The Tickler File...

Some of us are familiar with the "tickler file", while others have never heard of such a thing.  It's a wonderfully effective tool for increasing productivity--if you use it.  Why the name "tickler file"?  First of all, let me say that I detest this name, probably due to the fact that I hate being tickled.  Never sneak up behind me and tickle me to be funny--more than likely you'll end up with a bruised shin, possibly worse.  Nothing personal, I just don't like to be tickled.
According to Wikipedia, "a tickler file is a collection of date-labeled file folders organized in a way that allows time-sensitive documents to be filed according to the future date on which each document needs action. Documents within the folders of a tickler file can be to-do lists, pending bills, unpaid invoices, travel tickets, hotel reservations, meeting information, birthday reminders, coupons, claim tickets, call-back notes, follow-up reminders, maintenance reminders, or any other papers that require future action. Each day, the folder having the current date is retrieved from the tickler file so that any documents within it may be acted on. Essentially, a tickler file provides a way to send a reminder to oneself in the future—"tickling" one's memory.
Tickler files are often used in newsrooms by editing, journalists, and reporters, as well as by many other groups, including sales representatives and professional offices in medicine, law, non-profit, government, and accounting.
A tickler file system also has other applications such as museum guides, specialized fact books, time management software, or any organized arrangement of information to which a person may want quick access."

Need to remember something? Put it in your Tickler File! So many valuable uses for such an unfortunately named creation!  More info...
 http://wiki.43folders.com/index.php/Tickler_file

One Reason Why You May Procrastinate

Everybody delays or puts off doing something they dislike at some time or another.  Yes, we procrastinate.  I'm guilty of putting off cleaning up the kitchen.  Every time I turn around, it seems, there are more dishes in the sink, there's stuff on the counter, the dishwasher needs to be unloaded...again??  Luckily, I can make my kids tackle some of this (one of the benefits of having children, I think), so it's not really that bad.  But still I sometimes procrastinate and the mess grows.

One reason people procrastinate is that the task is too big and can seem overwhelming.  People don't know where to start.  "Oh, I think I'll just work on this over here and I'll get to that later", you think to yourself.  But later the task is still overwhelming and is possibly bigger because it's been delayed and has grown.  Solution:  really examine why you've been putting something off.  Is it large and intimidating?  If so, break it down into smaller steps.  Work on doing one step a day or one step a week, depending on what it is.  Don't get discouraged if the small step barely makes a dent, the important thing to keep in mind is that you've begun making progress.  And you're no longer procrastinating!

 

Snow Helps With Organizing!

 Last Saturday's snow was so unexpected.  It's way too early for snow here, and often when even just flurries are predicted, it turns out that nothing happens anyway.  Much to the delight of my children, the couple of inches we got were enough for them to haul out the sleds and snow boards from our unfinished storage room in the basement.  This is the same room that houses the boxes of Christmas decorations, other seasonal decorations, the old bunk beds, some miscellaneous tools, etc.  While not in total disarray, it's gotten a bit cluttered. 

My plan for the day was to decorate the outside of the house for Christmas, and then set the tree up and take care of decorating the inside.  The snow, however beautiful it looked coming down, discouraged me from spending time outside wrestling with lights, garland and all that stuff.  I don't like cold weather.  

So with the extra time I gained from not having to go outside, I used my time wisely and got the unfinished storage room organized.  It feels great to have sorted through boxes, rearranged tools and other items, and I even swept the floor!  So thank you snow, for helping me organize a space that hadn't been high on my priority list, but needed some attention.  I may not like cold weather, but that snow sure was beautiful... 

Another Office Organizing Myth...

I'm going to make you throw away all of your stuff.  NOT!  As a professional office organizer, my goal is to help you function at a higher level of efficiency in your office space, no matter what you have in there.  I absolutely will not make you throw away anything.  After all, people value different things--what may be important to me may mean nothing to you, and vice versa.  I understand that.  It's more important to focus on organizing what you have than it is to focus on how much you have.  

