Quick - organise your desk in 10 minutes

Just for today, here's a quick office organising challenge.

1. Set your timer for 10 minutes
2. Put on some upbeat music ("You can't hurry love" - Phil Collins does it for me)
   
3. Throw away all the stuff that doesn't belong on your desk
4. Sort and make piles of paper - to action, to file, to pay, etc.
5. Label these piles with post-it notes
6. Return errant items to where they belong

That's a really good start - well done!

Now doesn't that feel better?

Office Organising Makeover - Week 7 - putting the whole system together

Hello, Hello!



My office is finished! Or at least the office area that I use daily... we will talk about my storage closet later.


Step 6 is to set up a filing system for the paper you need to keep. After all that sorting a few weeks ago, this is what I did with what was left:

One thing I did -over and above- *that I really like* I replaced all the file folders (at least until I ran out of folders) with no tab folders.

Geez Anne! No tab folders cost sooooo much more than regular folders. Was that really a wise financial choice??

Actually, a year and a half ago I bought a box of 100 file folders for $3.75. Tabs and all. But to me, the tabs are visual clutter when the drawer is open and really started to bother me. So I sat down with my trusty CM cutting mat, a razor knife and a metal straight edge and I sliced off all the tabs!

The only folders that still have tabs are the pretty ones on my desktop.

And you have to see this! This is 2 plastic file totes FULL of empty hanging folders! No joke! Can you believe that when I started this journey... all those hanging files were FULL!

Oh My Goodness!!!

Now, just to show that I have really been working my butt off on this... here are shots of my closet...

Before: full of scrapbook supplies with no hope of finding anything. (The bottom of the closet is 2 deep of boxes and totes and stuff... 2 deep!)






and After: One well-organized walk-in closet for hubby and me.



You will notice that I dragged up and old dresser from the basement. It now houses things that had no home, piles that had been taking up floor space... my jeans, my hubby's hats, etc.

I also got a terrific deal on a labeler:($15 for a $40 labeler) and went to work making everything uniform and cleanly labeled.

Ok, so I am a little OCD... I admit it!

ANYWAY.... the point is that it looks good and I like it.

But let's talk about the nitty gritty... Step 6: make a system for YOUR papers. That would be a personalized way to file your papers. FOR EXAMPLE: No sence in filing alphabetically when you think in themes or time. Me? I just hate filing at all. I hardly ever reference anything again. It takes forever to file and then just becomes a forgotten set of papers. That seems like a real waste of time!

So what I did is to get rid of the things that do not get referenced and to highlight the ones that do get used.

Out went:

• receipts from the last 5 years.


• extra papers such as registration cards


• assembly sheets for Barbie dolls


• magazine pages for crafts I like the looks of but will never actually make

In went:

• tax files


• Creditor contact information


• Appliance Manuals

Then I made monthly files in my action drawer. Almost everything that I would file will go in there. So I no longer file statements by company ... I stick them in the folder for the month they were paid. Easy.

I filed my warranties and manuals by room. I made a hanging file for each area of the house and stuck in the appropriate stuff. Now it will be much easier to find the manual for the TV in my daughter's room... I will just pull the file for her room and it is the only TV manual in there.

*GRIN* Easy works for me!

Now to Step 7. The last step. This step was a "D'oh" moment for me. Simply stated... step 7 says Make your tools work for you. The suggestion Marcia made was that if you are using organizing tools that give you more work rather than less... perhaps it is better to switch to something else.

That really got me thinking. I have been using my Frankin Planner since 1995. I started using it because it was the only planner/calendar on the market that listed evening hours. I was working 12 hour shifts, working 6 days a week... and the traditional 5 day work week, 9 to 5 calendar did not cover what I needed. PLUS I needed to be able to keep personal information and my family calendar together with work so that I didnt double schedule myself. And that happened often... 60 hours a week wasnt enough for a customer and I would end up coming in on my time off to meet with them on their schedule... completely forgetting about family plans. So the Franklin worked for me.

And now I am a Stay at Home Mom. If I do work, it doesnt involve appointments outside of business hours.

