Some people have an uncanny ability to work harmoniously in utterly chaotic surroundings, with stacks of random papers, office supplies, and general clutter strewn about. For others, however, living or working in such a state of disarray can be a recipe for disaster. People are organizational creatures who are much more effective when their work and tools are organized and easy to access.
Don't underestimate the power of organization. Being organized, efficient, and effective can mean the difference between being successful in your home-based business and being a total hot mess.
So where should you start in your efforts to get your work life organized? Let's begin with the one place where you probably spend more time working than any other place: your home office!
Clean up your desk. Yowzers! What's all that junk on yo' desk? The busier you get, the less time you have to clean up the paper, the old coffee cups, the pencils and pens, the sticky notes, and all the other things that accumulate on your desk. The trouble with that is that the more stuff that accumulates, the harder it is for you to do your job. Not only do you have less space in which to work, but things also mysteriously begin to disappear. That phone number for a prospective client whom you need to call in a few minutes - gone. That report you just saw a few minutes ago - where did it go? Begin your office organizing efforts with the place that you spend most of your working hours: your desk. After you have your desk under control, you can move on to other areas.
Clean up your office. After your desk is a model of organization, turn your attention to the rest of your office. What's that pile of paper in the corner? File it or pitch it! And those boxes stacked over in the other corner? How about moving them into your garage or storage closet? Or straight into the recycling bin? An organized office is so much easier to get around in, and you have far less chance of losing something important in your daily shuffle.
Revisit your office layout. After you've had a chance to get settled into your newly tidied office, take some time to assess whether it's really set up as effectively as it could be. Is the filing cabinet in a convenient place? How about your office supplies? Periodically revisit your office layout to make sure it's working for you, and don't be afraid to make adjustments as you need to.
Buy an appointment calendar, daily planner, or electronic organizer, and use it. Organizers and planners - whether electronic or the good old paper kind - can be effective tools for keeping your life organized. It's not important what kind of organizer you use; the best organizer is the one that you use.
Schedule regular office-organizing sessions. Avoid the temptation to organize your office once and then forget about it. If you do that, you'll soon find yourself up to your ears in paperwork, products, and whatever else wanders through your door. Make a regular habit of keeping your office organized and clean.
Work as paperlessly as possible. Do you really need to print out a copy of every single document that you create on your computer or every web page that you visit? Probably not. If you're like me, you've grown up with lots of paper in your life, and you may be comforted by having lots of paper all around you. I believe that most of the documents you create can be stored more efficiently on your computer.
So now you know what to do to organize and manage your office. Now you just have to do it!
