Entries Tagged 'Office/Paperwork Organizing' ↓

Office organization is not only important in my own office to find what I need, but it is a big part of my business as well.  People are totally overwhelmed with paper all the time and need help with a better system.  So, I had a custom system of labeled folders in my own personal household file drawer that worked just fine for me.  But I wanted to experiment with other systems.  So one day I bought a pre-labeled, color coded system and changed the file system that was already working well for me.  

Did I like it?  No.  Did it work for me?  No.  Could I find what I needed quickly?  No.  Well, why not?  It was neat, it was labeled and I’m sure the system would probably work great for some people.  Especially if they were coming from a place of no system.  The reason it didn’t work for me was because the labels were not worded according to how I think.  I think “Taxes” this system was “Income Taxes.”  I think “Autos” this system was “Vehicle Maintenance.”  That may sound like a small detail, but it was enough to leave me looking longer for a file than I should.  It was also broken up into color coded sections vs. straight alphabetical order which bothered me too.

The other thing that wasn’t as visually appealing, since it was my own file drawer and not a client’s, I had used more than one color of hanging folders that I had on hand.  Things didn’t look quite as cohesive as they should have.

After giving the other system about a year or so trial, last night I worked until 12:30 am putting my old system back in place.  This time with all matching hanginging folders.   Phew.   Sometimes you just don’t know how something will work for you and organizing is not a one size fits all.  Don’t be afraid to make changes that work for you. 

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What a handy little gadget the Time Timer is to help you organize your time!   The next time you need to make sure time doesn’t get away from you, pull out your Time Timer and make sure you are in control; be the boss!  The great feature is the red shading that allows you to see and follow the passage of time.  This can be a very handy tool for children as well.  I had just a regular dial timer when my kids were small and I know how handy even that was for clean up time and many other tasks. 

It can be easy to get sucked into a task like email and before you know it, a 10 minute task turns into a 40 minute task.  That’s not good when you have a deadline to meet or a lot to get done in your day.  Here are some handy ways you can use a timer to keep you on track:

• To set an allotted time for surfing the web
• To set an allotted time for spending  time on social media
• To break down tasks into smaller chunks
• To allow yourself not to feel overwhelmed by a task-you can set the timer and do ‘anything’ for just 15 minutes!
• To give yourself 10 minutes of clean up/put away time at the end of a task or the end of the day
• To keep yourself from wasting time-beat the clock!

You can also purchase software to load onto your computer if you would rather have a Time Timer working on your screen while you are spending time on your computer.  It’s so easy to spend more time than we mean to on the computer.  A great tool to remind kids when their screen time is up as well.

Organize your time and strive to be more productive each day! 

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What a handy little tool my BlackBerry has been to help me organize my office tasks recently!  Do I mean I’ve used it to process emails?  No.  Do I mean I’ve used to to keep track of my schedule while on the go?  Nope.  Does it mean I’ve used it to sync my schedule with Outlook?  Nada.  I’ve simply used the alarm to help me put a cap on how long I am focusing on separate tasks-super simple!

Recently my interior design partner put a status on facebook that she had set a timer for 30 minutes while working in her office and just how much she got done during that 30 minutes.  It can be easy to get caught up and lost in our tasks, especially on email and social media.  Once you get sucked in, you can kinda get lost for a while.  So, instead of feeling like I have to do any one task in my office for long periods of time, I am setting my alarm on my phone, actually for just 15 minute increments.  It really is amazing how much you can get done in one focused 15 minute session.  At first I had the alarm tone that I use to wake me up each day, which of course needs to be somewhat annoying.  That doesn’t work when you are in the middle of concentrating unless you want to give yourself mini heart attacks all day.  So I changed it to a soothing tone to shake me ever more gently out of my current task.  And  it seems to be working. 

Organize your office tasks by breaking tasks into smaller chunks of dedicated time.

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When it comes to home organization, setting up new systems and actually using them, you definitely have to be open to change.  Change in the way of using products that are new to you.  Change in the way of creating new habits by using your new system every day.  Change by having the self-discipline to keep up and maintain your system.  But something else you have to consider, you should even be open to making changes to your ‘new & improved’ system. 