But I do like having all my personal information in one place... no more searching for notes or reference materials. It is all in my planner.

I looked back over months of planner pages.

• I never use the appointment section. That is half a page wasted.
• And on the notes section I always note the same things... menu selections, medications I take, what I ate, how much I weigh and what the weather is. Hmmmm.
• I even noticed that in the last month or so I have gotten to the point that I write my TO DOs right over the appointment section. I have more TO DOs than anything else.

I need to personalize my planner to make it work for me. I drew out what I thought would work and formatted new planner pages.

Well.... I tried. I used Word. I used Excel. I used Publisher. I even downloaded Open Office. No matter what, I just could NOT get it to look the way I wanted. I mean it has to be cute and easy on the eyes or I will just quit using it no matter how efficient it is.

My solution? My 16 year old daughter!

I gave her the drawing and she set to work. Within a matter of hours she sent me a doc file with EXACLTY what I wanted in it! Thank God for technically savvy kids!

In fact, she did such a great job on it that I had her make my monthly financial planning form too!

Whoo hoo! I love my new planner pages! LOVE LOVE LOVE

That is it! I have completed all 7 steps! REALLY! I did it! And it feels amazing! Now it is your turn!

~Anne

P.S. Remember Anne's cute file folders? She did a file folder tutorial so we can all learn how to do them here.

And Anne's also sharing her daily planner and monthly financial pages with all of us.

Office Organising Makeover - Week 4 - paper clutter

Anne here! It is Week #4 and my desk is still clean!

Clean, but honestly, for me, this week was the most difficult by far!

Why? Because Step Four is all about the Paper Clutter. And not only do I have tons of paper clutter on my desk, but I have tons in my drawer, tons in my files and more hidden in boxes in the Long-Term Storage closet. My oh My!

Where do I even start?

I started by clearing off the top of my desk, clearing out the drawer, pulling all long-term files, and pulling out all the regular files.

YES… I took everything out of everywhere! And to make sure I worked on it, I piled it on my bed… no sleep for me until it was better!

I know what you are thinking...

“OMG Anne… wouldn’t it have been easier to take it one file at a time?”

Why, yes! It would have been, and considering I have been taking the easy way out for years, I thought that the only way I would finish this step was if I did something drastic! (Marcia here - don't you love her spirit? LOL)

Mountain of paper in the middle of my bed = drastic!

I started going through the pile one file at a time. I made piles *gasp* around the edges of the room…

broad categories… TAXES, REAL ESTATE, MANUALS, MEDICAL, BILLS, SHRED, TOSS, PERSONAL, IDEA FILES….

And when the bed was clear, I confess… I crashed for the rest of the day… and a couple days after too! Paper is my nemesis!

Next step was cull through the files. Anything over 10 years old got tossed or shredded unless it was a birth certificate or medical file or such.

I also tried to determine how much of what was left really needed to be kept for reference.

Obviously I kept too much! I had 5 file drawers FULL, one medium size Rubbermaid tote FULL, and two long term file tubs FULL… not including all my homeschool files! That is another 8 tubs!

1. The old tax and real estate files will go into the tubs and into Long Term Storage in the big closet.
2. The Action and Reference Idea files will go in the desk drawer.
3. The rest of the files will go in the file cabinet. I am going to make them fit! Surprise! It won't be as hard as you might think! When I culled through all the files, I reduced the amount down to one action file drawer, one tub of long term, one drawer (not full) of manuals, and one drawer of Current tax, bills, medical, insurance files. REALLY! That is all that is left! I KNOW! I can’t believe it myself! (Marcia here - Anne, I'm so proud of you!)

Let me give you some specific examples of what I did:

My piles of actionable papers were reduced into good looking Immediate Action Folders located on the desktop and As Convenient Action Folders in the desk drawer. (Marcia here - Gee! those are very good-looking files!)



Business cards were input into My Contacts and then tossed.

Notes and ideas on little pieces of paper, previously stuffed in the drawers, in my inbox, in the pockets of my planner and in my purse were added to the Notes section in my Franklin planner, appointments listed on my calendar and tasks noted on my Master To-Do List to be referenced when I do my weekly planning.

