More Chaos While Trying to get organized?

I saw a Twitter-tweet recently, “In my attempt to get organized I believe I’ve become more disorganized than before I started.”

It’s quite a strange phenomena indeed, but one that is so common I shouldn’t consider it strange.

See, it often goes like this: When people start to organize an area, it goes from a disorganized mess to what seems like total chaos and then unfolds into an organized area. It’s the cycle of getting organized.

Stopping at the apparent chaos stage is bad. Don’t do that. And, although it’s tempting to run and get away from the scene you created, just keep at it because organization is just around the corner.

I’ve seen this happen time after time, even when I organize someone. Take, for example, a disorganized office. There are piles of paper and miscellaneious stuff all around. You start to sort through the papers and one stack turns into numerous categorized stacks. That can seem like chaos, but it’s really order that looks like a mess.

Eventually, all those now-categorized papers go somewhere (other than staying as piles in view to the world). They go into file folders or filing baskets; they get put into filing cabinets or storage boxes; they are placed into desktop folder holders or action bins.

It’s the putting away so you can find it part that brings total order to disorder. And it’s the last step after all the sorting. So, you’re not far away from a “done” while you’re sorting and creating a bigger mess in the area.

Think of it this way: the mess is just confusion. Confusion is just a bunch of stuff all around and you can’t make heads or tails out of any of it. When you start creating a bigger (but more organized) mess while sorting through the stuff, confusion is just a little more obvious because it’s flying around more (before it was motionless).

That can be overwhelming, so to prevent that, just be sure to focus on what you’re doing, one item at a time. Start with one stack, pick up the first item in that stack, decide what to do with it, and then move on to the next piece.

Pretty soon, whalla! You’ve gone from disorder to order!

Filing Papers

It’s that time of year to archive 2008 records and purge documents no longer needed to be kept. This is also a good time to get into those files and pull what you need for taxes, as well as organize any financial papers that go along with your taxes.

With a new beginning, you have an opportunity to improve the way you maintain your papers for ease of storage and retrieval. I find that a lot of people are going a little less conventional and more trendy with the manufacturing of beautiful ways to store files.

The days of the colorless file boxes are out and the time of color is in. So, why not spice up your work area with some colorful filing boxes found in our product shop?

The key to putting any papers in any box, filing cabinet, or file holder is to ensure that you can find papers easily by using categorized filing tabs. I find the best solution is to use hanging files within the box with file folders clearly labeled on its content.

This generic subject classification system is simple and applicable for any home or business (some subject classifications would not apply to a home filing system however):

Major class includes:

• Administration
• Accounting
• Corporate
• Finance
• HR
• Legal
• Marketing & PR
• Operations
• Personal (for home filing system)
• Research & Development

Within these Major classifications, there would be a level we can refer to as a secondary or primary level within the Major level. This is where it can get extensive and anything goes. One example of this level would be “Banking” which would be grouped in the Accounting classification. The file folders is another level within banking and would consist of your bank deposits, statements, etc. Get the idea?

The subject of filing system is an extensive one that I can get into more detail about later. Meantime, I hope this gives you something to work with! Be sure to take a look at our colorful filing boxes!

Daily Routines of Interesting People

I got inspired to take a look at how people spend their day by a blogger at Daily Routines where there are really interesting posts about how famous people organize their day: http://dailyroutines.typepad.com

It’s broken down into categories of people – architects, artists, filmmakers, musicians, philosophers, writers, and so forth. It also has categories for habit types of people, like nap takers, night owls, procrastinators, etc.

After reading about how Winston Churchill organized his day, I realized how so many professional people follow an agenda that’s built into their daily life that becomes routine.

For Churchill, he started off with the bath then headed out for a stroll around his garden and then took a whisky and soda to his study. By late afternoon he took a siesta which allowed him to work 1-1/2 days in every 24 hours.

The routine of how people start their day, how they progress throughout the afternoon hours, what their focal point of the day is, and how they wind down the day is quite interesting. I’d love to do a study on that, but another time.

Wouldn’t it be interesting for us to write down what we do each day from the time we wake up to the time we retire for the day? Maybe we can see where our time gets wasted too and attempt to adjust how we spend our time.

Efficient Retailing Wins Economic Woes

Businesses are having to employ innovative strategies to navigate and survive the economic climate, and struggling retailers are are finding new ways to succeed.

For the retail sector, there are a number of approaches to beat the odds stacked against them, and one of these has to do with cutting back to basics and becoming more efficient. Yes, a simple thing like better efficiency goes a long way in improving the bottom line.

For one retailer in Maple Grove, MN who owns a guitar shop, they carved themselves a niche market and use their online store to boost sales, with customers from 85 countries buying merchandise online. They also took time to get organized and become a more efficient business.

“It’s been very apparent for some time that the economic climate was changing dramatically,” said Stephanie, a decorative art historian who designed the space. “We saw it as an opportunity to get organized and become a more efficient business, without letting go of our values for quality and uniqueness.”

The couple kept the ad budget small and worked the e-mail list to promote private concerts, special deals and benefits. In December, they turned the heat down 2 degrees in the front and 4 degrees in the lesson rooms, and saw their energy bill drop $150.

Cory slowed inventory purchases to conserve cash and started bundling products together to sell as packages. He said they long ago gave up trying to come within quarters of prices offered by mass merchants, such as Guitar Center, on basics such as strings.

Businesses like this are working smarter, not harder, to not only stay afloat but increase profit. Another retailer who owns a men’s clothing store found creative ways to reach customers, including cross-promotions. The store holds special events that help drive in customers. The change began with thinking like a business person instead of a sales person.

