Get organised NOW!

Want to get organized? Do it NOW! Organizing, like any other skill, takes practice. Just Do It! The longer you wait to begin to create order from chaos, the more difficult it will be to get started. Make your office attractive, efficient, and a joy to work in no matter what your needs, budget, personal style and habits are, you can do it! Here is a simple roadmap for becoming more organized:

Paper Flow

There are three things you can do with paper - file important records, act on it, or toss it. Create three labelled stacking trays on your desk to help manage paper flow:

Incoming: This top tray is where the mail goes when it first arrives. It stays here until you have time to sort through it. Once you sort through the pile of incoming documents, it never goes back into this tray. You have three choices as to what to do with incoming documents - File, Act, or Toss.

Outgoing: This middle tray is where you place outgoing mail - either outgoing or internal post to others within your office or building.

Filing: If you choose to file it, the paper goes in the bottom stacking tray for filing. This is where you place items to be filed away for future reference. Be sure you plan time to do your filing at least weekly so this tray does not overflow! As you acquire documents that need to be filed, file them immediately. Don't put them on the dining room table. Don't toss them in a pile for later. Basically, don't put them down. Walk on over to your filing system, and get them inside.

Filing System

A filing system that works easily and consistently is a must - a system to store documents that need to be referenced now or in the future. You and others should file and retrieve things quickly and easily from your filing system without the fear of never finding it again! It should consist of a filing cabinet or filing box, hanging file folders and manila file folders.

Categories: Make categories tailored to your personal needs. To prevent over-categorising, start with some very broad categories, like finances. The a main category begins to get full - over 20 documents, for instance, you may begin to sub-categorize. For instance, you may break your finances category down into one for salary, one for each staff member. If you do this, use manila file folders for your sub-categories and file these manila folders inside your main category file folder.

Act: If it requires action, you can either act on it immediately or place it in your tickler file to act on at a future time to help you remember what requires action and when . The tickler file system has an accordion file with tabs for each day of the current month, followed by tabs for each month of the year. Behind this accordion file are hanging files with tabs you can tailor to your particular repetitive actions (read, discuss, call, calls expected, data entry, expense reimbursement, etc.) You can place

it in your tickler to do on a specific date, or you can put it with other documents requiring similar action (read, call, discuss, pay, etc.)

Keep: Keep at least 7 years worth of legal, tax and financial documents and any active warranties.

Weeding system

Date Each Document: Date each document with the current date upper right corner. When weeding out your filing system, recycle the documents with dates past a date of applicable criteria, for example 3 months for all internal memo's. If you haven't looked at it up until then, you probably never will.

Schedule Weeding: Weed out incoming documents you don't need on a daily basis, and weed out your entire filing system on a monthly or quarterly basis at minimum.

Quick Toss: Research shows that 80% of what we file away we never reference again - how do we determine what 20% to keep? If it will not enhance your life and there are no legal reasons to keep it, toss immediately!

Toss Criteria: Use your wastebasket/recycling bin frequently. If your answer is NO to one of these questions, you may have to toss the item:

o Does it require action from me? o If it is only an FYI, do I need to keep it now that I have seen it? o If I threw it away and discovered I needed it later, could I easily replace it? o By the time I might need it again, will it be obsolete? Is it recent enough to be

useful? Will a more current version arrive on my desk soon? o Are there legal or business reasons for keeping it

Clearing Clutter: Get rid of anything you own, possess, or do that does not enhance your life on a regular basis:

o Data Capturing: Transfer all important notes, addresses, phone numbers, appointments, etc. to your calendar and/or planning system.

o Heaps of Paper: Avoid keeping heaps of paper consisting of travel brochures, articles you enjoy, recipes you may make and so on.

o Bulletin Boards: Clear the messy bulletin boards and refrigerator surfaces of items that are not serving their purpose. If you keep one or two documents such as a yoga schedule or grocery list is OK.

o Scraps: Get rid of any scraps - there is no reason at all to have scraps of paper everywhere.

o Someday's Syndrome: Be ruthless about recycling. That's why it's important for you to be ruthless about recycling - getting rid of those documents that no longer serve any use to you or your family. Most of the documents that people keep are never, ever looked at again. Only in very rare circumstance you may wish you had kept that information you won't be able to acquire from another source.

Contact management

Software: Implement a good contact management software program for keeping track of important contact information which will allow you to set reminders of important follow-up calls, provide a place for notes about each contact as well as the

ability to search for or sort your contacts by various criteria. Most of the available contact management software can also be synchronized with Palm Pilots for use when you are away from your computer.

Time management and planning

Prioritise: Learn how to improve your effectiveness and better manage your time - clarify and focus on tasks that matter most. Step Through Tasks as follows:

o Importance: What's most important to me? Does this task fit within what is most important?

o Delegate: If so, am I the most appropriate person to do this or can I delegate it to someone else?

o Simplify: Is there a way to simplify this task without sacrificing quality in areas of importance

To Do List: Once you are clear about your "to do" list, divide the activities into two major categories - those with a deadline and those which do not have a deadline by which they must be done.

To Do File: Temporarily store any sheets of paper that you're keeping because something must be done, like an appointment must be made, in a To Do file until that action is completed. Add these tasks to your To Do List and handle the actions systematically. Once the action is completed, file the paper immediately in your regular filing system, or better yet, toss it if you no longer need it. You might also consider using a Tickler System for this filing.

Timeline: Create a timeline around the deadline-driven activities, and plug those benchmarks and deadlines into your calendar.

Weekly Planning: Then on a weekly basis, review the list of open-ended tasks and plan time to accomplish some of those each week.

Simplify Systems and Routines: Develop simple systems to manage the mail, pay bills, deal with the realities of busy lives, and ensure that you will stay organized.

Organising your entire life!

Use Space Effectively: Organizing closets, cabinets, and other storage to make the best use of your space

Accessibility: Ensuring that the things you use most often are accessible and easy to find

Comfort: Arranging furniture so that your home feels comfortable and works for you Ease: Organizing your closets to take the stress out of getting dressed and setting up

your kitchen so that cooking is a pleasure, not a chore. Simplify Systems and Routines: Streamlining routines to save you time and effort to

manage documents, pay bills, deal with deadlines and all the other aspects of busy lives, and ensure that you will stay organized!

Systems: Tackle time management, set priorities and beat procrastination!

Recommended reading on getting organised

How to simplify your life [ISBN 0071433864]

* To search for books by Titles or by ISBN number, visit http://www.isbn.co.za

Benjine Gerber, Author, Systems developer benjine@itemporium.co.za www.self-educate.com