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7 Organizing Secrets of Successful People
What is your definition of success? At the very least, you probably desire a certain amount of free time and money. Getting organized will help you be successful, however you define it. 1. Control your time instead of letting it control you. Have a...
Development Procedures for Building Effective Management Systems: Phase III
You have permission to publish this article free of charge, as long as the resource box is included with the article. If you do run my article, a courtesy reply to sean@bizmanualz.com would be greatly appreciated. This article is 592 words long...
Disciplines For A Home Office
A home office is an interesting place. It has the status of being a place to work, yet sometimes people are unable to work in it.
If it’s a home office that people can’t work in, then its purpose is defeated, isn’t it?
The thing that’s...
Does Your Life Include a RIPE Plan?—Planning Tips for Retirement, Investing, Protection, and Estate Planning – Part 1 (Retirement)
Does Your Life Include a RIPE Plan?—Planning Tips for Retirement, Investing, Protection, and Estate Planning – Part 1 (Retirement) by: Janet L. Hall No matter what your age or years of work, it’s almost never too late to start planning for your...
Your Office and Lingerie
Your Office and Lingerie By: Janet L. Hall Most commonly it is up to secretaries and office personnel to keep the office running smooth, efficient, and not waste time or money. Yet many sales people don't have this luxury. Try the 10 tips below...
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Clearing Office Clutter
The Oxford Canadian Dictionary defines clutter as "a crowded and untidy collection of things" or "an untidy state." When we don't have designated places for all our belongings, clutter is often the result. Even if you have established organizational systems, you will face problems with clutter unless you have a plan to find homes for every single article you bring into your office. Otherwise, it's too easy to set things on top of your desk, filing cabinet, or another surface "for now." All too often, "for now" ends up becoming "forever" or at least until things reach the point that you can no longer tolerate the clutter. If you're already at this point, the following tips may help you get back on track.
The first thing you must do is set aside time to deal with the clutter. Many small business owners feel they are too busy to do this, but in reality, the time you'll save once everything is organized will more than make up for it. You might choose to block off a day or two just to concentrate on this project, if your schedule allows it. If not, set aside an hour a day or a couple of hours a week and keep at it until there's no clutter left in your office. Treat this appointment with yourself the same way you would treat an appointment with one of your clients - don't cancel it unless you have a dire emergency, and don't deviate from the task at hand by taking phone calls or getting distracted by other work.
The best place to begin decluttering your office is with your desk. There is no reason to keep anything in your work area than the things that you are currently working on. Your current projects should be kept where you can access them easily, but rather than keeping them in piles on your desk, they should be organized into clearly labeled file folders. It's very likely that those piles of paper on your desk include information which is out of date and can be discarded, as well as documents that you need to keep, but are not currently using, which can be filed in your filing cabinet.
Once your work area is clutter free, you need to go through your files and discard anything you no longer need, shredding all documents which contain confidential information, of course. Large organizations usually have a retention schedule that dictates how long certain types of information must be kept. If you're not sure, it may be wise to consult a lawyer or accountant to determine how long certain documents must be retained by law in your area. Items which are needed for legal
or other reasons, but not referred to on a regular basis, should be put in an archive area, such as a lower file drawer, storage room, or offsite storage, depending on the volume of paper you have and the space you have available.
While going through your files, be sure to pull out any documents which don't seem to belong in their existing file folder so you can find a more suitable home for them.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, getting rid of the clutter is only half the battle. Maintenance is equally important, and here are three tips to help keep clutter from coming back.
1. Make a practice of handling each document only once, if possible. When you open your mail or email, deal with it immediately. If it's about an upcoming meeting or other event, copy the information into your planner, then get rid of it. If it's a quick question, answer it immediately, then discard it. If you may need the information again in the future and it's not readily available elsewhere, file it, don't just put it back in your inbox. There will be some items that cannot be dealt with immediately. These should be noted on your "to do" list and the document placed in the appropriate folder on your desk.
