In this new article you’ll learn how to be more organized at work.
Clutter around us creates a chaos that restricts our ability to focus on work at hand. It also limits the functionality of our brain by reducing its ability to process information. Therefore, to function better and be more productive, it is essential to cut down on clutter.
With the competition at work gaining force, it is ever more important to be organized. If you have a business, running it will become smoother if you have all your supplies and essentials organized properly.
In all spheres of life, organization helps to keep chaos under control and generates space for creativity.
Organizing is more about forming constructive habits than getting beautiful containers in multiple shapes to store your things. If you do not do the cleaning and putting things away activities every day, things will start to fall apart.
Forming habits and changing your entire lifestyle is what will sustain an organized system. To be organized at work, one has to have an organized mind, home and every other life space.
In this article you’ll discover tips to cut clutter and organize your work space.
Here you identify small but life changing habits that go a long way to keep you organized. Also, you will know ways to manage your virtual desk and tips on useful organizing habits.
How To Be More Organized At Work:
1. De-clutter The Desk
Clear your work desk. Read all your paper work, keep what is important and discard the rest. Remove and store anything else that is not of immediate use. Remove dirty or old décor items, old post it notes and display cards from your sight.
2. Organize Your Drawers
Drawers tend to be the first place to go hay wire. Use drawer dividers to create distinct areas for things you store in there.
Group items together based on their use and assign a particular drawer to them for ease of use. For example, notepad, sticky notes and envelopes can go together in one.
3. Keep Essentials Within Reach
Take note of things you regularly use to accomplish your daily tasks. Keep these things in order and near your work station or on your computer’s desktop for quick access. This will also help to note when the essential item needs a refill – in case of physical objects.
4. Pick Quality Over Quantity
It is very difficult for a compulsive hoarder to be well organized. Keep one or maximum two instances of office supplies on your desk.
You can do with one good quality stapler, remove the second one, it is as simple as that. Remember more of one thing creates clutter.
5. Take Pictures Of Your Desk
If you fail to recognize clutter on your desk and feel you can’t live without any of the stuff you have on the desk, click a few pictures of your desk.
A picture will help you to be objective about your desk. The clutter will pop out more easily if you look at it on a picture. Then start the de-cluttering process.
6. Use A Filing System
Whether it is paper or electronic, filing your documents give them a proper place to stay so that they can be found easily at a later point of time.
Creating files, labeling them and storing them away in chronological order is one of the best methods to have information handy, just a few pulls or clicks away.
7. Color Coded Files
Color coding your files will help you to identify them quickly. You can use colorful tabs or colored folders for this. But remember to use just a couple of colors so that you remember which color is for what.
Apart from helping you to identify the folders easily, color coding also makes your organized files more aesthetically pleasing.
8. Keep It Simple
Using a complicated system means you will be using it less. Keep your filing system easy and simple to use, allowing you to quickly file your papers to its correct place.
A tickler box system with 31 cubbies for each day of the month is a proven easy way of filing. Put a system of filing of your choice and commit to it.
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9. Respond To All Your Emails
Responding to emails is tedious. However, there is no way to avoid them as well, so better get to them the first thing in the morning and then get on with the rest of the work.
This routine takes off one load from your mind – of checking the mail, also you are up to date with all the happenings in your in your office and team.
10. Create Separate Inboxes
Create different folders based on projects or people as per your wish. Program the mails to go into the related folders automatically so you know at a glance if that mail needs your immediate attention or not.
The directions for creating these folders are pretty easy to incorporate into mail systems and are very helpful.
11. Sync All Your Calendars
Sync all your calendars at a single point of reference. This will help you to plan your work around your personal commitments and vice versa.
Remember to add alarms for all important events in advance so you get time to prepare for that meeting or buy gifts for his birthday!
12. Avoid Multitasking
These days we are becoming experts at multitasking all the time. But to get the maximum work done at a time it is best to concentrate on one task and finish it to completion.
We may feel both can be done together but one single task at a time will get done faster and more effectively as all our concentration and energy are focused on that one problem.
13. Stop Procrastinating
Instead of spending time thinking how you are going to organize your place, just start doing it. If you keep ideating while seating on your chair, those ideas will never materialize.
Instead, if you start at one corner and work your way ahead you will get much more done. So get up and start moving things.
14. Clean Up Your Desk Before Winding Up
Cleaning up your desk every day before leaving work is a step towards keeping your desk organized. It also helps to bring to focus any missed to-do item or a call to be returned.
This routine fifteen minutes before leaving office will give you the time to finish off the pending job without creating a panic situation.
15. Be Realistic
Keep realistic goals in your to-do list. Break down big projects into smaller goals for each day. Add fun things to do as well. You will probably get discouraged if nothing on your list gets ticked on a given day.