Bills were also noted on my calendar then put in an action folder.

I consolidated 3 notepads -full of lists and ideas and thoughts -into one notebook with the plan to make notations ONLY in this one place. (Marcia here - this is going to work out so well - no more looking for that "bright idea" in several places)

My projects were planned step-by-step to help track goals and documentation/supplies were filed in separate labeled folders and buckets for each project.

WHEW! But I didn’t stop there.

I made new folders for my bills… I threw away all the old statements. I only kept account policies and such.

Then I added an information sheet to the inside of each folder on which I listed all the contact information, website, password, APR and such. Now the folders will only need to be referenced if I have to make contact and can be kept in a more long term storage area. (Marcia here - I absolutely LOVE this idea!)



Part of clearing the paper clutter involves keeping the volume of paper to a minimum.

Keeping this in mind, I went online and went paperless on as many bills as possible.
I now also review the day’s mail over the trash can, tossing all ads and junk immediately.
Then the rest gets handled immediately… Bills listed on the calendar and stuck in the BILLS to Pay action file. When the bill is paid, it is crossed off the calendar, noted on a yearly financial spreadsheet that is in the BILLS folder, and filed in the monthly file.

“But Anne,” you say, “doesn’t this just give you more email to deal with?”

Why, yes! It does!

And when you join me next week for Step Five… we will talk about how I dealt with my electronic clutter –all 40 Gigs of it!

Marcia here - I can't WAIT to see how she handles the email clutter - can you?

Anne, this was an outstanding effort on your part and I'm sending all my clients (past and present) to this post to see how beautifully you broke the whole process down!

Anne's busy working through 7 easy steps to organise your office. If you'd like to check it out, have a read.

Office Organising Makeover - Week 3 - decluttering photos

Hi! Anne here again!

Have you been following my Office Organizing Journey? Let me recap:

Week One -Look at this mess! What in the world am I going to do with this chaos?

Week Two -I do so many things in this area. It is no wonder it is such chaos!


And this week...

Week Three -I absolutely do not need ALL this stuff. Watch the chaos diminish!

Part of my chaos was because supplies were put where they fit, not where they were needed.

Consequently the items closest at hand were often the least accessed and the items used most frequently had to be found and retrieved.

This created a feeling of anxiety because what would have been a quick task or a delightful craft opportunity took more time to recover the supplies... and often, even more time to stash them back where they came from.

Crazy! I know!

And because it was so crazy, I either avoided tasks or I left the supplies out because returning them was a hassle. So...

• Papers were on the desk because the files were difficult to access.
• Stamping and scrapbooking became a thing of the past.
• The day my favorite pen ran out of ink my life stopped until I found another one.
• My bills were lost and often paid late and my kids' school papers weren't returned on time.
• Shredding done inconsistently takes entire weekends.
• Projects barely get started let alone finished.

Now that I have identified what isn’t working, the necessary uses for my space and removed the non-essentials, it is time to enhance the function-ability of the work areas.

That means gathering necessary supplies and putting them in the area where they will be used. (Step Two)

I also learned that I am a VISUAL person and I do not act on things if I can't see them... and equally... I respond negatively to a disorderly work area making it highly important that action items are not only accessible, but obvious. Also making it important that tools and supplies are close at hand, but either hidden or attractive. (Step Three)

What does this all mean?

Well... just look at the differences!



My desktop has been cleared!

But more than just swiping an arm across it and hiding it in a box, my desk has been revitalized!

• I relocated the printer to the table next to the desk
• I removed the TV
• I even removed the lamp because the base took up too much space.
• I removed the messy boxes from below the desk and used the space for drawers (that had been in the closet) that hold my most essential scrapbook items.

• My use-them-for-every-project scrapbooking tools were moved from the closet to a small bin on the desktop.
• The pen cup was emptied except for necessary writing utensils that are used daily.
• The paper piles and desktop files were eliminated.