When you first create a new system you have to be sure to give yourself plenty of time to get used to by using it regularly.  You have to give it a fair shake.  It’s not unusual, as time passes,  to realize you may need to make some tweaks here and there to make the system work better for you.  And that’s ok.  It’s better than having to start from scratch, at least you already have a functioning system and now you can just make it better!

The system above worked great for me for my daily “active” business files for a really long time.  I was using poly files that don’t get beat up on the edges, they were colorful and labeled and I could find what I needed.  But over time, I started adding more files which took away the benefit of being ’stepped’ because now files were blocking other files.  Some of my files started getting thicker, which was making them flop over as well.  So, I decided to give a system a try that my colleague uses-photo below.  It is working great for me and I was even able to find colored poly hanging file folders-whoohoo!  Ok, that sounds a little professional organizer geeky now.  What can I say?

So, embrace change in new home organization systems and know that it’s OK to make more changes as your needs evolve!

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I really believe that a huge part of home organization boils down to being prepared.  This little ink cartridge saved the day for me recently!   I was working away in my office, doing some printing, when suddenly I was getting the error message from my printer to add magenta if I would like to continue printing in color.  Oh shoot.  But then it hit me to open my drawer in my office.  There it sat-just the color I needed!  I realized that I had thought ahead the last time I went to Staples and purchased the two colors that were showing signs of being low on my printer.  Had I waited until the ink actually ran out, I would have been stuck in my office that day-either forced to leave my work to go purchase the ink or forced to finish my printing project on another day.  Once I’m in the swing of things, I like to keep going! 

There are so many areas where we can just think ahead a bit so we can be prepared and keep ourselves on track and organized.  Here are a few right off the top of my head:

• Purchase all birthday and special occasion cards at the beginning of the month for the people in your life so you can send them out on time throughout the month
• Keep stamps on hand at all times
• Look at your calendar on Sunday so you can purchase or prepare anything you may need for events during the week
• Have kids load up backbacks for school at night so you don’t have to rush around looking for something in the morning
• Write down what you need to bring with you to events that are on your calendar so nothing gets left behind

There are countless ways to be organized by being prepared, hopefully this just gets you doing a little brainstorming of your own!

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This past Saturday I gave a talk in my local area about Goals and Time Management.  Some of us that were there currently do a lot of our business work from home and realize how important it is to be organized with workflow.  So we talked a little bit about how easy it can be to get distracted by other tasks such as housework or even by time consumers like facebook since it can be so much fun-facebook, not the housework!  So I shared with everyone a picture that I had recently about how I should prioritize my office work.   Knowing just how easy it is to get caught up doing all the little stuff, like making phone calls, checking facebook, cranking out emails, while the more important and longer tasks may take a back seat.

So the picture I had in my head was a triangle.  With the tipy top being where I should start by concentrating on the most important/critical task.  A critical task could be a project with a deadline, a task I need to complete that affects someone else getting their work done, a task that affects my bottom line or maybe even just a task that I am putting off or procrastinating on.  It happens.

Then coming down from the triangle as it gets wider, would be a flow of all the other smaller, less critical tasks.  That’s where the phone calls, texts, facebook updates can fall into place.  It’s easy to knock out the little stuff, but are those tasks really getting you closer to your goals?  Organize you workflow priorities and see things get done!

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After looking at how I have been organizing my home office workflow in parts 1 & 2, I thought we should look at some common time wasters that can seduce us from our work and  tasks at hand.  When working from your own home office, there can be many distractions that come up.  Let’s look at some, you may have others that I haven’t listed as well.  Feel free to leave a comment!

