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Just say No (to clutter)
By Victoria Pearson, (Volunteer), D Comm, CFPSA, Ottawa
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Is your desk in danger of collapsing beneath a mountain of paperwork? Do you spend hours tracking down a memo, despite having three copies in three different places?
"I need to get organized," is a common office lament. And while we know that cluttered workspaces lower productivity and increase stress, it's difficult to know how to start attacking clutter.
Ann Max, founder of the organizing firm "Organized to the Max," spoke to a group of PSP employees in early July about strategies to get their home, office and life in order.
The first step to getting organized is not to get overwhelmed. "Sure it's going to take a week, but break it down," says Max. "Do one section at a time. Take things out, sort them out, clean, and put it all back."
Filing is often the most challenging part of the job. Go through your papers and decide what should be garbaged or delegated, filed or dealt with immediately. File papers in reverse chronological order in categorized, labeled folders.
The same system can be used to manage electronic files and e-mail. "You have to set up file folders with the same categories as your paper foldersso that your information, wherever you search for it, is in the same place," explains Max.
Max says the ultimate test is to ask, "If something were to happen to you tomorrow, could someone come into your office and find something within two minutes?"
Participants found Max's presentation entertaining and insightful. "One of the things I found helpful was knowing that I don't have to change everything at once," says National Recreational Youth Programs Coordinator Lara Rooke. "If you pick small projects and set some attainable goals, you'll eventually effect some bigger change.
Max's advice was timely for PSP employees, given their move to a new location.
"Moving is a great opportunity to change the way we do things," says Rooke. "It'll give us a chance to start fresh."
For more tips or information about "Organized to the Max," visit www.organizedtothemax.com.
Staying Organized...
Here are some of Ann Max's tips for staying organized.
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Plan out your day and prioritize tasks using a calendar and daily to-do-lists. Earmark time for filing.
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Sort incoming mail according to Max's four D's: things to be done immediately, things to be delegated, things to be delayed and things to be dumped.
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Schedule time to address delayed items, instead of filing and forgetting them. "Put it on the calendar, " says Max. "At least you know it's there, and that you've scheduled time to deal with it."
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Reward yourself for keeping organized. "It's a very hard process. Make it fun," says Max.