Dorsett [Keith Dorsett of Elsworth] said it took him the better part of the year to stop thinking like a salesman and start thinking like a businessman. This year, he plans to hire a consultant to come in every six months and assess the business.

Hiring a consultant or expert in your business industry can have a great effect on helping a business with new strategies and with becoming more efficient in running their business. Although the business executive may know their product, they must also know how to manage operations better; streamlining work, cutting out unnecessary actions, and building a better, more solid foundation.

Now, managing operations of business has another meaning and doesn’t always mean supervising the activities of operations or the running of the business. All to often business owners get wrapped up in operations rather than organization. Yet it’s the organization and re-organization part that drives a business forward.

Therefore, in looking for creative ways to navigate through the current economic landscape, look at rethinking your strategies toward improved efficiency. That is, after all, where cutting back to basics begins.

Reference to this article from Minneapolis Star Tribune

Get More From A Few Smart Changes

Many individuals are looking for ways to adjust their business to help them get through this challenging economic downturn. The usual approach to business growth isn’t as applicable during a rough economy, so people need to make changes.

One of the changes a business should look at in their strategy for improvement is getting better organized. And there are a number of ways that being organized can help improve a company’s bottom line.

One very important task to undertake is handling any clutter. Every minute you spend looking in piles, wondering where that document is, or being distracted from where your focus should be costs you. After all, these “minutes” do add up.

Fact is, it wastes time and money. With a business, time is money and the amount of time spent looking for a document or item costs you. So therefore an overhaul of your work area should be the number one starting point to becoming more efficient.

There’s more you can do of course in getting your work organized. Here are a few:

• Organize files into standard categories, properly labeled
• Organize financial information (bills and financial paperwork)
• Establish ways to track your bills to pay on time
• Designate a place for everything and keep everything in its place
• Set up a more efficient work space
• Have supplies at hand
• Streamline your methods of work flow and cut out unnecessary activities
• Use computer applications to automate tasks

The key is to keep it simple. The more complicated something is to do means that task needs to be organized into a more efficient task.

One example of this is how a person processes a new contact or lead. Let’s say you get someone’s business card, then you get back to the office and put that card on your desk or dump it into your phone book to enter into your contact database later. Then when you want to contact that person you’re either sorting through a number of other cards or within papers around your desk.

To streamline this process, have a card scanner where you can just quickly scan the card and it goes right into your contact database.

So yes, keep it simple. Being better organized is the road to simplicity and the ingredient for running an efficient business.

The inspiration for writing about this came from an article by Steve Strauss in USA Today, “Get organized to get more out of your business” and one by Jean Chatzky “It’s high time to get organized.”

Organize Bills & Documents

Last night I went to an organizer’s event and walked out with a bag of goodies from the event sponsor, Office Depot.

Usually I don’t expect much in these kind of goodies bags, but I was surprised to find so many useful items! I got Post-it Super Sticky notes and highlighter pens, a Happeez Notepad, Sharpies, a sticky note pad booklet from Container Store, Bongo Ties to wrap cables, and best of all was Post-it Pockets to organize mail, bills and receipts, plus other misc. stuff.

It was the Post-it Pockets that prompted me to write this post. Actually, it is the very solution I had been looking for on the side of my refrigerator to store my menus.

Of course, I prefer highlighting products available in our own Shop here, so wanted to give you some other options in organizing paper. For one thing, the file holder pictured here is a perfect way to store and organize papers on your desktop or work area. Files like this are excellent for those “action files” like bills, mail, etc.

It’s hard to NOT be organized when you utilize things like this!

Organize Files

Going paperless

Go paperless with on-demand document management

I don’t need to tell you that people are drowning in paper. The average American household receives 100 mail pieces a month and, when you add that to daily receipts, emails, school paperwork, medical records, newspaper and magazine clippings and kids’ art projects, it’s no wonder people spend too much time looking for things.

Now, imagine if you will, your own virtual personal assistant to organize, file and fetch all your paperwork .. whenever and wherever you need it. Well, I found a place that will interest you then. It’s called Pixily – www.pixily.com.

Pricing starts out as little as $14.99 a month, and may be worth it in the minutes each day you spend looking for things.

I haven’t tried it myself yet, but plan on doing so. I’m looking at it as a “back up” of all my papers, both electronic and hard copies of things. With all the California fires lately (and one right in my own neighborhood where I had to evacuate!), this service looks like the perfect thing to do!

Hope this recommendation helps you in going a little more paperless!

Organizing paperwork

Neat Receipts Scanalizer Organizes Paper

The Martha Stewart video on YouTube shows it all and makes this scanner a Must-Have! You can scan receipts, bills, recipes, anything … and categorize them in the Neat Receipts software. View the video.

To purchase the product, go to www.artofpossibility.com. You can also view the video at this site as well. The other great feature of the software is that it provides expense reports.

A Home Filing Solution

Organize home papers with MyVitalFiles

There’s a new product in town for those home files. In a press release about it, here is what they say…Whether you are overwhelmed by paperwork, want to help a loved one get organized, you want to help your kids get a great start, or you just make sure you’re prepare for an unexpected event, MyVitalFiles.com provides a place to get started.

MyVitalFiles.com’s aim is to offer an innovative, practical, top-quality organizational product that can shower a blessing of well-equipped, more organized lifestyle than before.

MyVitalFiles.com has many unique features. Their Home Office Filing system design features include: ease of use, color coded labels, zero assembly required, pre-labeled, among many others.

Check out the web site for details and purchasing info.

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