Five tips for getting organized now

Gene Mage

Do you dread wasting time trying to track down information in your office? Do you hate missed deadlines and blown opportunities? Is your desk so cluttered that you are not even sure you still have a desk underneath all those papers?

My friend, you are not alone. But if you want to move forward in your business and in life, you need to get organized. To be effective, you must be able to get at critical information quickly, keep track of important tasks, deadlines, and follow up calls, while enjoying a pleasant, uncluttered work environment.

If you are willing to invest about a couple of hours doing the following five things, plus about ten minutes per day of maintenance, you can get yourself organized for good. Here are some suggestions.

Set up a traffic management system. Early on in my career I learned the dump, delegate, do, and delay traffic system. In this case, I sort through my mail into four piles. The only pile that needs my immediate attention is the “do” pile, which represents current work. Delegate papers go to my staff. Dump goes in the shredder. The delay file is an “ageing” file, which allows certain documents to mellow not unlike a fine wine or rare cheese. After an appropriate period of time, if nobody asks about them, these papers get dumped.
Discard unneeded paper ruthlessly. I must confess to you I am a bit of a packrat. But I always feel strangely liberated when I discard papers and binders I once considered “essential”. You and I both know that except for a few critical documents, most of the stuff we keep around “just in case” will simply sit until we move, die, or make the choice to discard them. Why wait?
Organize electronic files logically. In today’s world, our e-files are often far more challenging to master than their paper cousins. If you have a “short list” of clients and projects that demand your immediate attention, set up a “hot” folder in outlook that captures high priority correspondence. Similarly, if you know certain senders are only “FYI”, put those in a “when I get a chance” folder, which you can clean up at your leisure. Use one of the many good spam blockers to weed out the junk mail. I have personally tried Qurb, Mailwasher, and Norton Anti Spam, and they all work well. Which one you choose depends upon you specific needs.
Replace folders with binders. Once a folder gets larger than ¾ of an inch, get a binder. Large folders do not fit in file slots, and are terribly clumsy to access on your desk or in a meeting. Binders are nice and clean and neat, can be “tabbed” by topic, date, or individual, and make a nice impression at a meeting. So unless you want to be the Oscar Madison of your office, invest in some three ring binders.
Use a single “planner” system. Though I am a certified Franklin/Covey trainer, I must admit that any planning system will work well for a thoughtful user. You can even use a blank spiral notebook or pads of paper. You can use a Palm Pilot or Pocket Outlook on your cell phone or PDA. I have a Pocket PC which I find works very nicely. The key, regardless of whether you use Eagle, Franklin, Daytimer, Priority Management, or scrap paper, is to pick one system and stick with it. Never allow yourself to fall into the trap of maintaining multiple systems.

Lastly, keep your “workspace” clear of all papers except the project you are presently working on. Paper distracts us. Undone work cries for our attention. To get focused, put away the distractions. Put your full attention on your “top 3” priorities every week, and your “number one” priority every day. Then take pride in a job well done at the end of each day.

Gene C. Mage is a leadership Author, Speaker, and Syndicated Business Columnist. For more ideas for improving your leadership, visit www.makingitwork.com.