• I removed unused and overstocked amounts of supplies from the drawers.
• I removed haven’t-touched-them-in-years reference CDs and Program CDs from the drawer.

The top desk drawer now holds at-hand tools and supplies such as a hole punch, staple remover, package of staples (I used to have 3 packages of them) and rubber bands.

The middle drawer holds printer ink refills, pencils and markers not used everyday and a *new* label maker.

Everything I need is right here!

I won't have to get up to get supplies. I certainly won't need to go digging through things to find what I need!

My space looks good, is clean and has stayed this way all week!

This whole process is sooooo exciting! I never thought I would have a well-functioning work area at home without spending THOUSANDS on custom furniture and a space planner!

The changes this system has brought are more than just physical...

Marcia has taught me a new way of thinking about what I do and how I do it. Who knew… the problem was me, not my space!

Hi, Marcia here.

I am continually amazed at Anne's progress. She's not just throwing stuff away, labelling and putting things in pretty boxes (which is what most people think organising is) but she's actually asking herself the hard questions - why do I do this? what will work best for me? etc.

Well done, Anne - you're inspiring me and hundreds of other readers :)

Anne's busy working through 7 easy steps to organise your office. If you'd like to check it out, have a read.

Introducing our guest blogger for the office makeover

I'm so excited.

I had many, many great entries to the office organising makeover that made my job really, really hard but I finally selected Anne Alagna at Confessions are good for the soul.

Anne is working through my 7 easy steps to organise your office MP3 and ebook system and she'll be posting here once a week until she's done. I'm putting no pressure on her :)


To give you a taste of Anne's blogging style, go over and read this post where she showed us how she creatively organised her kitchen, which she says is her favourite room in the house.

Mine is, of course, the office. All that yummy paper, computer and email organising :)

Don't forget to come back every Tuesday to read Anne's office organising post.

P.S. If paper is your downfall, there's a free Clear the Paper Clutter book for you in my Organise Your Life Success Pack, over there on the sidebar ----->>>

My colleague's desk - before and after pics

This is my colleague's desk. He sits directly behind me - you can see my desk is in exactly the same location.

Notice the piles on the floor. Every evening he moves the piles onto the desk so the cleaning ladies don't throw it all away.

Anyway, I try not to tease him too much about his messy desk but the other guys have no such qualms. In fact, his line manager regularly asks me to help him "sort it all out". To which I reply, "sorry, I only work with people who want to change" :)

So in typical guy fashion, they bet him that he wouldn't be able to sort it all out in a week. And in typical guy fashion, he rose to the occasion and did it.

It looks a MILLION times better and I'm so proud of him. It really made my heart proud and he did it within the deadline (I think my camera said 3.22 pm on a Friday afternoon). Just goes to show what you can do when you put your mind to it because he did it in about 2 hours.

Show me your desk

As promised, here are some pictures of my desk at work. Looking at the pictures it actually looks a lot more cluttered than it feels...

Anyway, some things I want to point out to you:

1. the wall of inspiration on the right under my name (pictures of my hubby, inspirational quotes, scriptures from the Bible, pictures of friends and some SARK cards - my favourite is "you are a delicious, succulent human bean", which fits into my Big, Juicy goals theme)
2. my glass of water
3. my office control journal (in that vertical organiser)
4. minimal paper - only have 3 files and I'm actually cheating because one of them contains my performance appraisals, certificates, etc.
   

Now let's look at my desk head-on:

• computer with picture of Wicklow, Ireland as a screensaver
• in the top left corner, I have my "only four things to do with paper and email" from Help! I need more time
  
• radio and mirror (essentials!)
• to the left of the computer, my "things to do today" papers
• right in front of the keyboard, my master to-do list of all my projects and where they're all at, on top of the notebook where I write my 6 (or less) Eat the Frog items every day, and other assorted notes

For the most part, the desk works for me (although that vertical organiser is taking up too much space - I think I'll "release" it) because it's empty of stuff while still being inspiring to me. I can't work in a cold work space so I like to be surrounded by things that are "me".

If you have any questions about some things in the pics or how I do certain things, put them in the comments so everyone else can also benefit when I answer them. Thanks.

