How many times have you been on a business call, trying to find a pertinent file, note or piece of mail on your desk only to be faced with a mountain of clutter? It’s extremely frustrating and challenging to rifle through all that mess while still trying to maintain a conversation with the person on the other end of that call. It happens to the best of us from time to time, but we really shouldn’t let it become a habit.
When we take the time to keep our office space organized, it keeps our lives more organized and efficient. Imagine how much easier that phone conversation would have gone if you had been able to get to the information you needed right away.
Below are some tips to make and preserve the order in your office.
If you don’t need it, toss it.
Why keep superfluous material on your desk? It only serves to create more clutter. Make sure you have a wastebasket in your office and use it.
Sort your mail daily.
I don’t know about you, but mail is the first thing to pile up on my desk, so I make sure I sort it every day. What I don’t need gets tossed immediately and what I do need gets filed properly.
Avoid post it notes.
Sure, post it notes are great for jotting down a contacts name or an appointment reminder, but what happens when the paper gets lost? Add contacts to your phone immediately. If you make an appointment enter it in your calendar right away and avoid pieces a of paper messing up your desk.
Use a smartphone.
You can keep your calendar, contact, pertinent notes and reminders and many other items all in the palm of your hand. A smartphone should really cover just about any organizational challenge you meet with the use of several great apps.
Label your folders.
This may sound old school, but getting out a label maker every once in a while to give a file folder or even a drawer a specific purpose helps ensure that there’s a place for everything and everything is in it’s place.
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