Being organized doesn't necessarily mean you have to get rid of things, although sometimes that's a part of becoming better organized.  Being organized is when you know what you have and can access items easily and quickly.  That's all!

Impediment to Efficiency

As hard as I try to be well organized, efficient with how I spend my time, and as productive as possible each day, sometimes events occur that impede my success in these areas.  It makes me crazy!  I crave order, after all. 

There's almost nothing worse (except for serious injury or death to a family member or close friend, of course) than having a dead car battery.  It's so sudden.  Unexpected.  Unwelcome.  There I was, prepared for an afternoon of meetings that I'd been looking forward to.  I had freshened my lipstick, made sure I had a bottle of water with me, grabbed my bag, and jumped in my car.  I turned the key, and...nothing.  What??  I turned the key again...still nothing.  Oh no--my car won't start!  But I have important plans, dammit!  This can't be happening! 

Planning is a good thing.  Whether you resist it or not, it's necessary for most of us to plan much of our days in order to get things done.  But it's also important to be flexible and adaptable when unexpected impediments to our efficiency occur.  (I'm writing this at the car dealership waiting on a new battery--thank goodness for wireless!  And thanks, Tim, for the jump.)

Frustrated By Your Disorganized Office? You Don't Have To Be...

Common Office Organizing Myth...

I'm going to judge you, yell at you, make you feel bad and guilty about your disorganized office.  No--that's a MYTH!  People are sometimes intimidated when I visit their office because they think I'm going to judge them about how disorganized they are.  Not true!  Nobody's perfect, and frankly, we all have areas in which we struggle with varying levels of disorganization.


 I enjoy what I do because I like helping people organize their space so that they are able to function at a higher level of efficiency.  I am understanding and non-judgmental, and it's my genuine desire to help others navigate easily through their days just by improving their organizing skills. 

Don't be intimidated by consulting an office organizer--we are human, too!  There's no shame in asking for help when it will result in saving time, stress, and money. 

Organize Before Your Vacation and Really Relax!

I took a quick trip to the beach last weekend.  The weather was beautiful, especially considering it's mid-November and months of cold weather are right around the corner.  It was great to get away for a few days and leave some of the everyday stress behind.  There's something about watching the waves that's so relaxing...

 Anyway, before I left on my trip, I spent a bit of time organizing my desk and some of the papers that had found a resting spot on it and had been there for several days.  No, my desk isn't perfectly clear at all times!  That's unrealistic for anyone who actually gets work done during the course of the week.  I wanted to come back to a well organized desktop on Monday morning.  I mean, who wants to face a semi-cluttered desk after a nice, relaxing weekend?  Kind of defeats the purpose of getting away in the first place!

But it did occur to me that if every Friday I acted like I was going on vacation, I would be motivated to make sure that all papers, folders, and files were put away so that on Monday I would start fresh.  You try it too!  Fridays you'll leave with the peace of mind that you've organized your workspace, and Mondays you won't dread whatever is lurking in piles on your desk--there won't be any!
  

Reduce Your Paper Output

Often the biggest contributor to office clutter and chaos is paper.  What should you do with it all?  Where does it come from, anyway?  Aside from engaging the help of a wonderful professional office organizer (!) to assist you with your paper struggles, there are ways that you can decrease your own paper output.  Decreasing paper output not only helps you, but you'll also be doing others a huge favor by producing less paper clutter for them.

Quick paper reducing suggestions:

• Think before you print!
• Send copies of documents to fewer people.
• Reduce the number of office forms.
• Call to reply to someone if a letter/memo is not necessary.
• Email (although too many emails is another big issue for folks...think before you email, too).
• If you must write and send on paper, keep it brief.

Going "paperless" is not an option for everybody, but most people can find small ways to use less paper and reduce their struggle with having too much of it.  Less paper...less stress!

Easily Organize Business Cards!