16. Create Time Blocks
For all tasks assign a time limit or time target and stick to it. That will create small deadlines and help you achieve more in the given time. It might be difficult at the beginning but over time, practice will make you achieve these goals. Use an alarm or timer to help you organize your time segments.
17. Be On Time
Try to be on time or a little early to work. This gives you a little time to sort out the day in your mind.
These few minutes will not only give you time to relax and get ready for work but will also generate a positivity resulting from the early start.
18. Find The Best Time To Work
Find out the time of the day when you work the best. Be it the morning, afternoon or evening. Organize your schedule to do the most important work requiring your undivided attention to be completed at that time.
Fill rest of the day with things which require less attention. That will ensure better quality of work.
19. Delegate Work
Doing all your work on your own might be satisfying but it is not humanly possible to do everything and do them efficiently. Learn to delegate tasks to others around you.
That will help to finish tasks efficiently and in time. You can always guide and teach them how you want the work done and then monitor the progress.
20. Clean Up After Project
As you send that closing report for your current project, sort your desk and file away or remove all things related to this project. This will help to clean up the current work and create space for the next.
This habit will help you to keep project information organized efficiently.
21. Label Away
Label all your files, folders, shelves and cabinets. This will help you to remember what goes where and motivate you to return things to their places every time. Labeling also allows other people to put things away in their right places when they use your office in your absence.
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22. Assign Functions To Space
Assign functions to each area of your office. Mark an area for work, area for supplies, area for reading and such other. This will further structure the spaces within your office and improve the overall organization.
23. Keep Shredder Handy
If you use a shredder then keep it handy, preferably next to your mail box. As you sort mails, shred all the junk. Do that for all other paper that reaches your desk. If you do not use a shredder use a waste basket and throw these junk paper works.
24. Try Batch Processing
Replying to messages, emails, posts on social networking sites and phone calls are important. However, that should not be what you spend most of your working time doing.
Try batch processing these replies every few hours during the work day. That way you will spend a set amount of time responding to everything and then get back to work with a clear head.
25. Log Off
Social networking sites and the various messengers on phone today are a big distraction for work. Log off from all these places and keep your phone in silent mode while working. You can respond to messages and phone calls once your work is done.
26. Return Things To Their Place, Now
After you are done with a job, return all the equipments and related items to their places. You might feel lazy at that moment and just want to revel in the fact that you completed the work at hand.
Force yourself in those times and do it, after a while it will become your second nature to put things away in their place and do this automatically.
27. Organize A Little Every day
Being organized is not a state but a continuous process. Devote a small time each day to do a little organization. A little effort each day will add up to keep things organized.
A place for everything, and everything in its place.
28. Create A Check Out
Find a place in your home, preferably around the front exit, which you make it as your check out station. Leave your bag, ID and keys there as you come home.
It becomes easy to leave for office the next day, without having to spend time hunting for everyday things around the house.
29. Get Ready To Leave
Arrange all things that you want to carry out with you to work the next day.
The book to be returned to the library, the envelope that needs to be couriered, the application form that you need to drop at the bank or anything else which you need to carry from home for the next day.
You will save as much time and chances of forgetting in the morning rush to gather everything and packing them.
30. Keep Clothes Ready
Take out the clothes you want to wear to work tomorrow, tonight. That will give you some time in the morning when you do not have to spend time figuring out what to wear and if all the accessories are in place. You can plan your week ahead as well, if you have the capacity.
31. Plan Your Meals
Plan your meals for the week on Sundays. That will save you the trouble of figuring out what to cook every day and you can organize your cooking around your work schedule. Print and post the menu on the fridge for everyone to refer to it.
32. Cook Slow Cooker Meals
One way to save time for cooking dinner is to start a slow cooker meal in the morning. There are many recipes which require eight to ten hours of cooking time.
These can be started in the morning before you leave for office and by the time you return, ta da, dinner is ready and waiting! Find links to slow cooker recipes at the end.
33. Quick And Ready Breakfast
There are many recipes for a quick and healthy breakfast available that can be prepared with minimal effort.
Use a microwave for the weekday breakfast, create your own super food. You can use the croc pot for delicious slow cook breakfast as well. Start before bed and it will be ready as you get up in the morning. Find links to recipe at the end.
34. End Of Day Scout
Just before calling it a day walk around the house and pick up anything that is out of its place. Spend ten minutes returning all these items to their places. This will give you an opportunity to wake up to a clean house.
This will also keep worries about cleaning your house off your mind and give you time to prepare for work with a positive mind.
I want to thank you for taking the time to read my article about how to be more organized at work. I sincerely hope its contents have been a good help to you.
