Quick Organizing Tips

Stress is quickly becoming an epidemic in North America. Today, 75 – 90 percent of all doctor visits are stress related! Conditions like high blood pressure, allergies, migraines, ulcers, bowel and skin problems and more have all been related to stress. That’s not to mention the fact that stress has been linked to all the leading causes of death, including heart disease, cancer, lung ailments, accidents, cirrhosis and suicide.

In addition to causing all sorts of health problems, stress also affects businesses of all sizes in lost revenue. That’s because over 60 percent of employee absences are due to psychological problems such as stress, resulting in an estimated 1 million workers that are absent on an average workday. With this in mind, job stress is estimated to cost U.S. industry $300 billion annually, as assessed by absenteeism, diminished productivity, employee turnover, direct medical, legal and insurance fees and more.

With all this in mind, now, more than ever, is the time to protect your health and business by dealing with stress effectively. One way to do that is through organization.

Sitting down at a cluttered desk can immediately increase your stress level before the workday has even begun. And we all know that this is not the time of the day to start taking on additional stress. That will happen easily enough throughout the course of your day.   The start of each day is the time to feel fresh and confident in your ability to make progress on your daily tasks. This feeling of purpose comes easily with an organized workspace. Clutter, on the other hand, washes all good intentions away in confusion and stress, and sets the tone for the rest of the workday.

How is it that a few stacks of disorganized paper can create a mass of stress in just minutes? It’s because clutter is actually postponed decisions. Each piece of paper on your desk represents something that you haven’t taken care of yet, which adds to your level of stress. Going unchecked, these paper molehills can become mountains of stress, leaving you completely overwhelmed. By this point, you may not even know where to start the organizing process.

Worse yet, the greater the stacks of paper, the greater chance there is for you to miss something important. Perhaps you misplaced a critical document that is needed for a meeting just minutes away, or you forgot about a bill that is past-due, or, you could even lose track of where you are on a significant project with an immediate completion deadline looming.

Here are a few tips for reducing stress by learning how to get organized at work:

1. Reduce clutter using the FAST System (There are only 4 options when it comes to paper – File, Act, Schedule, Toss).
2. Delegate tasks when appropriate – you don’t have to do everything
3. Don’t over schedule. Leave time free in your calendar for the unexpected and perhaps for a break now and then.

When you learn  how to get organized at work, you can put an end to the stress caused by clutter and lack of organization. Each piece of paper is dealt with once and then filed, scheduled or acted on accordingly. You are left with more free time, because you’re able to get things done in less time. You are also able to focus on your goals and priorities, delegate projects clearly and effectively, and generally be on top of your game. This will relieve a great deal of stress, while creating a real feeling of empowerment and pride in your accomplishments.

If you are interested in learning more ways we can help you get organized at work, click here now.!

A functional workspace is the foundation of business organizing. From high-powered executives to the assistants that keep things running smoothly, everyone needs a workstation that works for them. Fortunately, having an efficient workspace isn’t as complicated as it sounds. With just a little bit of forethought and a few business organizing tips, you can turn your desktop and surrounding space into a well-organized environment.

The first thing to do is figure out how you use your office.  What tasks you spend the most time?  Are you usually busy on the phone, or do you spend a majority of your time on the computer? Perhaps you spend a lot of time using technology such as the fax machine, scanner, postage meter or photocopier. Alternatively, you may spend a lot of time referencing literature from a large bookshelf in your office. Take a moment to outline what you spend the bulk of your time doing.

Once you know how you spend your time each day, the next step in business organizing is to create a workspace that best facilitates those particular activities. This is the part where you may need to get creative!

Let’s say for example you spend a lot of time sending and receiving faxes, it is probably more efficient to position the fax machine within arm’s reach. Instead of taking up valuable desk space, you could position a printer stand within reaching distance of your desk. Then position your telephone in a comfortable position on your desk. Arrange your desk trays to properly reflect your needs. An in-tray and out-tray for faxes might be just what you need.

Alternatively, if you spend most of your workday on the computer and digging into your filing system, you’re going to want to create a workspace that reflects those needs. Position your computer monitor in a way that’s ergonomic to avoid straining your neck when using it. Keep ergonomics in mind when positioning your keyboard and mouse. If you can’t find any filed document within five seconds or less, you can and should improve your filing system.

Take stock of all the office supplies that you regularly use. If you regularly make use of small items like paper clips, thumbtacks, rubber bands, etc. consider using drawer dividers. Drawer dividers help keep your drawers tidy, and they also help you see at a glance if you are running low on any supplies. If you do a lot of printing on different sized papers, try organizing the most frequently used papers and envelops in stacking trays next to the printer. If you send a lot of faxes, place the different covering sheets or fax templates that you need in stacking trays next to the machine. Attaching a pen to the tray with a strip of Velcro ensures you always have a pen handy when you need one.

Most of us have a number of repetitive tasks to be completed daily, weekly or monthly, such as important phone calls, items for discussion, documents to be photocopied or items for data entry. If this sounds familiar, one way to make your workspace even more effective is to create and regularly use a tickler system. This system “tickles your brain” on a daily basis with permanent action items and date sensitive temporary actions. Place the tickler system within arm’s reach on your desk.

Business organizing begins with a well planned, functional workspace. Whether you are a high powered executive at a Fortune 500 company, or a volunteer at a non-profit sharing an office with two other people, you need a workspace designed to support what you do.  Take some time to think about how you use your space and how you can better design it to minimize effort and maximize productivity.