Getting Organized

Do you want to gain more enjoyment, productivity and lessen the stress of every day life? You can achieve that goal by getting organized. Below are several things you can do to make your life easier. If you manage your time and streamline your activities, you will begin to find more hours in your day and be able to enjoy the fruits of your labor.

• Set short-term and long-term goals. What would you do or change to run your business more efficiently by the end of the year? What do you want for the business three years from now: five years from now?
• Develop a filing system for all the papers and bills. You can eliminate 20% of your stress by keeping on top of the filing, paying bills and keeping notes.
• Learn how to donate or throw away things. If you haven’t used it in a year - get rid of it! If it hasn’t worked in over 6 months - fix it or get rid of it! If it doesn’t fit into the scheme of things - get rid of it! You get the idea.
• Keep your organizing simple. You want to work smarter-not harder and the best method is to keep things down to the most simplistic form. You’ll find it is the easiest and least expensive way to operate your business.
• Learn to save time by planning ahead. If you know that you will need to order supplies from a vendor, check with all the departments, make a list and then get everything with one phone call or in one trip. Because you were prepared, it will make it easier on everyone. Plus, ordering efficiently could save money on shipping charges or give you a quantity or dollar amount discount.

Getting organized and planning ahead will give you peace of mind and make your life less stressful. You deserve that feeling of contentment.

How do you get organized? Help others by leaving your tips in the comment area.

Oganize Your Office Papers

What is the worst thing to organize in the office? You guessed it – Papers. I don’t care what type of work you do or where you are on the so-called corporate ladder, we all have to handle paper work. Sometimes it seems to take over our lives. Here are a few ways to organize your office papers.

Set Up a System: This could be a simple inbox for receiving, reviewing and storing your daily mail and papers. The main thing is to have an exact place designated to hold incoming items. Also, have an outgoing box to add even greater organization. Avoid paper piles. When you acquire a piece of paper, you should do one of three things: file it, write the information down elsewhere (such as in your scheduler or computer) or toss it.

File Effectively: Files exist to assist us. Organize your filing system in a way that will permit you to recover papers swiftly and only keep the papers that are needed. When it comes to filing, "file to retrieve it - not to store it." Determine what system will work best for you such as by client, by project, by color coding and so on, then make sure everyone uses that system.

Sort and Eradicate: Look at your current files. Are others able to retrieve things in your absence? Are files easy to get to with space for future growth? Do you know the contents in each one of your files? If you answered "no" to any of these questions, you should spend some time sorting and eradicating.

Streamline the Papers: If you have an electronic document, don’t be tempted to print a hard copy too. Keep a task list stapled to the inside front cover of each file folder with all the steps or tasks needed for that project. This way you can refer to the list whenever you work on that file. Staple a few blank sheets of paper to the inside back cover of your file folder and use them to take notes of conversations, memos and meetings that pertain to that file. Then you will always have the notes right where you need them.

Master List: Stop keeping sticky notes or tiny pieces of paper all over the place. Almost every computer has some type of office software built in – USE IT. I use a task launcher program that has just about everything I need to stay organized: calendar, scheduler, to do list, contacts, etc. I leave this program minimized on my screen and whenever someone gives me a note, I enter the information into my computer then throw away the scrap of paper.

By implementing these simple ways to organize your office papers, you can increase your competency and productivity. As you develop systems to keep you organized, you will be able to transform your life, not just your space.

5 Ways To Get Organized And Increase Your Profits

Did you know that the average employee waste 96 minutes per day just because they work in a disorganized workspace? And it’s frustrating when you can’t find something you need whether it’s a screwdriver or a report. If you follow these 5 ways to get organized in the work areas, you’ll not only increase employee happiness and productivity but also increase your profits!

It will be worth the effort to make these few changes.

   1. Look at the over-all picture. Go through every room and work area, make your mind up what it is that you want to do with that room and write it down.
   2. See if you can find any hidden storage areas. Decide if you want to add another shelf on the wall, use the storage space on the inside of a door (hang a clear plastic shoe storage and put tools in it) or maybe use space under a piece of equipment.
   3. Get organizing products. Walk through a home supply store, discount store or office supply store and look for simple storage items. Don’t limit yourself to advertised uses - use your imagination. You don’t have to spend big bucks on fancy things – put an egg carton in a drawer to hold small items. It will give you a feeling of a job-well-done and help organize the space.
   4. Consider daily activities, routines and traffic at work. Place items where they are going to do you the most good. Something that you use on a daily basis should not be on a high shelf. A piece of equipment should be kept in or near the room where you use it the most.
   5. Know why you want to get organized. Are you doing this for time management, traffic flow or to serve your customers better? In order to do a job 100% to your liking you need to do the job right or not at all. By not having your heart into it, you will get stressed, frustrated, waste money and not have a useable time saving solution to your problem.

Once you start thinking about ways to get organized around the work areas, you’ll find endless solutions and feel better about the efficiency of the workplace – and increase your profits!