By Holly Uverity CPO®, Office Organizers
Clients often breathe a sigh of relief when I tell them that just because their office is cluttered, doesn’t necessarily mean that they are disorganized. Piles of paper all over an office, unread reading material, unopened mail, and responses not written all point to both clutter and disorganization. However, organized offices can frequently look cluttered and, conversely, just because an office looks neat and tidy, doesn’t mean that it’s organized.
Let’s say you work with Joe whose office appears neater than yours because instead of piles on his desk, he has neatly arranged rows. Oftentimes, one row represents work that needs to be done today, another row contains items that can be done later, and another row contains items Joe doesn’t want to forget. Do you think that Joe is better organized than you are because his work is laid out neatly on his desk? If so, you’re wrong; he’s not better organized, he’s just neater. Your stacks may be vertical and his may be horizontal but they’re still stacks. A pile is a pile is a pile.
People often think that cleaning and clearing are synonymous with organizing but they are only a part of organizing. You need to do them but you also need to do more. Here’s a simple way for you to think about being neat versus being organized: If your office is cluttered and you have to hold a meeting there in five minutes, shoving everything into a drawer to hide it will make your office neat but it won’t be organized.
Take this quick quiz to see if you are organized or simply neat; the answers may surprise you:
- Do your current/active/hot files have a specific place in your office? Can you easily clear your space if you need to?
Organized offices have specific, designated places for everything; neat offices have items hidden away or stacked tidily wherever there is room for them.
- Do you keep track of your current and upcoming projects by referring to your To Do List and/or calendar or do you need to see your projects to know what to do next?
Organized people rely on lists and calendars to keep them on track; neat people rarely use lists or calendars. They believe they can keep track of everything they need to do by laying it out neatly on their desks.
- Do you ever change how you manage your work or have you been working the same way for years and years?
Organized people take advantage of new tools and techniques to better manage their time and space; neat people don’t see a need to change the way they’ve worked since their office is always tidy.
Remember that any organized office may look messy at any point during a workday but if everything in your office has a home AND you can easily clear your desk at the end of every day, you’re organized. Neatness and organization can go hand in hand but not always do.
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Office Organizers is The Entrepreneur’s 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.