Now for the fun part, show me your desk (please link to a post with a pic of your desk, not to your entire blog)

Wordless Wednesday - beautiful desk

Share in the comments - does this kind of work environment make you do the happy dance, or is it too minimalistic?

I love it! But mine is a LOT more colourful and happy.

Everything you EVER wanted to know about organising your computer

• Do you find yourself wasting time looking for files on your computer?
• Do you get frustrated because you just don't know where to start?
• Do you know when and how often to do a back up?
• Has your computer ever crashed and you lost everything?
• Do you know how to organise and contain all those free things you keep downloading off the internet?
• Do you know how to name and store files so they're easy to find?

We can help you!

Join me as I host the Everything you EVER wanted to know about organising your computer teleclass with Computer Whiz Janet Barclay.

Janet and I have a combined total of over 30 years’ experience, organising individuals, groups and organisations.

Our systems, tips and tricks will help you have an organised computer in no time at all.

On this 75-minute teleclass, you’ll learn:

• Where to start organising your computer
• My DREAM method of organising your computer
• How to keep control of all the audios, PDFs and ebooks you get for free off the internet and how NOT to let it clutter up your hard drive
• Exactly how to label and store your documents and files so you can find them
• 3 little-known filing tricks
• How to organise your contacts and all those business cards
• How to cut your computer time in half
• How to organise tasks and projects
• How and when to do a proper, thorough back up of your files and how to know when to do it so you don’t lose your work
• And much, much more

Join us on…

Date: Tuesday 23 September
Time: 12 – 1:15 EST
How: Simulcast! (Attend via Phone or Webcast — it’s your choice)
Cost: F-r-e-e for all Gold VIP Inner Circle members. Not a member? Join here

If you’re not a member, your investment for this valuable teleclass is only $37

You’ll receive:

1. The live call - training and live coaching in the question and answer section
   
2. Recording as an MP3 audio download
3. Comprehensive handout
4. Janet’s “Maximising your time with Outlook” ebook (sells for $9,99)
5. Marcia’s DREAM method of organising your computer report (worth $9,99)

If you can’t make the call “live”, you can catch up by listening to the recording within 24 hours.

Decide today to make your computer work for you!

Book your place now.

Paper, paper and still more paper

If you're ever going to keep up with all the paper in your life, you have to decide on a system and keep tweaking it.

You can read about how to deal with mail clutter and decide if that system will work for you, or if you need to make slight adjustments.

I'll talk more about actual filing in later posts but before I do, I like to go back a step.

1. Examine the sources of all the paper in your life. Write them all down.

• Magazines
• Mail
• Printing emails
• Notes from school
• _________
• _________
• _________

2. See where you can eliminate or reduce the flow of paper into your life.

• If you get accounts by email and in the mail, email the company and stop the mail.
• If you and two friends read the same magazine, buy one every 3 months and pass it around.
• Sign notes from school immediately and send back the next day. Don't leavethem on your counter a minute longer than you have to.

3. Decide on your comfort level for accounts/ filing

• I only keep 3 months' worth of statements except for our water and electricity bills and that's because it is a crazy nightmare dealing with Joburg Connect to get queries sorted out. There are MANY great things about South Africa; that's not one of them :)
• I have one place in my study for "things to file". Since I don't keep a lot of paper, my comfort level went from once a week (about 18 months ago) to once every 3 - 4 weeks. I can still get through that pile in less than 10 minutes so it does work for me.
  

Your turn. What are your good ideas on dealing with paper?


Resource
7 easy steps to organise your office

The Home/ Office Organising Challenge

Kilbrittain, Ireland

Hi everybody

I don't even live in the Northern Hemisphere but I've been getting SO EXCITED about summer, just from reading the blogs. As you know, I'm a winter gal (just look at those gorgeous skies in the picture above) so am in my element right now with our cold weather in Johannesburg. If I could only have an insulated house like they do in the UK, I'd be as happy as a clam (anyone know if clams are actually happy?)!

So I decided in honour of your summer and our winter, we should do something fun together.