• Taking personal phone calls.  It is very easy to just pick up the phone when you see your favorite person is calling you.  It’s also easy to get sucked into a conversation that takes way longer that you anticipated. 
• Texting.  That chime can be irresistable-I know it is for me!  Turn it off if you are working on one of your critical tasks.
• Checking and responding to email.  Maybe there will be a joke or something positive you come across, it can be like a little surprise!  But you should resist checking email frequently and check it in batches at designated times in your day.
• Errands.  It can be so tempting to jump in the car to get things done more quickly when the kids are off to school.  But before you know it, the day is gone and you didn’t get anything done.  Yet another night spent in the office.
• Housework.  I’m really trying to let this one go and clean later in the afternoon/evening when the kids are home.  I don’t feel as guilty cleaning when they are home as I do sitting in front of the computer.  If I have a pile of laundry to fold on the bed and I do take a break to take a phone call, then I fold quietly while talking.

It takes discipline and a plan to stay focused and organized in your home office; you can do it!

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Well, in part 1 of organizing my home office workflow, I shared how easy it can be to get sidetracked or feel scattered during the day.  Today I’d like to share steps that I have taken to improve my focus and productivity!

• Of course every meeting, talk or appointment I have goes on my calendar, I don’t want anything slippping through the cracks.  You don’t need to rely on your memory for anything-just write it down.
• On Sunday I look at my day planner to see what’s coming up for the week.  I then take a piece of paper and write my ideal week which would be the tasks that need to get done that week.  It might be a talk I need to write.  It may need to be blogs I need to write.  Whatever needs to be done.
• I also created a paper with times typed out and designated slots for certain activities that I know I need to do daily such as twitter and blog right here on DIY.   There are times that haven’t been filled in yet for the next step.
• I then look at my tasks on my “ideal week” sheet and choose the ones I need to do today.  I then fill in the time slots with those tasks.
• I account for time to take a snack break/stretch as I’m in front of the computer a lot as well as lunch time.

Now I feel like I don’t have to jump around so much checking emails and twitter and such when I can count on having a specific time set aside for those activities.   This doesn’t mean every task is going to take the exact amount of time I have alloted-it really is just an estimate.  But if I can stay close to schedule, I know I can get a lot more done in the day realizing I need to go with the flow a bit too.  I feel much more organized and focused now!

Part 3:  Time Wasters.

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I love how much work I am able to do right  from my own home office!  I am able to blog, twitter, write talks, write ebooks, type up client data and on & on.  But working from home can also involve distractions like laundry, phone calls and the urge to quickly clean out the dishwasher (even though it’s a chore I can’t stand).  When you are your own boss and can work at night or on weekends too, it can be easy to get off track or even have a scattered approach to your work because there isn’t quite that cap on your time or work hours to stay within.

So recently, I’ve really been organizing my home office workflow so I feel like I have a better handle on when I do what tasks and making sure everything gets done in a  timely manner.   I want to feel like I am accomplishing more during the day instead of being on the computer so much at night.  I have decided that in place of the computer at night, I would like to devote more time to exercise and meditation (I’m new at that) and also use that time to clean my house so it’s fresh for the next day.  It’s distracting for me to try to work knowing things are out of place in the house.

Next blog I will share the way I am organizing my workflow!

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Well, today I had an explosion in my office.  Not from a gas leak, not from fireworks, not from anger, but from me running in and throwing things down on my desk as well as spreading out projects.  Can I think like this?  No.  Can I work like this?  No.  So, before I could sit down and work effectively, I had to get a handle on the situation. 

So, here’s a ‘before’ photo and the steps for getting organized in my office:

Step #1:  I quickly put papers and folders where they needed to go.  A lot of the mess was just from me simply not taking the time to put something away.  Closing my file drawer and just putting things back in their rightful place quickly changed the look in the room.  Actually, it took 8 minutes to be exact.  Under 10 minutes and I was almost back in business.

Step #2:  I took the papers that I needed to work on and quickly sorted them by the order in which I wanted to work on them.  This gave me a chance to decide which projects were of the highest priority and work my way down.  This sorting took 1 minute.

Step #3:  It was time to sit down and get to the work.  Now I could think.  Now I could work.

I don’t recommend throwing papers down on your desk.  But I know that we all get busy and we don’t always work in a way that is neat at all times.  The reason it was easy for me to organize my office quickly, was really because I already had systems in place.  Today my main task was really to restore order. 

So, here is the ‘after’ photo:

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