Stop wasting time looking for papers lost on your desk,
running down to the office supply store for last minute
printer ribbons, or working 24-7. Use these tips to get
more organized, streamline your repetitive activities and
plan ahead to prevent office crises and uproar.
Tip #1 - Find special places for special papers…and then
put them there. One colleague lost a full fee check
somewhere on her desk and was too embarrassed to ask her
client for another one. Now she has an old fashioned “clamp
on a stick” to hold every check that comes in until they
can be deposited. Use color-coding to distinguish types of
work, the importance of the project, and increase the
likelihood of finding the file when you need it.
Color-coding cuts down considerably on
Tip #2Â -Â Use color-coding to distinguish types of work,
the importance of the project, and increase the likelihood
of finding the file when you need it. Color-coding cuts
down considerably on hunting through similar files to find
just the one that’s needed.
Tip #3Â -Â Meet with yourself once a week to work on your
business. Review your marketing activities, sales
activities, client needs and financial status to save hours
of clean up time for missing a commitment, or big bucks
from passing on a lurking opportunity.
Tip #4Â -Â Clean off your desk before finishing work for
the week. Transfer all the little notes, phone numbers,
ideas and dates into your calendar, database or project
files…and set out your files and papers for Monday morning
appointments.
Tip #5Â -Â Work only five days a week. By putting
boundaries on your work, you’ll increase the quality of the
time you do work, and nurture yourself and your
relationships. (If you are one of the 24-7 types, you may
need to go into this gradually.) Take three to four months
by cutting back gradually until you are down to no more
than a 40-50 hour week.
Tip #6Â -Â Lay in a reserve of supplies to avoid last
minute trips for cartridges and long lines at the post
office. Extend this to your personal life: buy a month’s
supply of underwear, a six month’s supply of paper
products, laundry soap, and toiletries.
Tip #7Â -Â Use the Internet to do research, order supplies,
pay bills, purchase commodities and books, and movie
tickets. The money you’ll save by not taking time out for a
trip to the office supply store, as well as all the impulse
buys you’ll avoid, will more than cover the delivery
charges.
Tip #8Â -Â Guard the precious prime geography on your desk.
Leave a space to work, and a space for special papers that
are “must do today” will go a long way in helping you feel
more organized and be more productive.
Tip #9Â -Â Throw it out, pass it on. Pass on left over, no
longer needed office supplies, file folders, and binders to
a local not-for profit agency or favorite school teacher.
Tip #10Â -Â Finish Fully. This from Dru Scott, author of
How to Put More Time in Your Life. Stop wandering from
project to project, task to task, being distracted by
have-to’s or half-finished chores along the way. If you’re
not careful, you’ll end the day with even more
half-finished projects that clutter both your mind and your
office. Prepare the invoice, put it into an envelope,
address it, put a stamp on it, and then onto the out pile.
Closure, even with small tasks, helps engender a feeling of
accomplishment and satisfaction, relieving stress, and
releasing energy for the next thing that needs to be done.
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Need to get your small business more strategic, organized,
automated? Click here => http://www.1PersonBusiness.com for
Pat Wiklund’s complimentary introductory course on How to
Run a One-Person Business Without It Running You.
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