Holly Uverity CPO®, Office Organizers
It’s important to use the correct tools for whatever project you’re working on, whether it’s hammering a nail, painting a room, scheduling meetings or getting organized. There are industry specific tools, i.e., proprietary software and job specific tools, i.e., a hammer. Both types of tools are valuable and both need to be used appropriately.
There are also universal tools that anyone can use, regardless of their industry and regardless of their job, to help them get and stay organized. Following are my top 5 tools for getting and staying organized; anyone can use them and everyone should.
- Spiral Notebook
A simple spiral notebook tops my list. It must open like a book; it can be bound on the top or the side but it must be able to be flipped open and closed. The size is not as important as the fact that it flips open. A lined pad of paper doesn’t work the same way as a bound notebook. Once you start flipping the pages of a pad, everything but the most current information gets lost because you never flip “backward”; you only flip “forward.” Additionally, because the paper is perforated at the top, eventually the top few pages will begin separating from the pad and eventually will come off altogether. With a bound notebook, the information never gets lost because the notebook is designed to be used both forward and backward. Use one notebook to replace scratch paper and sticky notes and you’ll never lose an important piece of information again.
- Trash Cans, Recycle Bins, Shred Bins
Statistics show that 80% of what you file you never reference again. If the purpose of saving something is to refer back to it and you never do that, why are you saving it in the first place? Trash cans, recycle bins and/or shred bins are great first defenders in the war on clutter. If you don’t save it in the first place, it never gets an opportunity to become clutter. Ensure that your bins are large enough to suit your needs; if your cans or bins become too full too quickly, buy larger ones. And be sure to place them where you will actually use them and not just where they look good. You want function over form.
- In and Out Boxes
Instead of calling it an In Box, call it a Dump. You need a place to dump stuff in your office so it doesn’t become a pile on your desk. Your Dump box will help keep your desktop surface clear and thus, effective. Training your officemates to use your Dump box will also ensure that you no longer come back from lunch to find work in your chair. You work through your Dump on a regular basis and work that needs to be done goes into your Action Drawer (see below.) An Out box works the same way; instead of piling things up on your desk that need to leave your office, put them in the Out box. Even if it’s your job to distribute what leaves your office, accumulate your Out items, then take a break and distribute them all at once.
- Action and Reference Drawers
Every desk should have one drawer set aside for action items, work that needs to be done, projects to be completed, current, hot, or active, whatever you call it. It is the one place your “work” goes. Having one location has multiple benefits; you no longer search through piles for work that needs to be done and when new work comes in, you know immediately what to do with it. It eliminates having to ask yourself, “What am I going to do with this?” If it’s work, it goes in this drawer, period. The same is true for reference, information you refer to constantly in order to get your work completed belongs in a reference drawer. Making room in your desk for these two important drawers eliminates clutter, makes a huge visual impact on your office and allows you to focus on what you need to get done instead of getting distracted by what is scattered all over your desktop.
- One Calendar System
I am constantly amazed at how many people juggle their calendars, or worse, don’t use calendars consistently. It’s impossible to keep everything in your head, so why try? Many people like to keep work and personal appointments in separate places, but that can cause missed appointments and double bookings if you don’t have access to both calendars at the same time. Using one calendar system can make an immediate difference in your stress level. I recommend using one system and developing a method to differentiate personal from work appointments; color is a great way to indicate which appointment is which. If you’re an Outlook user and share calendars but don’t want your office to see your personal appointments, you can create them so they will see that you are not available but they won’t be able to see the details of the appointment.
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Office Organizers is The Entrepreneurپfs Organizer. Founded in 1993, they work with business people to create solutions to their organizational challenges. Contact them at 281.655.5022, www.OfficeOrganizers.com or www.fb.com/OfficeOrganizers.
