I have come to the realization that my organization skills are... sad. But, I want to become organized! I think I'm ready to clear out a lot of my belongings and extra clutter.
+J and I recently bought a new house and are trying to create an environment that we both love and can keep clean. It has been interesting. We talk about the closets, processes for dirty clothes, how to keep the kitchen clean... its not an easy task. The difficult thing about home is that everything is a compromise and I want +J to be happy about it, too.
At work, however, my office is my domain. And similarly, it is feeling cluttered. I have tried, repeatedly, to become more organized and have a handful of useless app purchaes to prove it. But I don't think an app can save me here. I need processes, and I need to be better able at deciding whether or not something is no longer useful and put it in the trash, shredder, or corresponding file.
These are a few of my new rules I want to make habits:
- Clean out inbox at end of day, every day. Clean out inbox every morning. RULES: If it requires action, add it to my TO DO list, or do it immediately. Save only if it needs to be referred back to. Print if VERY important, or save the information to the file that pertains to the issue.
- Filing. Create a file for each project, meeting, and organization that I am in. Keep NO PAPERS on desk accept one project that is being worked on at the time. Blocks of time in CALENDAR should prompt me to pull out the corresponding file to update me on what needs to be done and to find important papers for project, etc.
- Purge. Begin cleaning out files, or organizing files, from previous years in small chunks. Don't try to clean out all notebooks at once. If it needs to be referred back to, first see if you can scan it in to your computer. But remember that digital clutter is still clutter.
- Periodically review. Even after I feel like I am organized, regularly revisit folders, drawers, notebooks, to see if anything has been overlooked or can now be tossed if a project is completed or passed.
- Plan ahead. I'm tired of feeling rushed. I would love to feel on top of client work, events, projects, etc. Each morning, before diving in, I need to look AHEAD one week, two week, month, 6 months, and just make sure that I am on the right track. If I am not, I need to redirect myself to focus on those important tasks again, not all the details.
- On that note... set goals. I used to be pretty good at setting goals but its been awhile now since I've created some that will help lead me.
Wish me luck! :)
+J and I recently bought a new house and are trying to create an environment that we both love and can keep clean. It has been interesting. We talk about the closets, processes for dirty clothes, how to keep the kitchen clean... its not an easy task. The difficult thing about home is that everything is a compromise and I want +J to be happy about it, too.
At work, however, my office is my domain. And similarly, it is feeling cluttered. I have tried, repeatedly, to become more organized and have a handful of useless app purchaes to prove it. But I don't think an app can save me here. I need processes, and I need to be better able at deciding whether or not something is no longer useful and put it in the trash, shredder, or corresponding file.
These are a few of my new rules I want to make habits:
- Clean out inbox at end of day, every day. Clean out inbox every morning. RULES: If it requires action, add it to my TO DO list, or do it immediately. Save only if it needs to be referred back to. Print if VERY important, or save the information to the file that pertains to the issue.
- Filing. Create a file for each project, meeting, and organization that I am in. Keep NO PAPERS on desk accept one project that is being worked on at the time. Blocks of time in CALENDAR should prompt me to pull out the corresponding file to update me on what needs to be done and to find important papers for project, etc.
- Purge. Begin cleaning out files, or organizing files, from previous years in small chunks. Don't try to clean out all notebooks at once. If it needs to be referred back to, first see if you can scan it in to your computer. But remember that digital clutter is still clutter.
- Periodically review. Even after I feel like I am organized, regularly revisit folders, drawers, notebooks, to see if anything has been overlooked or can now be tossed if a project is completed or passed.
- Plan ahead. I'm tired of feeling rushed. I would love to feel on top of client work, events, projects, etc. Each morning, before diving in, I need to look AHEAD one week, two week, month, 6 months, and just make sure that I am on the right track. If I am not, I need to redirect myself to focus on those important tasks again, not all the details.
- On that note... set goals. I used to be pretty good at setting goals but its been awhile now since I've created some that will help lead me.
Wish me luck! :)
No comments:
Post a Comment