Organization. That’s a term we’ve all heard and have been very familiar with since junior kindergarten. Whether it’s been sorting your kids toys, shifting through files, or labelling your tool drawers in your garage we’ve all at some point or another have had to do some sort of organization. There’s always a process or pattern to the madness and each of us have our own system for what we think is “organized”.
Why is it Important?
So, why is it so important for you to be organized? We don’t know about the rest of your lifestyle and home cleanliness, but one thing is for certain you will always want to make sure your workspace is tidy, organized, and ready to go at a moment’s notice. Having a system will ensure you will always know where everything is at all times and is easily accessible.
But this system is useless if you’re a hoarder. You shouldn’t have mountains of documents covering your desk, rotten apple cores, spilled coffee, or a stash of energy drink cans pooling from under your desk from those long all-nighters. Not only will the odor be livid, but the environment would be unworkable.
We want to help you avoid your workspace from turning into a biohazardous disaster and into an organized paradise. We will next go over some helpful tips we think will help keep you ahead of the game.
Start Labeling
If you haven’t already, you should start now! If you have drawers, cabinets, or bins you should get into the habit of labelling what’s being kept in each one. Everything from archived documents, bills, materials, equipment, books should have a label. Have an area designated for each item. This will help keep things organized and instead of wasting time guessing where things are you will know immediately just by looking at the label. Saving time starts with a good labelling system.
Filing
Filing doesn’t have to be a hassle, if you learn how to file the right way it will become an easy habit of your daily routine. Get into the habit of filing things in order both in date and alphabetically. You should also have two separate areas, one for completed files and one for files in progress. This will help you keep track of finished tasks and what’s left to be done.
Also, if you get a returning client you have done work for in the past, having their file with their name and project name, with the date it was completed will help you find their file with ease when you go back to reopen their folder to review work you’ve done for them. We should also mention keeping a log book for each month to keep track of the dates projects started and ended to assist with your filing system.
A Clean Space is a Happy Space
As we had mentioned in the introduction, hoarding is a very bad habit you should never slide into doing. Make it a point at the end of every work day to take some time to organize your workspace. Make sure files are where they need to be, empty Tim Horton cups are recycled, and floor and desk are tidy. A cluttered workspace is both time-consuming and unprofessional whether it’s at home or at the office. This is also the time you should spend making sure any stationary or writing utensils are ready to go for the next day. You’ll be thanking yourself tomorrow when you do!
Have a Pinboard
This might seem like a silly thing to have in this day in age when you can just set notifications on your phone to remind you of important dates, projects to work on, and clients to meet. But, sometimes having reminders and important dates physically in front of you is just what you need when you’re distracted.
We have all accidentally shut off an alarm on our phones or flat out ignored it because of being spaced out. This is why it’s important to have something physically in your face. It’s for instances like these that having a pinboard comes in handy, not to mention seeing something more than once from different sources will help keep important information fresh in your mind.
Time to Charge
In today’s modern workspace, it’s almost impossible not to have some sort of technology with you. It’s become part of the norm to have a laptop, tablet, and cell phone with you in order to do your job. Especially now after the pandemic, a good chunk of work has been shifting to a virtual environment.
In a single work day, the amount of energy consumed is crazy and you’ll be lucky to even have a percent left on your battery. So it comes without saying that you will need to charge all your gadgets at some point, yes? We suggest that you have an area of your workspace or office that’s a designated “charging zone”.
Any tech that you’re not currently using should be plugged in and charging so when you are ready to use them they have enough battery to make it until the next task. This will ensure you will always be ready to go and won’t have to waste valuable time waiting until your cell phone, tablet, or laptop are charged enough to be used.
Getting Sticky
Finally, you can never go wrong with sticky notes! These little guys come in real handy especially if you have an extra note to tack on in your agenda or day planner. New dates, phone numbers, names, and maybe an idea that popped into your mind during the middle of a call or meeting having a sticky note at the ready will come in handy in situations like these. What’s great about them is they can be stuck on your calendar, your desktop, laptop, or notebook. If your job requires you to be versatile, then next time you pop into the store it wouldn’t be a bad idea to get yourself a pack of sticky notes.
In Conclusion
Not so bad right? A lot of these little tips and tricks will take no more than a few minutes to adapt to. You will find yourself with more time, less headaches, and a workspace to be proud of! Organization is at the core of a healthy work environment and we hope you’ll take the time to consider and even make some of your routines to keep organized.