L ook at your desk.
Is it clean, completely cleared of, well, you know what covers desks?
Or, is it like mine?
At this writing I have, in order, a new computer magazine, a credit card bill or two (ah, or three, but who’s counting?), a book and a publicist’s memo and few PR memos. And that’s what’s visible. Who knows what’s beneath.
My desk is a mess.
How’s yours?
If you are like my neighbor, Chris, a major Microsoft vendor, it is immaculate. I know this because I just checked his home office for water damage after the recent “rains.”
There wasn’t any.
There also wasn’t one piece of paper out of order.
Perhaps that’s because his main office is in California. I have no idea what his primary desk looks like, but smart money says it also is immaculate. (He’s that kind of guy.)
I do know that 52 percent of Americans consider their work area as chaotic.
You and I, should have done this a few weeks ago, as a New Year resolution that probably now would be broken.
But January isn’t over. And, after all, this is “Get Organized Month.”
We have over a dozen or so years offered countless tips on how to control your desktop rubble.
So, we’re here to do it again.
This time we’ll start with a new approach. My wife, sick of hearing my promises and daily seeing the rubble rise on the desk, said, “How about me sitting down with you and going through all of this stuff? You need someone to say, this press release is three years old, so trash it.”
A great tip for you. Get a friend or your spouse to help you cut the clutter.
As for me, fat chance.
Another super idea comes from organization consultant Sharon Mann. She says to do your organizational work at the end of the working day. “If you make it a point to take a couple of minutes at the end of each day and organize your workspace, you can make it a habit.”
Use this time to cut the FAT. For each loose paper, either File it, Act on it or Trash it (now).
For the filing challenged, Mann offers a refreshing idea. Ditch the manila folders and buy files of color. Assign papers associated with each project or client by color. For general filing, use the following color-coding system:
Red: Hot files needing immediate attention.
Green: Accounts receivable, payable, budgets or other financial documents.
Yellow: Important papers for ongoing projects not requiring immediate attention.
Blue: Cold documents that may be needed for future reference.
To decide whether to keep (and therefore file) or throw away an item, ask, “Will I truly need this again? Is this item critical to my business, my job or my life?”
Religiously use time management books or software to track your daily activities. Schedule important tasks, meetings and appointments in your daily planner. Include both professional and personal items, including deadlines for mailing or sending payment for every bill you owe. When completed, check off each item. This quickly leads to a sense of accomplishment.
In scheduling your upcoming day, Mann suggests leaving 15 minutes between tasks. This ensures that major projects are allotted adequate time, while minimizing the risk of last-minute interruptions disrupting your entire day.
To limit desk clutter, other organizational consultants recommend keeping hardware items (Rolodex, disk holders, stapler, tape dispenser) you use frequently on your desk surface. Take an inventory. If you haven’t used an item in a week, place it away from the desktop but within reach.
Also, treat e-mail as paper. Read it and either file it (in an electronic file), act of it or delete it. Remember to include e-mail when you backup your critical computer files on a CD-ROM, diskette or tape drive.
That’s enough to get you started on the road to organizational harmony.
As for me, I think I’ll take my wife’s advice. Needless to say, I need help.
Write Eric Zoeckler at The Herald, P.O. Box 930, Everett, WA 98206 or e-mail mrscribe@aol.com.
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