2. Implement a "clean desk" policy where desks must be cleared of all paperwork at the end of each work day.
3. Set a filing schedule to prevent a backlog of unfiled documents. You often need to refer to something you've worked on recently, and you don't want to have to sift through piles of paperwork to find it. How often you need to do filing will depend on the volume of paper you keep, but the important thing is to keep it up to date.
A tidy office is only one of the benefits of getting rid of clutter. When your work environment is clutter-free, you'll be more productive, because there will be fewer things to distract you from the task at hand. You'll be less likely to forget about things you're supposed to do, or to miss important events, because the information won't be buried under a pile of other documents. As a result, you'll be more confident, appear more competent, and free up time for the types of activities that will help you to become successful!
About the Author
Janet Barclay, Organized Assistant, offers office organizing services in and around Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, and virtual assistance around the globe.
Visit http://www.organizedassistant.com for more information and additional resources to help you organize your office.
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Online Organizing.com |
Welcome to OnlineOrganizing.com!. Get Organized! Find the best organizing products, free tips on taming your clutter, an online newsletter, ... |
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organizetips.com - organized, time management, planners,tips,Tips ... |
Get Organized,Organizing ideas, Tips, daily,chore lists,planners. |
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At Home : Organizing : Take This Stuff and Store It! : Home ... |
Our guide to the simple life, where everything has its place. |
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Home Organizing Tips - Bathroom, Bedroom & Garage Organizing ... |
Learn about home organizing tips for bathroom, bedroom, and garages from Home & Garden Television. |
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Christmas Organizing | Creating J.O.Y. for Christmas |
Offers a community of resources and support to help people get organized for Christmas throughout the entire year by creating and organizing a Christmas ... |
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Organizing - HUD |
Organizing. [Vea la versión en español de esta página] · [Display the text version of this page] ... Organizing · Economic development. Working with HUD ... |
www.hud.gov |
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Get Organized - Organizing Tips and Ideas to help you get ... |
Free tips, ideas and articles to help you get organized. |
www.getorganizednow.com |
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Management Function of Organizing: Overview of Methods |
Organizing can be viewed as the activities to collect and configure resources in ... The following are some of the major types of organizing required in a ... |
www.managementhelp.org |
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Organizing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
In that sense, organizing can also be defined as the act to place different ... Organizing, in companies point of view, is the management function that ... |
en.wikipedia.org |
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Amazon.com: Organizing from the Inside Out: Books: Julie Morgenstern |
Amazon.com: Organizing from the Inside Out: Books: Julie Morgenstern by Julie Morgenstern. |
www.amazon.com |
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Organized-Living.com - Get organized, Professional Organizer tips ... |
Articles and tips to help individuals organize their home or work life better. |
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How to organize your home and office, organizing tips, articles on ... |
LifeOrganizers.com is a rich resource of office and home organizing articles, tips, and fresh, easy ideas on how to get rid of clutter from every part of ... |
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The Virginia Organizing Project |
VOP, racism, social justice, community organizing, leadership development, living wage, grassroots organizing, sexual orientation . |
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Center for Third World Organizing |
A training and resource center dedicated to building a social justice movement led by people of color. |
www.ctwo.org |
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Welfare Rights Organizing Coalition |
WROC of Olympia, Washington, organizes groups of women and men who are current or former TANF recipients to watch how welfare and family policy is ... |
www.wroc.org |
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Self-Organizing Systems FAQ for Usenet newsgroup comp.theory.self ... |
Frequently Asked Questions about self-organized systems. |
www.calresco.org |
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Beyond Bookmarks: Schemes for Organizing the Web |
Beyond Bookmarks: Schemes for Organizing the Web is a clearinghouse of World Wide Web sites that have applied or adopted standard classification schemes or ... |
www.public.iastate.edu |
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Organizing Institute |
Program by the AFL-CIO to train union organizers and put them in the field. |
www.aflcio.org |
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SouthWest Organizing Project |
A statewide multi-racial, multi-issue, community based membership organization. Includes information on history, campaigns, and volunteer opportunities. |
www.swop.net |
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Farm Labor Organizing Committee |
The historic contract in North Carolina opens up a new chapter in the FLOC struggle for justice and ushers in a new era in farmworker organizing. ... |
www.floc.com |
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