last minute. You think you're organized? Have you asked your colleagues recently?
  5. "I have my own style of organization. No one else would understand it". You might be correct - if you didn't show up for work tomorrow no one else would be able to find any of your relevant work. Your office and your contributions to the company would be dismissed as meaningless.

When we work for someone else, the work they pay us to do generally belongs to that company: files, paper, reports etc. You have an obligation to ensure that if you don't show up to work tomorrow, for whatever reason, someone else can step into your shoes can pick up the baton. When was the last time you asked your colleagues how they feel about waiting for you to finish reports - chronically late

Think about it.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Client Questions - Is Backsliding Failure?

Q I had cleared most of my desk and office and was enjoying being able to see the desk and find things again. Then we had to put a rush on a project and now, two week later, I feel like I am back where I started. In a mess! Is this normal? Will life ever be different?

A In a word, Yes and Yes. Backsliding is a normal part of trying to improve one's level of organization and, for most people, periods of disorganization are a pretty normal part of life. The difference between the generally organized person and the generally disorganized person is there ability to respond and return to a higher level of organization when the flurry dies down. Try these tips to stay on track and return to the track when you feel derailed.
  • If you have a large project on the go, take a tip from the designers and find a container to hold all the project material. If it is paper and the project is too big for a file folder or box folder, get a box, basket, bag or anything else that suits your office and the project. Using a single container will ensure that all the pieces of the project stay together and that the project itself doesn't spread across all your other work. At the end of each day, commit to putting all the project pieces back into its container.
  • If you find yourself backsliding, remember that this is a normal part of progressing in organization. Its ok, you're ok. Avoid beating yourself up. Focus instead on how much you enjoyed being more organized and how much you look forward to catching up again. Renew you commitment to yourself to greater organization and move on.
  • Clear off your desk - even if you have to put everything into a big back to do it. A clear desk will help you think more clearly, breath better and generally function at a higher level.
  • Break down the problem into small, chewable chunks and pick one chunk at a time to work on. If necessary, spend 15 to 30 minutes a day sorting through the paper, regrouping the projects back into their files or containers. You may find that asking a friend or colleague to help will get the job done faster. Try offering to swap organizing time.

Monday, February 2, 2009

Managing Email 4 - No FYI's Thank You!

Here's a tip from Julie Morgenstern's book Never Check Email in the Morning.

Avoid sending FYI's. They clog your inbox and everyone else's and are a tremendous time drain with little reward. Never send an FYI without telling the reader at the beginning of the message why you think it will be of interest to him/her. For example, send and FYA or For your Awareness to keep you boss on the inside track just in case.