Reclaim Your Office and Get Organised!
If you work in an office, you probably get infuriated at the amount of time you spend looking for documents, files, or supplies. But the good news is, no matter how disorganised your office is, you can pull it back from the brink. All it takes is a little planning and effort.
Get rid of unnecessary clutter
If your workspace is chaotic, how are you supposed to do your best work? Reclaim your space by going through the piles on your desk and shredding or filing things that shouldn’t be there. Do the same with your desk drawers and filing cabinets. If you haven’t even glanced at something for six months, or more-get rid! Once the clutter is gone, you’ll be able to see how you can reorganise the remaining things more easily.
Reorganise your furniture
Do you bang your knee every time you go to get up from your desk or do you not have access to a bin so your desk or floor becomes a designated trash pile? Arrange your furniture and try and have everything you need to do your job close to hand.
Organise your desk
Make sure your computer, phone, and any stationery you need is within easy reach. Get rid of that muddled pot of paper clips, rubbers, pens that don’t work, and errant pencil shavings!
To prevent a build up of papers, invest in an ‘in box’ or tray where you can put any documents you haven’t looked at yet. All you need to do then is to shred or file them as you work through them.
Put a filing system in place
Create a filing system that matches the way you work, so if you find it easier to find things when they’re filed alphabetically, do it that way, or you might like to create files dedicate to particular clients or projects. This applies to paper or digital files.
Manage your time better
Whether you do it on a notebook, or you use an app, keep a to do list to stay on track. This can help you prioritise tasks and work to deadlines so you get the important things done. Break up larger tasks into smaller steps and schedule them into your work day.
Emails and phone calls can really eat into your working time if you allow them to, so check your inbox and make or return calls once in the morning and once in the afternoon to stay productive. Turn off email and message notifications too. You’ll be surprised at how distracting they are.
End the day as you mean to go on
At the end of the day, spend a short amount of time updating your to do list, filing, and clearing your desk, so you’ll hit the ground running the next day.