Are You Visual? Try This Calendar...

I recently purchased one of these large calendars and I love it!  Many people have it on their desktop, which is a fine way to use it, but I hung mine on the wall right next to my desk and chair.  I use my iPhone calendar for when I'm out and about, and to keep track of personal and business obligations, and this has been very effective for me.  I love the large wall calendar since I can see the whole month at once--I didn't realize how valuable that would be until I actually experienced the convenience!  If you don't have one and you find yourself struggling to keep up with and remember appointments, or if you are a visual person and would like to see what your whole month ahead looks like in order to more effectively plan, I say go get one now!  Bonus: since it's already March, they're on sale!

Update Your Organizing Systems

Once you're "organized", it's an ongoing process that takes minimal daily maintenance.  However, if you find that some of the systems you've set up are not really helping you in your organizing endeavors, then you may need to make some adjustments.  This is fine!  I have to do this myself, and I find that as life gets busier I need to fine-tune things in my office occasionally. 
Over the weekend I did this.  I moved my filing cabinet from one corner to another (I can still reach it from my office chair), I removed everything from my desktop and put back only the items I really need on it, and I moved my whiteboard and large calendar to a more accessible place on the wall close to my desk.  Now I won't forget to write things down, darnit!  I also hung up some pretty pictures to inspire me...don't forget to include the little things that make a huge difference. 

Organize For Tax Time

It's possible you know someone who highly dreads this time of year.  Tax time.  Even though, like Christmas, it happens at the same time every year, some of us are usually still caught off guard.  What--I have to gather my receipts, update my mileage log, balance months of bank statements...already? Again?  Crap.  (Kinda like I am around the holidays--already? Again? Crap.)

Anyway, if your filing system for tax documents consists of a pile of papers stacked somewhere in your office, here are a few tips to make this year's tax time a little less painful.  Hopefully next year's, too.

• Systematically go through the papers and receipts and sort into relevant piles.  Different categories will emerge, so put like with like.
• Create a folder for each category: Income, Expenses, Receipts, Records (or use words that make sense to you so you'll know what goes in the folders and you'll use them)
• I suggest paper clipping together each month's papers inside of each folder--this way, if you need to find info for a certain month, you can do so quickly without having to rifle through the folder
• If you have an accountant that you'll be giving your info to, go ahead and add up the items in each category.  He/she will double-check your numbers anyway, but this can be a time saver for them.
• Throughout the year, use these folders!!  Don't make your life harder by procrastinating on this one. 

 You'll thank yourself next year at tax time, and you'll wonder why you waited so long to organize your tax documents!

Do You Need An Inbox?

Yes!  Many clients I work with either don't have one, or if they do, it's misused as yet another place to stack papers they're not sure what to do with.  Some inbox tips:

• It should live on your desktop.  It doesn't matter if it's on the corner or in the center--it just needs to be within arm's reach.
• Its main purpose is for gathering papers, reminders, notes from meetings, daily mail, and other info that isn't urgent, but that needs to be processed (filed, delegated, acted upon, trashed) in some way soon. 
• You must clean it out at least once a week!  That's the hard part for most folks.  But you defeat the purpose of the inbox if you just let stuff sit there.  Discipline yourself to make time each day or so to decide what needs to be done with each item in your inbox.  You'll notice an increase in your productivity--I promise!

Inboxes can be plastic trays or wicker baskets or even the lid of a cardboard box.  Whatever will work for you--just use one!  Here are some pretty ones from www.seejanework.com .

Organize Your Notes

My goal is to help people achieve the status of working in an organized office space.  Along my journey to do so, I've noticed several habits that those who are less organized share.  One of these habits is the over abundance of notes scribbled on scraps of paper, backs of envelopes, paper napkins from lunch, sticky notes, etc.  It's no wonder that important info is lost or forgotten!  Suggestions:

• if you take notes in meetings, use one pad of paper for this (use a different sheet for each meeting) and at the end of the day read over the notes, keep the important info you need, and toss the rest
• keep a notepad on your desk to take phone messages on or use it to take notes when you're on the phone
• lots of the scattered pieces of paper I've encountered on desks have names and phone numbers on them, so maintain a list of these people so that when you have time you can add them into your contact manager and input many all at once

Be aware of how you're gathering your information and try not to write notes in several different places.  This complicates finding it again, thus making your life harder than it has to be.  Give it a try!

Decide What to Keep, What to Toss

The beginning of a new year really is a good time to take stock of what's in your office and make some decisions about what to keep and what to toss.  Here's the catch, though: you really do need to get rid of some stuff, not just look at it and think about it.  Or "get to it later".  Whether it's going through papers that have accumulated on your desktop, floor, chair, bookcase, etc. or whether it's a box or two of miscellaneous items you've shoved in a corner, commit to tackling some part of it for a little while each day. 

To prevent this amassment from coming back (or growing larger if you don't completely eradicate it) during the year, tell yourself and accept the fact that you don't need to keep everything.  Let it go!  Make a conscious decision in this new year to decide what to do with a piece of paper or other item before you set it aside.  This time next year, instead of warily eyeing piles of whatever-the-heck in your office, you could be enjoying extra time doing something fun!  (ok, organizing is fun for me, but I realize most people hate it :-) )  Happy New Year!!

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