Save An Hour Each Day: Get Organized
Here is a great little article with some valuable tips on organizing:
Save an hour each day: Get Organized
by Eric Albertson (with inspiration from Jeffrey Mayer)
What does your desk look like?
A toxic waste dump?
A bomb crater?
A burglary scene?
A teenager's bedroom?
In corporate America, most business people associate a messy, disorganized desk or office with being productive.
Are you a member of this club?
Did you know that most people waste an hour each day looking for stuff that's lost on their desks? How about you (and do you wish it were only an hour a day)?
How many times last week did you call someone on the phone and ask them a question, only to have them answer something like, "Hold on a sec and let me find it. I know it's here, somewhere."
And, five minutes later they come back and say, "I can't find it. Let me call you back later." This typically begins a round of telephone tag that can stretch a quick five-minute conversation into a five-day odyssey.
Do you realize that most people could be driving a new luxury automobile, or taking a European vacation each year with the money this level of disorganization costs them? At the very least, they could be saving the money to pay for the kids' college educations, paying off their home mortgages, or eliminating other debts.
No kidding, this is really that big a deal. Getting and staying organized is like getting a pay raise over the course of a year. Are you ready to give yourself a pay raise?
If you want to get ahead in life, make more money, and even get home for dinner every once in a while, follow these six steps and you'll be organized.
1. Schedule an appointment with yourself
For most people, it takes about two hours to get organized. Make an appointment with yourself and write it on your calendar. Then keep the appointment!
2. No interruptions
Turn off the telephone, close the door (or put a Do Not Disturb sign on it), and allow no interruptions. Think of this session as a meeting with your boss or most important client.
3. Bring a dumpster
Sixty percent of the stuff on most peoples' desk can be tossed. And that sixty percent includes you.
So keep the papers, documents and files you need, and throw the rest away.
Remember: Don't succumb to cleaner's remorse
(going through the trash and pulling out the stuff you just threw away, because you think you might need it again).
4. Pick up a piece of paper
Now that you've closed the door and turned off the phone, pick up a piece of paper. Any one will do. Then ask yourself three questions: What is it? Why do I have it? What am I going to do with it?
If you can't come up with a good answer, throw it away.
5. File your papers
If you need to keep a piece of paper, put it in a properly-labeled file folder. If one doesn't exist, create one on the spot.
6. Record your to-dos on a master list
If there's work to do, note it on your master list, which is a to-do list written on a big piece of paper, like a legal tablet.
You can also record your tasks in your contact manager (Outlook, PalmPilot, etc.).
Before you know it, your desk will look like the flight deck of an aircraft
carrier, and your garbage can will be filled to the brim and spilling onto the floor.
You'll be organized, efficient and productive. You'll spend your time
doing things that make you successful.
Reprinted with permission from Eric Albertson's SucceedingInBusiness.com Newsletter. (Copyright, 1998-2007, Eric Albertson, SucceedingInBusiness.com.)
Save an hour each day: Get Organized
by Eric Albertson (with inspiration from Jeffrey Mayer)
What does your desk look like?
A toxic waste dump?
A bomb crater?
A burglary scene?
A teenager's bedroom?
In corporate America, most business people associate a messy, disorganized desk or office with being productive.
Are you a member of this club?
Did you know that most people waste an hour each day looking for stuff that's lost on their desks? How about you (and do you wish it were only an hour a day)?
How many times last week did you call someone on the phone and ask them a question, only to have them answer something like, "Hold on a sec and let me find it. I know it's here, somewhere."
And, five minutes later they come back and say, "I can't find it. Let me call you back later." This typically begins a round of telephone tag that can stretch a quick five-minute conversation into a five-day odyssey.
Do you realize that most people could be driving a new luxury automobile, or taking a European vacation each year with the money this level of disorganization costs them? At the very least, they could be saving the money to pay for the kids' college educations, paying off their home mortgages, or eliminating other debts.
No kidding, this is really that big a deal. Getting and staying organized is like getting a pay raise over the course of a year. Are you ready to give yourself a pay raise?
If you want to get ahead in life, make more money, and even get home for dinner every once in a while, follow these six steps and you'll be organized.
1. Schedule an appointment with yourself
For most people, it takes about two hours to get organized. Make an appointment with yourself and write it on your calendar. Then keep the appointment!
2. No interruptions
Turn off the telephone, close the door (or put a Do Not Disturb sign on it), and allow no interruptions. Think of this session as a meeting with your boss or most important client.
3. Bring a dumpster
Sixty percent of the stuff on most peoples' desk can be tossed. And that sixty percent includes you.
So keep the papers, documents and files you need, and throw the rest away.
Remember: Don't succumb to cleaner's remorse
(going through the trash and pulling out the stuff you just threw away, because you think you might need it again).
4. Pick up a piece of paper
Now that you've closed the door and turned off the phone, pick up a piece of paper. Any one will do. Then ask yourself three questions: What is it? Why do I have it? What am I going to do with it?
If you can't come up with a good answer, throw it away.
5. File your papers
If you need to keep a piece of paper, put it in a properly-labeled file folder. If one doesn't exist, create one on the spot.
6. Record your to-dos on a master list
If there's work to do, note it on your master list, which is a to-do list written on a big piece of paper, like a legal tablet.
You can also record your tasks in your contact manager (Outlook, PalmPilot, etc.).
Before you know it, your desk will look like the flight deck of an aircraft
carrier, and your garbage can will be filled to the brim and spilling onto the floor.
You'll be organized, efficient and productive. You'll spend your time
doing things that make you successful.
Reprinted with permission from Eric Albertson's SucceedingInBusiness.com Newsletter. (Copyright, 1998-2007, Eric Albertson, SucceedingInBusiness.com.)
posted by Alain @ 11:27 PM
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