8 Ways to Simplify Your Desk and Get Organized
Many of us (employers included) believe that a cluttered desk is a sign of a hard-working employee. If you classify rifling through papers looking for lost documents (statements, reports, documents, mail, bills, etc.) then you’re right – that is hard work, but not very useful. If you’re constantly reading/answering emails (business or personal) then you really are not maximizing your time to its fullest efficiency. Don’t work hard, work smart. Here are my 8 tips:
1. Use clearly marked folders to get organized. Have a folder as an “Inbox”. Encourage those around you (employers, co-workers, staff, etc.) to use your Inbox Folder and to NOT leave things on your desk. Also ask that NOTHING be left on your chair. Some people believe that if they leave something on your chair, you will “see it” and thus you will “take care of it” expeditiously – wrong! Imagine coming back from lunch or the rest-room only to find documents on your chair? This just causes stress and annoyance. Do not let them do it!
Use another clearly marked folder for projects you are working on (your Inbox Folder will eventually have documents moved to this folder.) Create another folder for Accounts Payables and go through this folder (checking due dates) a day or two before signing checks, then create a separate folder for marked “Bills to be Paid.”
You must have a folder for filing, maybe a separate folder for each “type” of things you have to file (your file-clerk will love you.) For instance, have a File Folder for Statements, another File Folder (from A to Z) for Customer Copies, and so on and so forth.
Keep your folder system, along with “blank” folders for new needs, in a neat folder rack at your desk. They should always be at the ready and checked at least twice daily. Folders are great organizing tools.
2. You must have a clutter-free work space on your desk directly in front of you. You need this valuable piece of real estate so that you can place whatever you’re working on in front – and NOT atop of something else (that’s how deadlines get missed and/or things get lost.) Keep a small notebook nearby to jot down ideas, “to-do” lists, and the like.
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