How to Maintain an Organised Office & Stay in Control

I used to work with many old school people who would say "Don't trust anyone with a clean desk", which is a saying moving out REAL fast. As we head toward a paperless way of living, we expect our technology aids to beep at us when we should be at a meeting, pop up reminders on tasks and pay all your bills with a few mouse clicks.

True, this way of life does make us impatient little creatures and somehow more time poor, it also means we rely on technology to act as a memory bank for us. I'm an advocate for saying "I'm sure I sent those papers" while simultaneously searching outlook.

Imagine losing your phone for weeks, how does it make you feel? Probably very disconnected and like you are falling behind with news.

So how do we keep organised? Find time for ourselves? Ensure we have thorough systems so we don't lose important things to that mysterious safe place? Not staying back at the office just to get through your daily emails?

By day I work as an Executive Assistant to a Managing Director in a quite large company. Since my boss is also a Virgo, we are practical beings and like to be on the front foot...always! So I see it as a personal challenge to stay ahead of him, you know, for my own personal satisfaction as well as get out on time everyday.

Here are some quick tips you can apply to your working life to get ahead and stay in control.

STEP 1

Open an outlook account for your emails, calendar, tasks. Sync this with your iPhone, iPad or whatever smart device you have. This will keep you in line, connected and able to access information when you need it.

This makes it super easy to quickly check an email you sent or an appointment without driving into the office or logging in on the computer.

STEP 2
 Get all the paperwork from your desk and organise it into piles

• To Acton
• To File
• Reading
• Reference Material

 Then place them in a step file or tray. Only keep what you are currently working on in front of you.

Think about how disruptive and stressful your surroundings are with paperwork scattered everywhere, emails beeping at you and the phone ringing, get some order on your desk. Clean up the paperwork, turn off push notifications and plan your focused tasks around quiet parts of the day and email checking when it's busier.

STEP 3
 Buy some colourful and happy stationery - brighten up your desk, make it somewhere you LIKE to be. Including Pen caddy, stick note holder, notebook, lots of pens, highlighters etc

Colours can evoke happy emotions and creativty, but, it can also do the opposite. Keep it bright, happy and professional - No Hello Kitty required!  Kikki K, Anthropologie and Typo are great sources - and soon Samantha Wills too!

STEP 4
Create a library of online files for correspondence, projects and photos and file your electronic documents there.  TIP = don't create a ridiculous depth of sub folders! Keep it simple.

STEP 5
 Spend a few hours organising and filing emails - you can apply the same folder structure as step 2 if it suits. TIP = Right click emails (where action is required) and drag them to 'tasks' in outlook - this removes the email from your inbox and creates a task with the email attached! Plus, you can then track what you have been doing every day.

Voila, you are on the path to being organised! Yes, it really is that simple.

So, my final words of advice to keep on the front foot.

• Ask yourself, "If you have an electronic version of a document, do I really need the paper copy?"
• If you receive something in paper copy to pass on, scan it, file it and then email it. That way you have evidence of your action, good record keeping and less paper flow.
• If you are not working on it, get it off your desk. How distracting to be looking around at a chaoic desk, you will just be stressed out at the enormous work ahead of you.
• Be solution focused, don't get buried down as to how you got in the situation - solve it, and importantly, improve the process so it doesn't happen again.
• Have a note pad by your desk, jot down phone calls, numbers and any thoughts you have - end of the day action them all and turn the page for a new day (don't leave any outstanding items on the list - write it in your task list in outlook so it is not lost)
• Plan, Plan, Plan, Plan THEN Action - don't dive into projects or tasks without speaking to the key players, connect with people, who knows they may be able to help. 
• Allow yourself 20 minutes at the end of each day to go through notes you took, outstanding actions, emails and organise them. Then plan your next day - this is probably the most important thing you can do every day for yourself. It also helps you to switch off from work when you walk out the door.

These are the tools I use to keep on top of my day. I rarely do overtime - unless there is a big project to deliver. My theory has always been "you shouldn't struggle to do your standard daily tasks, if you are you need to rethink your current processes and where you lose time."

Organising your workspace will flow on to other benefits. Just think about your first impression of a colleague who always seems to be surrounded in chaos, you would be less likely to approach him/her to assist on a new project - which could be a really great opportunity. Staying back after hours and justifying it by saying - "less interruptions means I can actually get some work done!" is not doing you, your health, your family or social life any good.

Images: 1,2,3,4,5