If you're like most business people, you don't have a shortage of business cards sitting around your office.  But what you do have is a shortage of space to keep them.  Maybe they're in a jumble in a desk drawer.  Maybe they're spilling over your desktop.   Maybe you even have a shoebox full of them stashed in a corner!  I think I've seen it all when it comes to people and their business card storage.  

What's the point of keeping all of the cards you accumulate?  To build your list of contacts, of course!  But having them in a disorganized heap really does you no good, does it?  I have a suggestion:  order this fabulous eco-friendly, bamboo business card holder from organize.com.  You can alphabetize the cards, and it's compact yet expandable if you need more space.  And wait, there's more good news!  It won't take you as long as you think it will to put the cards in there.  The most important step is to begin!

 

Get Organized and Thrive!

"Life today moves more rapidly than it did 50 years ago and will continue accelerating in the years ahead, presenting us with more opportunities and ever-greater demands on our time...In an environment like this, those who are organized will thrive...you can no longer afford not to be organized.  Organizing has become a survival skill for the modern age..."  Julie Morgenstern, Organizing From the Inside Out

I like this quote--it gets to the point!  When I work with clients who have struggled with chronic disorganization issues in their offices, they quickly realize that becoming better organized makes a profound difference in their professional, and oftentimes personal, lives.  It makes a difference not just with efficiency and productivity, but with decreasing stress levels as well.  You can't afford not to be organized--this kind of change is good.

Look how happy this organized guy is!

Save An Hour A Day--Get Organized!

In a 2008 NAPO (National Association of Professional Organizers) survey of 400 consumers nationwide, 27% said they feel disorganized at work, and of those 91% said they would be more effective and efficient if their workspace was better organized.  28% said they would save over an hour per day and 27% said they would save 31-60 minutes each day.

That's a lot of time saved just by becoming better organized!  What would you do with an extra hour each day? 

Schedule Time To Read (And Relax!)

I don't know about you, but I have a huge stack of magazines that I want to read through.  I go through phases when I get way behind on reading for pleasure.  I get so caught up in reading about business, whether it's a great marketing book or some compelling business information I've run across on the internet, that I run out of time to read for relaxation.  Ok, I let myself run out of time.  I am and always have been guilty of discounting the importance of taking time for myself in order to relax and re-charge.  So every once in awhile I have to re-arrange some priorities in order to make sure I'm making time to do things that I enjoy that are NOT related to my business.  Remember to do the same for yourself.  You're worth it.

(a couple of pictures from relaxing in the mountains last Sunday--my kids are in the paddleboat)

    

We Have More Time Than We Think We Do...

We have more time than we think we do?  How's that possible?!  It's true that most of us have way too much to do for the various areas of our lives, and we squeeze into each day as much as possible .  But the fact that we can't seem to get it all done doesn't necessarily mean that we need more time.

"The real problem is a lack of clarity and definition about what a project (or task) really is and what the associated next-action steps required are.  Clarifying things on the front end, when they first appear on the radar, rather than on the back end, after trouble has developed, allows people to reap the benefits of managing action."  (David Allen, author of Getting Things Done, The Art of Stress-Free Productivity)

So really start paying attention to things that keep you running around busy.  Try to clarify what the desired outcome is, decide what the relevant next-action steps are, and follow them.  You'll be much more efficient doing tasks this way, and you'll probably find that you indeed have more time than you think you do. 

Write It Down!

When I'm attending a meeting, I always bring paper and pen for taking notes.  That's a given for most of us, unless you really can remember everything you hear and are able to store it in your head.  I cannot, and I'm a pretty good listener.  So I jot notes to help me remember what I need to do later.  But even when I'm not in a meeting, I usually have a small notepad and pencil with me.  My best ideas can strike at anytime!  Ideas for blogs, marketing, website content, tweets...and many other things.  If I don't make a note of them, I may (no, I will) forget them later as I get caught up in the whirlwind of the rest of my day.  Be prepared! 

