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 Maybe your filing system is effective, but you just need to clean out some outdated files.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!
Monday, May 31, 2010
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
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!
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!
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