Tips for an Organized 2019

January! It’s the month we equate with new beginnings, fresh ideas and motivation to create a more productive work environment. Walking into an office with stacks of papers on the desk and loads of emails in your inbox can zap that productive motivation. As the saying goes, “a cluttered work area is the sign of a cluttered mind.” Keeping your workspace clean and work day organized can have a huge effect on your output and concentration.

Here are 5 easy ways to organize your desk and time to create a more productive 2019!

1. Keep your work space clean. Nothing can be more frustrating than trying to find that one important piece of paper in stacks on your desk OR somewhere in your digital clutter. Make it a habit to immediately file any important documents so it can be easily retrieved. Also, don’t ever save documents loosely to the desktop on your computer.  Before you know it, the desktop will be full of random documents to endlessly search through. Create a digital file system to save any important attachments.

2. Keep your email inbox clean.  Do you find it overwhelming opening an inbox full of hundreds of emails? An inbox should never be used as a catch file for information you may want down the road. You need to adopt the “one pass rule.” Allow yourself to keep an email in your inbox for one day only. Once you read through it again, you need to do one of the following:

• Answer the email and DELETE!
• Save the email and or its attachment to the digital file system you created and DELETE!
• Add any to-do item or meeting to your calendar or “To-Do List” and DELETE!
• The number one rule in your mind should be “Don’t be afraid to DELETE!

 

3. Write everything down. In today’s fast paced digital world, multi-tasking is needed to keep your head above water and is expected by employers. It is not realistic for someone to be able to remember everything that needs to be done only in their head. For those recurring weekly items, place it on your calendar in reoccurring mode so it pops with a weekly reminder. The one pass rule applies here as well… only allow yourself to snooze the activity once. When it comes up again, either take care of it or write it down on your daily “To-Do List”. This brings me to the second critical desk item… keep a notebook on your desk listing all your daily To-Do items. Use this list to remind yourself from day-to-day what was left from the night before, any quick needs from your co-worker that must be taken care of, or things that pop into your head as you are working on another project. Now you can totally concentrate on the task at hand!

4. Be on Time. Constantly feeling hurried? Are you running from one thing to the next?  When setting meetings or lunches, be realistic about how long it will take. Scheduling appointments too close together will make the meeting less effective, because you will be more focused on the time instead of the agenda. Another quick tool is to schedule the meeting on your calendar for the drop-dead time you need to leave the office in order to make the appointment on time. Scheduling appointments this way in your calendar, instead of the actual appointment time, can help build space in your schedule and alleviate that hurried feeling caused by mismanaging time.

5. Clean your desk at the end of the day. When you walk into a messy office first thing in the morning, it can make you feel “behind the eight ball” and you haven’t even started the day! Before you leave the office, get in the habit of: putting away any projects you have been working on, going through your emails one more time to delete those not needed and finally updating your To-Do List for the next day. Coming into an organized workspace like this the next morning will make you feel prepared for the day ahead.

These simple habits will make you more efficient and inspire you to tackle anything that comes your way in the year to come. Cheers to an organized 2019!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Missy Wilson, Vice President/CFO