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Get Organized

Have you ever sat down to a do a specific task, but then wasted time looking for a tool or document you needed to complete the task?

Example: Maybe you set aside time to pay the bills, but then you wasted ten minutes searching for your checkbook and another ten minutes rounding up all of your bills. If something like this has ever happened to you, then you can already see the value of getting organized.

To be as productive as possible, you need to get organized both personally and professionally. However, do note that NOT everyone has the same definition of organization.

Example: Some people think that “getting organized” means that all documents should be neatly filed in a file cabinet and cross referenced. To other people, organization means taking these same files and stacking them into specific piles on a desk.

Here’s the thing…

You need to get organized in a way that makes sense to you using a strategy that’s comfortable. Some people prefer to stack files on their desk within easy reach. If that’s what makes you the most productive, that’s fine… just as long as you organize these files and piles into a way that makes sense for you.

Here then are five general organization tips:

⇒ Sort your email into folders. If you’re not deleting an email, then sort it into a folder (such as “friends and family,” “customer inquiries,” “orders” and so on). Even if you run searches to find emails, you’ll be able to complete the search quicker if you know what folder to look in.

⇒ Put your bills in a special place immediately. As soon as the bills reach your mail box, put them all immediately into once place. This might be a file, a basket, a box or even a special drawer. But the point is, you should put them all in once place so they’re instantly accessible.

⇒ File documents immediately. While you may set aside time once daily (or once weekly if you don’t have much paperwork to file), this is something you should take care of as soon as possible. The longer a document sits someplace other than it’s file folder (or box or special “pile”), the better chance it has of getting lost. As such, you should file it away as soon as possible so that you can find it instantly when you need it again.

⇒ Organize your computer files. You may be saving all sorts of things on your hard drive, including pictures, videos, personal documents, business documents, ebooks, reports, software and a whole lot more. You should create a file system on your computer where you sort these items into intuitively named folders. That way, you can access them immediately when you need them.

⇒ Back up important files. Finally, here’s a time saver I hope you never have to use. But if your computer ever crashes (or you have a fire, flood or similar), you’ll be happy that you followed this tip of backing up your hard drive regularly.

At a minimum, you should back up your computer files to a removable disk, such as a CD or thumb drive, at least on a weekly basis. You may individually back up your most important files (such as new documents) daily.

In addition, you may consider backing up your most important documents to a remote storage area, such as a secure folder on your website. Alternatively, you may create a copy of your CD or thumb drive and store in a location away from your computer.

For example, you may store your office computer CD at home. The reason is that if something should ever happen to your office – such as a fire – your computer and your back up CD would both be destroyed. But if you have a copy in a separate location, you can retrieve your files easily.

Tags: Time Management

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