|
|
|
Take a look at your office. Is it overdue for some tidying
up? We're not suggesting that your office should look like a designer
showroom, with a place for everything and everything in its place. But,
rather, we're asking, If you had a visitor, would you be embarrassed
for this person to see your workspace as it is right now?
If the answer is YES, here are five steps toward straightening up your
office:
- Look in the cabinets overhead and in your bookcase.
Are there items in either that could be tossed? If you would be reluctant
to toss these out, could they be stored neatly in a closet or, in the
case of reference books, stored in a bookcase shared by the entire department?
- Look in your desk drawers. Begin with
the drawers with stationery and supplies. Pile everything on top of
the desk. If you are like many, you have pencils that are down to the
rubber eraser and pens that have no more ink. Throw these out. Organize
your supplies so you can readily reach for what you need, putting paper
clips in a small container on your desk or section of your center drawer.
Likewise rubber bands.
- Look at the file drawers in your cubicle or
office. If you have cabinets that you can barely close because
of the paper inside, ask yourself if you are fully utilizing the record
storage capability of your computer. How many copies of documents could
you toss if you saved the information on disks carefully stored in your
office. If you haven't begun to store material you create or receive
via e-mail on disks, begin. Organize disks by content in the same way
you would organize paper files and file them in a small cabinet purchased
for the purpose. Regarding the current paperwork, many of the papers
may be long overdue for the waste can. If you can't get the material
from its source in the event you need it, or you have had to look at
the information once over the last 12 months, or the information deals
with legal or tax or other corporate matters, refile it in the department
file cabinet. Empty your file drawers for all those papers you have
stacked on your desk.
- Organize the work in progress on your desk.
Divide the material by project. If you have a stack of articles or other
materials that you are keeping for your boss because he or she thinks
they might offer management ideas for the future, organize the material
by subject matter and create an idea file either in a drawer in your
office or in the department file cabinets. Box materials you don't want
to toss but don't know why. If you believe that you will be regularly
adding to this box, keep it in your office, on the floor under your
desk where it's invisible to visitors.
- Make a promise to undertake this kind of cleanup
semiannually or, better yet, quarterly -- the more frequent
the cleanup, the less accumulated material to discard and consequently
the less time it will take. If you don't think you will keep that promise,
here's a little trick: List five benefits to you for becoming better
organized. Post them on the wallboard or bulletin board in your office
as a reminder.
Five good reasons: It will make it easier for me to find documents
for my boss when he or she needs them, my office won't be held against
me at promotion time, information I've kept to help me with my job won't
be lost in stacks of paper, my desk won't be cluttered with lots of
distracting stacks of paper so I can concentrate on my job, and an organized
office will make me feel in control of my work, no matter the pressures
I'm under.
|
|
 |
AMA Learning Network |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
