Get Out ..............of Your Office with these Tips!

Tips to Organize Your Office and Your Workday

“Plan the work and work the plan,” is a phrase I have heard many times. Do you wonder what you will do today or do you work the plan? If your office is in chaos you might be wondering how to fix it. Boy do I have some solutions for you!

First let me reiterate a quote from Peter Walsh, “physical clutter equals mental clutter.” When your eyes and mind are being bombarded with visual clutter it clouds your mind and judgment. It may make you feel uneasy and unable to focus. So I’m going to let you in on some simple tips to get you started organizing your office and workday!

1.   Reduce the visual clutter. Grab a trash bag and a box. Anything that is obviously garbage or recycling goes in either the bag or box.

2.   Set goals. What do you want out of life? Out of your business? Out of your week or day? If you take a trip and don’t have a map and a plan to get where you are going, how will you know when you have arrived?

3.   Separate your work and personal life. If both must coincide in your office, make sure that your work paperwork and accessories stay separate from your personal paperwork and accessories.

4.   If you don’t have an actual office space, make do with what you have now. Use two sawhorses and an old door for a desk. Use boxes as your filing cabinet. Just make sure that the space you have is designated for you to work.

5.   The night before, make a list of what needs to be done the next day. Rank the to-do’s as to importance. Complete the list in that order. What does not get done that day will go on to be tomorrow’s to-do list.

6.   Group to-do’s together. If you need to make phone calls, make them all at once.

7.   Organize your files. 

8.   Once your papers are filed, maintain it. Take the last 5 minutes out of every day to file your paperwork. If you don’t have time or don’t want to do it, then hire someone to take care of it for you.

9.   Set your work hours. Stick to them.

10. Store your excess office supplies in a cabinet or closet. Group like items together so that you know what you have. For example – store your paper, files and envelopes together.

11. Use a notebook to write down your thoughts and ideas instead of grabbing a post it. This way you will have one place to look for everything.

After your office is organized, you’ll “wonder” why you didn’t do it sooner. You will benefit in extra income and extra time.