Archive for Office Organizing – Page 6

The Disappearing Desk – Take 2

Posted by Carolyn on

December 9, 2008

Many people struggle with a desk covered in paper, files, reports and debris from the work day. There is now doubt, trying to get a grip back once this has got away from you can be an overwhelming task. Try this to get back control:

As usual, start small. Take 5 minutes first thing in the morning to sort just one corner of your desk. Sort the paper by date, project, time line or subject. There is no right or wrong way only a way that makes sense to you.
At the end of the day, take another 5 minutes to file the piles you sorted this morning. Sorting takes far more brain power, decision making and emotional/intellectual energy than filing. Do the filing at the end of the day.

Try this for 28 consecutive work days. I promise you that at the end of the 28 days your desk and your organization will be at a very different place – a very good place.

Office Organizing

Tags : desktop, home office, Paper, SOHO

Clearing out Files

Posted by Carolyn on

December 5, 2008

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The end of the year is an excellent time to purge out your files and make room for the next year’s activities. Before starting, make sure you are familiar with your company’s Document Retention policies and procedures. If you head up a company, make sure that you have document retention policies and that your employees know what they are so that they can also clear out some files. If you run a small business or home based business you may want to check with your accountant for the retention requirements of business and tax documentation.

With all the rules taken care up, try starting small. Purging files is not the most exciting thing to do no matter which way you look at them. Try committing just 30 minutes a day for each of the next ten work days before the holidays. You’ll be surprised what you can accomplish in the total of 5 hours.

Office Organizing

Tags : Document Retention, Filing, Paper

Countdown to January 1, 2009

Posted by Carolyn on

December 3, 2008

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It’s coming – no matter how you try and stave it off, the new year will be here in 27 days.

That means a number of things to a number of people; budgets, performance appraisals, sales targets are just some of the items that are lurking just beyond that January 1 holiday. How to get on top of it?

Start by listing all the items you know are due in the first weeks of the new year. Now start to plan when you will get them accomplished. Take out the calendar, look at the weeks ahead. Wow, already pretty packed right? That’s the problem with trying to get much of anything done during the month of December.

Nevertheless push on. Book in 2 – 3 hour blocks to accomplish those tasks due in the first couple of weeks. On your list of things to do, make a note of all the bits that need to be accomplished in addition to just getting the work done. Is there information you need to gather? Book time with your staff for performance appraisals? Pull together the sales reports? Now get these items booked in the calendar.

Smile and look forward to the New Year knowing your new year tasks are booked and ready to be tackled.

Holiday Organizing Office Organizing

Tags : Goals, Planning, Time Management

Fussing about Filing

Posted by Carolyn on

December 1, 2008

· No Comments

Probably the number one item that clients want me to help them fix in either their home or their office is paper and filing. It seems that paper, and keeping track of the pieces we wish to keep, is a struggle even for the most organized.

Most people struggle over the structure of the filing system. “If I file something in here, I never know where it is and can never find it again.”My advice to clients is that there is no perfect filing system. There are good commercial systems, (e.g. Paper Tiger), there are common systems (alphabetized) often used in corporate settings and then there are the rest of us.

It is important that you pick a structure that works for you. If you organize visually, try using coloured files. If you are tend to talk to yourself and are auditorily oriented, try using file headings like “Keep this for Income Tax Time” or “Things I keep to refer back to”. Sound corny? Who cares? If it works for you, that’s all that matter.

Office Organizing

Tags : Files, Filing, Paper

Frustrated with Files

Posted by Carolyn on

December 1, 2008

· No Comments

Probably the number one item that clients want me to help them fix in either their home or their office is paper and filing. It seems that paper, and keeping track of the pieces we wish to keep, is a struggle even for the most organized.

Most people struggle over the structure of the filing system. “If I file something in here, I never know where it is and can never find it again.”

My advice to clients is that there is no perfect filing system. There are good commercial systems, (e.g. Paper Tiger), there are common systems (alphabetized) often used in corporate settings and then there are the rest of us.

It is important that you pick a structure that works for you. If you organize visually, try using coloured files. If you are tend to talk to yourself and are auditorily oriented, try using file headings like “Keep this for Income Tax Time” or “Things I keep to refer back to”. Sound corny? Who cares? If it works for you, that’s all that matter.

Office Organizing

Tags : Files, Filing, labelling, Labels, organizing files, Paper

Where is Everything – Policies and Procedures

Posted by Carolyn on

November 27, 2008

· No Comments

Do you have current policies and procedures for your company?
Do you know where they are?
Do your employees know where they are?
Do they know what they say?
Do you have document retention policies?
Do you know what the means?
Do you know what the law in your jurisdiction says about retaining documents?
Do your employees know what the law in your jurisdiction says about retaining documents?
Do your employees know what your company mission is?
Do they share the vision?
Are your mission, vision and values reflected in your policies and procedures?

Office Organizing

Tags : Document Retention, Paper, Policies and Procedures, Where is Everything?

When do I Shred?

Posted by Carolyn on

November 21, 2008

· No Comments

As a professional organizer, I am frequently asked by clients whether or not they need to shred paper that is being sent to the recycling bin.

In business, as in the residential setting, anything that identifies you and can be traced back to you via account number, address and the worst identifier – payment account number – must be shredded to protect your identity. You do not want this material wondering around once the the recycling material gets into the public domain i.e. out of your hands.

In addition, int he case of business, you must protect the identify of your clients. So, if your clients or their business with you, which, in most cases you are obliged to keep confidential, you must shred the material.

When in doubt, shred.

Office Organizing

Tags : Paper, shredding

Client Questions – When do I Shred

Posted by Carolyn on

November 21, 2008

· No Comments

As a professional organizer, I am frequently asked by clients what paper needs to be shredded and what can go straight into the recycling bin. Recently I was asked specifically about some old utility statements that a client was throwing out.

Most utility bills have enough information on them to be able to identify you clearly. That’s why its on your bill. Some even contain billing and payment information. This is not information that you want public if it were to go astray. Shred.

As a rule of thumb, if there is anything on the bill to identify you, shred it. When in doubt, shred. You can always sit down with your television show some night after the kids are in bed and shred away during the commercial breaks.

Office Organizing

Tags : Client Questions, home office, Paper, shred, SOHO

Stick to your Agenda

Posted by Carolyn on

November 19, 2008

· No Comments

If you are in the habit of holding meetings, make sure you commit to using and sticking to an agenda. Make the purpose of the meeting clear along with the time you expect that objective to take. If necessary, time out the items on the agenda to ensure you and your meeting participants keep to the time allotted for the meeting. Keep this a habit and people will be happy to attend meetings that you chair.

Office Organizing

Tags : Agenda, Meetings, Time Management

Calm the Visual Noise

Posted by Carolyn on

November 18, 2008

· No Comments

If you are working from a home office, you may be struggling with getting everything to fit into a relatively small space. One of the challenges is to keep the space visually calm while keeping all the tools and supplies of the home office contained.

To accomplish this, consider using same colour containers. Whether they are the same style or even shape won’t matter so much if they are all the same colour. The result will be a visually quiet space. Multiple colours create visually noise and can be distracting while you are working.

If you use different coloured containers as a mechanism to identify them, consider using complimentary colours. While they may be different, the appearance with be less like noise and more like music.

Office Organizing

Tags : containers, home office, Office, organize with colour, SOHO, visual noise

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