To Multitask or Not?

So often nowadays multitasking is necessary.  So we think.  We try to prepare a report for the meeting this afternoon, answer the phone, reply to emails, and deal with interruptions from co-workers all at the same time.  Look how much we're getting done!  Maybe not, though...  

Stop trying to do too many things at once!  It's better to maintain focus on one thing at a time and do it well.  "People who regularly juggle several streams of electronic information do not pay attention, control their memories, or switch from one task to another as well as those who prefer to focus on one thing at a time. Heavy media multitaskers are paying a big price."
Stanford Report, 8/24/2009, Study by Clifford Nass, Eyal Ophir & Anthony Wagner

So if you need to multitask, pair up an important task with a lesser important task, such as tidying up your desk drawers (quietly) while on a conference call. 

Where Does Time Go??

If you're like many people I meet, you have days that are non-stop busy, but you can't explain exactly what you accomplished.  You feel like you've been spinning your wheels!  Sometimes we let certain activities take up too much of our time.  Is it Facebook? Email? Sipping on your morning coffee while reading the paper? Catching up with friends and co-workers to see what fun things they did over the weekend?  (Feel free to insert your time-waster here.)  Engaging in all of these activities is perfectly fine...but you may not realize how much time you spend doing so.  

If you're really serious about finding more time in your day, I suggest keeping a Time Log for a week.  Write down everything you do and how much time you spend on it.  Include time spent on eating, phone calls, driving, appointments, interruptions, watching tv, sleeping--you get the idea.  This way you can pinpoint where your time is leaking.  Then you can eliminate or at least shorten time spent on time-wasting activities.  

Here's a wonderful book on time management:  Improve Your Time Management, written by Polly Bird.  Well worth spending the time to read it!

Easy Time Management Tip--Using Transition Time

 

Fill the gaps in your schedule with specific actions.   

Do you have some time between meetings?  A couple of hours with no appointments?  Are you going to be waiting awhile at the doctor?  Fill in this "free" time with tasks from your daily goals list.  No matter how small the task is, put it on your calendar or planner!  Putting it on your schedule enables you to make a detailed plan for the day.  We have so many things vying for our time and attention now more than ever...you'd be amazed how much you can squeeze into a day if you plan well.  (Schedule fun things, too-- sometimes we forget to be good to ourselves!!) 

Where It All Happens!

I rearranged my office after I painted it (Pale Cucumber, Behr paint from Home Depot--pretty and relaxing) and this is what it looks like now.  It's a small space, which I like.  Oftentimes we think we need more space for our stuff, but au contrere--more space can be a curse!  We'll harbor unnecessary items just to fill it up!  I've been guilty of this myself, so don't think I'm pointing fingers from a pedestal.

It's a good feeling to walk into my office and not be overwhelmed with too much stuff.  I'm able to focus, work more efficiently, and I look forward to working in an organized space.  That's all I wish for everyone!

Time Well Spent

Most people I run across think that since I organize offices for a living, my office must be perfect.  While that's mostly true (!), from time to time I face some of the same struggles that other busy professionals face: Where did that pile of papers come from? What exactly is in that pile of papers?  Are there bills in there that should have already been paid?? 

Busy weeks can wreak havoc on the most organized of folk, and I'm no exception.  What saves me from utter chaos, however, is my dedication to discipline when it comes to clearing off my desktop when it's on the verge of disappearing.  At the end of most days, I make a concerted effort to have everything put away in its place, and I write on my white board the tasks I need to tackle the next day.  I'm always surprised that what I've dreaded doing (filing those darn papers, deciding which newspapers/magazines/fliers to keep, paying the bills, taking the coffee cups to the dishwasher :-) ) really doesn't take me that long.  I've wasted time dreading dealing with things, and I could have done it and moved on in a matter of minutes!

Give yourself a time limit to do things you dread, whether it's dusting the living room (yuck), answering emails, or clearing off your desk.  Ten focused minutes is time very well spent.