TA DA DA DUM...

Announcing ... THE HOME/ OFFICE ORGANISING CHALLENGE

Here's how it's going to work:

STEP 1

Decide what you want to tackle for the next 10 weeks. It doesn't have to take you 10 weeks but you have 10 weeks to get it all done so there's no pressure. See? Still lots of time to laze at the pool, reading, or in my case to laze under my blanket with hot chocolate ;)

I suggest you choose a specific room (s) in your HOME or your OFFICE. There's enough in most offices to keep you busy for 10 weeks!

STEP 2

Set a deadline. Depending on the size of the project, choose your date of completion.

STEP 3

Decide on a reward for completing your project. Will you buy some pillows for your home? Do you want a new desk for the office?

STEP 4

Map out your "how to" steps. I suggest that you take a big piece of paper for each room and break your BIG project down into MINI projects. E.g. in the bedroom, there might be hanging clothes, shelves, bedside table, etc.

If you're not sure about the "how to", please get the Organise your Home system (http://www.takechargesolutions.org/?page_id=21) or 7 Easy Steps to Organise your Office (http://www.takechargesolutions.org/?page_id=17).

STEP 5

Make yourself accountable to someone. Tell your family, a friend, your coach, or better still, post it on your blog and make yourself accountable to the internet!

With any project, it's always more fun when you do it together with other people so here's the thing - I'm hosting TWO Question & Answer calls over the course of the ORGANISING CHALLENGE. These calls are f-r-e-e for anyone who owns ORGANISE YOUR HOME or 7 EASY STEPS (and all clients).

Call 1 Thursday 26 June 8PM South Africa time/ 2PM Eastern Standard Time
Call 2 Thursday 24 July 8PM South Africa time/ 2PM Eastern Standard Time

During this time, you get 1:1 coaching and can ask me anything that you're battling with, tips and ideas about your organising project, etc, etc. Or you can just come listen in and get ideas from the others. Don't worry if you can't make the times - you can email your questions and I'll answer them on the call. Both calls will be recorded and the links will be put up on the password-protected site for all who have registered.

SO ARE YOU UP FOR THE ORGANISING CHALLENGE?

1. Leave a comment here if you're up for it.
2. Email me if you're a previous purchaser of the HOME (http://www.takechargesolutions.org/?page_id=21) or OFFICE (http://www.takechargesolutions.org/?page_id=17) product.
3. When you buy the product, in the comments section, please put "organising challenge" and I'll add you to the list for all the call-in information.

This is only going to take about 60 minutes every week.

Won't it be WONDERFUL to have a FUNCTIONAL and ORGANISED space at the end of August?

P.S. If anyone's a Photoshop whiz and can help out, please contact me - I need a button for this challenge to put on the blog ;)

P.P.S. If you want to see some travel pics, check out the travel blog at http://francoisfamily.blogspot.com/

Control the paper clutter

Does this picture look familiar?

Or maybe all that paper is on your desk or kitchen counter tops?

I love my lists as much as the next paper-loving person! But all that paper piles up so quickly and judging from all the emails I get, I'm not the only one.

Guess what I do now?

I laminated my monthly and weekly lists, and I write on them with a dry erase marker so I can keep re-using them.

This tip definitely works for me.

You can use this tip for anything you use often, from travel checklists to master to-do lists to monthly event planning lists.

Read more paper-controlling ideas here.

How do you keep the paper under control?

10-minute clutter hacks - OFFICE

Don't you wish you had more time to finally organise your office?

Sorry to disappoint you but opportunities rarely come along gift-wrapped in HUGE chunks of 2 or 3 hours :)

So what's the next best thing?

Using up the little bits of time you do find!

What are some of the things you can do in your home or work office in 10 minutes?

1. throw away all the dry markers and pens that don't work
2. tidy your desk
3. declutter a pile of paper
4. file a pile of paper
5. conquer your email
6. make a list of office supplies you need to buy
7. pay some bills
8. weed through a file
9. organise your library books
10. declutter your bookshelf

What other tasks can you do in your office in 10 minutes?