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by: Nial Robbins
Are you
frustrated with your office space? Do you hunt for a pen every time
you put one down? Is the search for documents a half-day event? Is
your paper filed chronologically - working your way down the pile to
'one week ago' and unable to pull out 'four months ago' for fear of
a paper flood catastrophe?
Every office deals with an excess of paper and whether large or
small, your business is suffering when you aren't operating in an
organized space.
So, how do you clear the clutter and gain control?
SPACE IS ESSENTIAL
The biggest problem with staying organized in an office is that
people set up a system and don't give themselves enough room to
grow.
If you have spent the better part of a day cleaning out a drawer and
replacing the items in organized, labeled files, but you can't
squeeze a single extra sheet of paper you've wasted your time and
the unfiled papers will grow again.
Be certain to have at least a quarter to a third (more if possible)
of growing room when implementing a system. You may need to change
over at some point, but having some extra space will encourage you
to keep up with the organizing.
This also goes for items such as architectural drawings or other
products or documents you may accumulate.
Set aside time to purge unnecessary documents. Not only will this
provide more space but will save you time that would otherwise be
wasted looking through worthless paperwork.
SIMPLE FILING SYSTEM
Do not make your system too complicated or it will be hard to follow
through. Color coding can be the easiest if you do not have too many
categories. This is effective for systems which only require
'Income', 'Expense', 'Projects', 'Correspondence' or something
similar.
For filing of large groups of clients, projects or invoices, use a
single drawer for each group of related files. A tall filing cabinet
can even be divided into alphabetical or chronological systems.
For items you refer to daily or even hourly you might consider a
posting board near your desk. This is a great idea for phone number
lists, 'To Do' lists and appointment calendars.
MAINTENANCE
A filing system is only as good as the upkeep. You may find it
easier to have a small system of files located on or near your desk
and daily or weekly transfer the items into their permanent home.
This also works for items which you need close at hand such as
current project information or price lists etc.
STYLE OF FILING
Consider if you can realistically maintain a filing system. Perhaps
labeled boxes would suit you better (especially if you tend to pile
papers). The key is to find something you will feel comfortable
maintaining. If papers are sorted and occasionally purged, your
system will work.
EVERYTHING NEEDS A HOME
Everything MUST be assigned a home. By giving each item a place you
will not loose pens, cellphones, glasses and so on. Don't crowd the
items or you will get frustrated. Recognize that all of your efforts
will help you run your business more efficiently, and thus
productively. Reward yourself for keeping the system working!
NOTE: You have full permission to reprint this article within your
website or newsletter as long as you leave the article fully intact
and include the "About The Author" resource box. Thanks! :-
About The Author
Nial Robbins owns the work at home directory website located at:
http://www.NDR-HomeBiz.com
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