Time Management Quick Tip

Hearing the phrase "time management" should not make you groan or cringe...it's something we could all improve upon in our daily lives. Spending our time wisely and thoughtfully will only help us reach our goals in life faster. So, yay for time management!

Tip #1: Write down goals for each area of your life. Be specific! Start with annual goals, then break those down into monthly, weekly, and daily goals. Prioritize your daily goals so you'll be focused on what has to get done. Look at your goals every day so you'll stay focused on what you want to accomplish.

Our Potential

I recently ran across this quote and fell in love with it. How many people do you know who settle for less? Do not be one of them!!

"Success is about who you become. The big challenge is to become all
that you have the possibility of becoming. You cannot believe what it
does to the human spirit to maximize your human potential and
stretch yourself to the limit." -Jim Rohn

from http://www.Solo-E.com

Quick Organizing Tips!

Manage Your Time!
· Use a planner to track appointments and tasks. It can be a paper-based notebook, a computer software program, or an electronic handheld device.
· Create at least one hour of uninterrupted time per day to tackle projects and action items.
· Break large projects down into small, sequential steps. Schedule these steps into your day with your planner.

Tame Your Desk!
· Keep only supplies you need on a daily basis on your desktop.
· Create a paper flow system for your incoming documents.
· Use your in box only for items that haven’t yet been reviewed.
· Avoid looking at documents and placing them back on the desk. Follow through with the decision you have made about the document.

Conquer Your Filing!
· Create a filing system for your electronic documents that mirrors the one you have for paper. Sort, file, and purge electronic information regularly.
· Keep a file index (a master list of file names). Check the index before creating a new file to avoid making duplicates. Also use it when deciding where to put new documents.
· Keep the most recent papers in the front of the file. Whenever you open it, the current information will be on top.

*These tips are courtesy of The National Association of Professional Organizers, www.napo.net

Don’t be shortsighted…get organized with Longview!
www.LongviewOrganizing.com 336-287-7547 Jenny@LongviewOrganizing.com

I Want To See Your Office!

When I meet people and I tell them that I am a professional organizer, they chuckle (sometimes groan) and often say,”Oh, now, you don’t want to see my office. It’s beyond help.” And my response to them is, “Yes, I DO want to see your office!” I am passionate about helping people experience the joys of working in a well-organized office environment. Many people—even those who ooze self-confidence in most other situations—are sheepish, apologetic even, when it comes to revealing the disorganized state of their office space. I can understand this—your office is your personal space and is a reflection of you.

Being disorganized does not mean you are a bad person…most people live in some state of disorganization, and that’s normal. The goal is to minimize the degree of disorganization so you’re not battling continual chaos, but don’t pressure yourself to be perfect. Making the firm commitment to yourself to become better organized is the first step in the process. Start small. If you find that you still struggle with taking the steps necessary to improve your organization, consider hiring a professional. It’s well worth the time and money you will spend, especially if you take into account how much time and money you waste living a disorganized life. A professional organizer can at least get you started, will provide an action plan, focus and motivation along the way. Become better organized—you’ll have more time to spend doing things you love with the people you love!

Junk Drawer

It’s ok to have a “junk drawer”! We are human, for heaven’s sake, and especially if you have children, there can be an almost continual influx of small items they’ve received from birthday parties, school celebrations, Happy Meal toys, grandma…and they don’t want to part with them just yet. In my house a lot of these items accumulate in the kitchen and they wind up in the junk drawer. At any given time it contains magnets for my fridge that are not currently being used, a baggie with apple and orange seeds that my daughter wants to plant (she actually grew an apple tree from one of these seeds last year!), soda can tops my daughter is saving for a future craft project, a few cards my son made at school, wine bottle corks, half-burned birthday candles…stuff like that.

