Are Your Office Organizing Systems Working For You?

Each year getting organized and being more productive top the lists of New Year’s Resolutions. It’s exciting to imagine your life without paper piles and clutter consuming your office. And it certainly would feel great to accomplish your goals each day. Time after time I hear the same complaint. You started off great then something happened and the system fell apart. Often people give up at this point calling their systems and themselves failures.

They key to getting organized is first and foremost not to give up after the first little mishap. We all get overwhelmed, have a big project, or life circumstance that causes us to get off track. Rather than give up just start again! It’s really that easy.

Sometimes the systems that we try don’t really work for us and it’s important to be able to identify what went wrong. Starting over with a system gives you the opportunity to really observe what the problem is and to make adjustments as necessary. You may find that you really don’t like the folders you used to set up your action system. Or maybe your desk isn’t set up in a functional way. Look at your system with a critical eye rather than just throwing your hands up and declaring it a disaster!

Here are some things to look for when evaluating your system:

1) Do I have all the tools I need?

2) Do I like the tools I am using?

3) Can I find the documents and files I need when I need them?

4) Are things I use often readily available and accessible?

5) Can I easily reset the system when needed?

Remember, systems only work when you use them! Very few organizing systems work without some effort on the user’s part. Set up maintenance routines to be sure that you are keeping up with filing and other similar tasks.

What challenges do you face when trying to get organized or trying to keep up with your systems? I’d love to hear from you.

Happy Organizing!