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Creativity for Success
Creativity and innovation are important keys to success in today’s rapidly changing world. Process improvement, problem solving, recruiting, retaining and motivating employees, decision making, dealing with limited resources, satisfying customers,...
Insider’s Guide to Snaring the Best Lease Deal
Every year, thousands of business owners and financial managers are faced with the task of obtaining attractive financing for equipment their firms want to acquire. Snaring the best leasing arrangement requires only a bit of planning and a...
Sales Rquires You Get Your Foot in the Door
Sales Require You Get Your Foot in the Door By Kathleen Gage If you are in sales and/or marketing you know one of the most challenging aspects of what you do is getting in front of prospects. Prospects and clients are bombarded constantly with...
What is a Notary Public?
A notary public is a public servant appointed by a state official. The general focus of his or her job is to witness the signing of documents and administer oaths. They serve to deter fraud, appearing as an impartial witness for legal documents such...
Why Men Lie and Women Cry
I've just finished reading a great book by Allan and Barbara Pease entitled "Why Men Lie and Women Cry". A true and humorous account of the differences between the sexes and full of practical ways to communicate effectively.
I've enjoyed the...
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LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION FILES! Organizing Your Office By Task
Lights, Camera, ACTION FILES!
Organizing Your Office By Task
Your desk is the most important part of your office. It is a work space, however many people make the mistake of using the desk as a storage space! In order for you to be focused on the task at hand, the desk should be clear and free of distractions, such as piles of paper, books, notes, bills, etc. How can you manage these items without losing them, find the information you need to work on, and still have a clear work space?
Action files! Action files are merely temporary homes where papers live until they either end up filed away permanently or thrown away. Your action files may sit on the far corner of your desktop, they might be in your file drawer, or in baskets on the credenza. Whichever method works for you is fine. Label them according to what actions fit best with your industry. (ex: CALL BACK, TO FILE, TO READ, TO MAIL, TO PAY, etc) Clearly label your files so you will always know what is in them, and just as importantly, the labels will remind you what not to put in them.
An important add-on to your action files is a HOLDING file. This will be a key player in the organization of your office space, as it will hold all the information that requires an action some time in the future, rather than immediately. For example, if you get an invitation and map to a seminar you?d like to attend in a few months, how do you keep that information without losing it or forgetting about the event entirely? This is precisely where the ?Holding file? comes into play.
You simply mark in your calendar the date you wish to take
action and what the action will be (ex: September 5, Marketing Seminar at the Hilton) then you make an ?H? next to what you?ve written, which is a visual indicator that the information pertaining to this event is living in your Holding file. The key to using your Holding file effectively is that you must use it in conjunction with your calendar. It?s a dual system: the note in the calendar reminds you of the action you need to take, and the ?H? next to the note reminds you of where the details of the information are being stored. Once the action is taken, remove the physical information from the Holding file and either file it or throw it away.
Some examples of what to keep in a Holding file:
·Airline tickets and itineraries
·Event or seminar invitations
·Directions to events
·Letters to follow-up on
·Auto tag registration
In short, your Holding file is a temporary home for anything with an action deadline either in the near or distant future. The system gives you a way to safely put things out of your mind until it?s necessary to think of them again, thereby freeing your mind up to focus on your immediate priorities.
About the Author
Monica Ricci has been an organizing specialist since 1999, and her motivational presentations teach effective organizing and simplifying techniques for home and work. She also offers free email tips and ideas on how to make life simpler and more organized. Her topics include clutter control, paper management, time management, organizing space and procrastination.Contact Monica at 770-569-2642 or Monica@CatalystOrganizing.com.
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