It’s ok to have a “junk drawer”, but limit yourself to only one, and commit to cleaning it out periodically. Anything really important and worth saving should have a permanent home elsewhere, not in the junk drawer. Sort through it while you’re waiting for the water to boil for the pasta one evening—it really won’t take long, and you may as well squeeze in a little productive time while you can!

Why?

So, why do you want to get organized? That may sound like a silly question, but it’s actually a critical part of the organizing process. The “why” is different for every person: my boss told me to, I’m sick of tripping over stacks of stuff on the floor, I’m tired of stepping over things just to get to my filing cabinet, clients comment on my disorganization and I think it’s making me look bad, I want to be more productive with my time…there are so, so many reasons to have an organized office space!

Your personal reason or reasons (there are likely more than one) are what will help drive you to succeed in becoming and remaining organized. Really ask yourself why you want to be organized and what your vision is for you office space—jot down specifics, as this helps to motivate. Do you visualize a completely cleared off desk or credenza? Would simply adding a desktop file organizer really make your space appear tidier and be more functional for you? Do you want more plants, and where could you put them? Clarity brings focus to the task, and wonderful results will follow. Start your “why” list today—it makes a huge difference.

Can This Be Recycled?

As I'm helping people organize their spaces we often come across items that the client doesn't need or want anymore. Items like metal clothes hangers, video tapes, trophies, lawn/garden equipment, pipe, propane tanks...they're not things that can be donated, and we hesitate to throw them away. Things like these are what make piles and boxes of clutter!

Check out this wonderful website: www.earth911.com. If you're wondering if some of your castoffs can be recycled, all you have to do is type in the item you have along with your zip code, and a list of recycling options/locations is revealed. It's also a wonderful site to read about recycling tips and articles. I highly recommend!

Can I Keep It?

“Are you going to make me throw away all of my stuff?” I am asked this question a lot in the assessment phase of working with my clients. I never make clients throw away anything that they don’t want to get rid of. It is true, however, that we tend to hang on to way more stuff than we actually need, “just in case”.

One of my main purposes is to assist clients with sorting through what they have, determining what can be shredded, tossed, filed, delegated, or relocated. Then I guide them in developing an organized work environment that will be simple to maintain on a daily/weekly basis. Charging in and simply throwing away things without first analyzing what the client’s needs are is NOT organizing! A good general rule of thumb when de-cluttering is: get rid of objects that you associate negative memories or feelings with, and keep the things that make you feel good. Happy organizing!

No Office Is Beyond Help!

Fortunately, organizing your office space doesn’t necessarily mean a whole office overhaul. That can be overwhelming to most folks, and people stop before they even begin. Sound familiar? Have you been saying for months (years, maybe?) that you need to organize your office? You know what a relief it would be to have it done, yet you can’t seem to begin even though you really want to. You may not know where to start. You dread tackling drawers and cabinets of murky, miscellaneous papers filled with information that you may or may not need.

My advice: start small. Always. Don’t take on the world—it’s just not necessary. Look at the positives in your office: what is in place that’s already working? Maybe the physical layout of the space (desk, bookcase, filing cabinet placement) is ideal. Great—something you won’t have to tackle! Maybe your filing system is effective, but you just need to clean out some outdated files. Or maybe you just need to begin using your filing cabinet—no new skills needed, just develop the habit of filing a few things daily, and you’re on the way! So look around and eliminate what you won’t need to tackle first—organizing your office may not be as bad as you’ve been thinking!

What is "organized" anyway?

The dictionary definition of "organized" is: To pull, or put together in an orderly, functional, structured whole. To arrange or systematize.

As an Organizing Consultant, I think this is a decent, though very general definition, and the most important word here is "functional". When I spend time with clients in their offices helping them to get a handle on their "stuff" so they can become better organized, I stress to them that it's not about being neater and cleaner, and it's certainly not about achieving perfection. It's really more about developing simple systems that enable them to work more efficiently and effectively in order to save time and headaches. Don't get me wrong, neat and (especially) clean is good--but being functional is really the goal. Just about everyone can benefit from becoming better organized!