Time to Organize
I’ve just returned from a mid-afternoon walk. Today, it is sunny and in the 70s in downtown Denver. It’s only the first week of March, but it feels like spring is ready to slide into place. I ‘ve been forewarned by people who have lived in Denver longer than I have—virtually everyone else—that March and April are historically our snowiest months. I hope they’re wrong.
Spring always puts me in the mood to clean house. Given the amount of time we all spend in our offices, it’s also a great time to tackle office clutter and your overloaded in-boxes, the ones that hold all your e-mail as well as the snail mail. Through March, we’ll tackle each of these issues in-depth. For now, five general thoughts:
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Develop a filing system for organizing your office and use it with a vengeance. Create an action file and empty it each week. Commit to deleting any e-mail you don’t need to retain as soon as you receive it or at the end of each week.
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Move toward a paperless office. The less paper you retain around your office the less you need to manage. Do as much work on-line as possible.
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Schedule some clean-up time. At the end of the day, before you leave your office, find a few minutes to straighten your workspace. Nothing thwarts productivity more than starting your day in a messy office.
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Throw things out. Too many people hold onto pieces of paper because they may need them “someday.” Today, you need a clean office. File electronic copies of any document you feel you should retain and dispose of the paper ones.
Never give in. It’s easy to let your office go. Never let piles of paper overwhelm you. Develop a system and use it!
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