Tips for Managing Dyslexia

Individuals coping with dyslexia are often looking for strategies to support them both in the workplace and at home. As a professional organizer, I am often asked about organizing strategies for managing varies learning disabilities. This knol, recently written by Sandra Crux, may be helpful to those of you who are managing with dyslexia. The knol, or bit of knowledge, is designed to be an authoritative article on a subject. Ms. Crux provides a comprehensive collection of strategies for managing dyslexia both for adults and childrens. I hope you find it helpful.

http://knol.google.com/k/sandra-crux/dyslexia-4-using-organizational/8d8s0hdum67q/5#

Boundaries & Borders

For entrepreneurs, small business owners and those of us with home based businesses keeping work and personal life separate becomes a significant challenge. With only one filing cabinet, business and personal files have no choice but to co-habit. If your office is the corner of the family room, tax time may find you with receipts all over the dining room table while you sort, add and prepare for your annual tax submission. Even if you have a large corner office, you may find that there is some information that always gets handled from your office and therefore you keep those files stored at the office. When tax time is over, or the big project is complete, whichever is your reason for extending beyond your "office" boundaries, is it important to develop boundaries and borders that separate work life from personal life.

Working animals, such as sheep herding or seeing eye dogs, have defined cues that tell them when it is time to play and when it is time to work - the harness for example. Without these cues and without clear separation the animals become confused as when they are working and when they are just playing.

The same is true for the rest of us although thank goodness we don't have to wear a harness to tell us when we are at work. Wtihout this clear distinction, however, our lives become imbalanced, productivity decreases and destress time disappears. Here are some tips for home based workers to help maintain boundaries and borders:

• Start by designating an office. No matter how small or large, ensure that the space is preserved for your business work space.
• Separate your files by using a different colour label or file folder for personal and business files. Ideally, use different file drawers.
• Schedule your time so you know when you are "on the clock" and "off the clock". The timing of the work day is less important than the designation of the working hours.
• Use specific cues to tell you when you are at work. This could be a coffee mug that is reserved for work hours, a pair of shoes that you "go to work in".
• If you are working on a big project that requires spilling onto "non office" home space, try designating a large basket to house the project work during non work hours rather than allowing it to takeover the living room completely.

In Favour of Staples

Whether of not you have issues with paper, you probably have both paper clips and staplers in your house/office. Many people are in the habit of paper clipping sheets together because it is quick, easy, they wan't the sheets together and may want to unclip them in the future.

Watch out for those paper clips adopting other documents. Use staples whenever possible over paper clips as the latter will often "clip" up another document that is not meant to be clipped to it. Most recycling opportunities will now take the staples with the documents.

Organizing in Africa

Congratulations to our friends in Africa who have just announced the launch of the Professional Organizer Association Africa. For more information, or to find a professional organizer in that part of the world, check out their web site at http://www.poaa.co.za/.

Go Vertical - Save on Bandages and Headaches

If you are struggling with paper on your desk - or anywhere in your office - the biggest contributing factor may be that you are still storing your active work files horizontally rather than vertically.

Paper likes to be stored horizontally, it won't argue with you. But you will end up with a lot of paper cuts, headaches and lost documents if you are housing files on your desk and credenza in piles. Everytime you go looking for something you have to sort through the whole pile because a document that is horizontal with something on top of it can not be identified. A file folder that is stacked horizontally in the middle of other folders is very hard to identify.

Instead, identify half a dozen files that represent the bulk of your day to day work. Organize the files vertically in a desk top file holder with the labels clearly identified. Using a file label on the file tab makes the label easier to read and easier to reuse. You might try using a specific coloured file folder for these half dozen or so files so that they can always be easily identified when lying around your office.

Sitting in their file holder either on your desk or credenza will make them easy to see, easy to access and reduce the need for sorting through lots of paper - paper cuts and bandages.

Colour Your World

Colour can be a quick and easy way to help with your paper issues. Many clients complain to me that they can get paper into files initially but when they start using the files (projects, meeting agendas etc) the files pile up and the paper starts getting lost. Eventually their desk or credenza becomes a messy pile of files and paper and those familiar feelings of overwhelm and frustration creep in.

Despite our best attempts at limiting the number of documents that are printed, it seems that paper is here to stay - at least for the meantime. Try using coloured files to help with high level decision making, storage and retrieval of paper. For example, if you run a home based business, consider using one colour for personal files and another for business. In a corporate environement, consider one colour for project files and another for operational day to day activities. If your company uses manila folders for environmental reasons, use coloured file labels to help with storage and retrieval.

It is helpful to limit the number of colours and use colour for high level sorting. Too many colour choices can increase organizing challenges especially for individuals who are easily distracted or have difficulty focussing.

Eliminating E-file/Paper File Confusion

I am often told by clients that they can manage to keep one but not both of their information filing systems up to date. Either the paper files are comprehensive and up to date or the e-files are organized and up to date. Often clients find they can't keep them both organized.

A good rule of thumb is to try and mirror your e-file structure to your paper file structure. Give your brain a break and make the sorting process as easy as possible for both electronic and paper files by using just one structure.

Then remember to schedule a regular if not frequent purge.