One of the things we spend time on here at McDonald Consulting when we first engage with a client is to help them get organized, so we can work more efficiently together. For some clients this is more of a challenge than others..
Although these tips and tricks are for businesses, they can work equally well for your home life also.
- Determine what you need to keep, and put it away.
- Determine what you can get rid of, and do it - now.
- Don’t let things build up once you get it organized.
Let’s look at them one at a time:
1. Determine what you need to keep, and put it away. Is your desk a pile of papers, files, books, receipts, post-it notes, etc? Do you shuffle through things to find what you need, knowing it might be ‘1/2 way down that pile on the right’? Instead, as you touch a piece of paper, TAF it - Toss it, take Action on it, or File it away. You shouldn’t be touching a piece of paper more than once (toss) or twice (action and file).
2. Determine what you can get rid of, and do it - now. If getting rid of things all at once is too overwhelming, do it in small doses. For example, the thought of cleaning out my supply closet may be overwhelming as a huge task, but if I identify something I no longer need (downlevel versions of software, an older style keyboard, etc.) I can easily get rid of those things now. I use freecycle (freecycle.org) to let someone else use these things that are working but no longer needed (and got rid of several things that were broken - someone scooped ‘em up for spare parts) which is an environmental alternative to throwing them in the trash. That way, I can do it at my pace, and not be overwhelmed. However, if you DO decide to do this method, schedule yourself to identify x things per week, or clear off y shelves per week, to ensure it gets done. If you don’t have freecycle in your local area, get a box, put these things in them as you identify them, then when the box is full, donate the box.
Another thing you can easily do is recycle old magazines and trade journals. I used to have a stack of magazines that I was going to cull ’some day’; now, every time I’m on hold on the phone, or my computer is frozen, I’ll flip through the magazine and rip it apart - articles that I want to file or read I put in one file folder, and articles and ads I have no interest in go in the recycling bin. I carry the folder around with me when I know I might have time to read the articles; and then when I’m flying, or in a waiting room, I can read and annotate articles without having to carry around the bulk of the magazine.
3. Don’t let things build up once you get it organized. OK, now that you may be a bit more organized, you can see the top of your desk, your supply cabinet or storage cabinet (or junk drawer, or closet) is getting pared down to what you need vs. what you had — you gotta keep it up. It does little good to have a clean-out, a tidy-up, etc. only to get back in the junk habit right away. So set aside a few minutes at the end of the day (or at least the end of the week) and go through the TAF exercise again - toss, action, or file. and again. and again, until you do this by habit. Once you have that down, take a few extra seconds to TAF it as you do it - toss right away, or take action and set aside for filing as you go. You’ll be amazed at how quickly you become organized, without ever being overwhelmed!