It’s hard to be productive when your space is not only a mess, but also disorganised.

60% of people are visual (I am too!) so clutter and “stuff” strewn all over the place will just drive you up the wall!

Before we start, let’s get ready:

(a)       put on some upbeat music (not slow love songs – fast music!)

(b)       make sure you have a BIG wastepaper basket

(c)        get another plastic basket for items that belong in another room

So what do you need to do?

1. Back up your files

Do NOT open your email programme before you start or you’ll get sidetracked!

DO put a recurring reminder in Outlook to do this on a monthly basis, or more frequently than that.

Remember last year when I lost EVERYTHING on my flash drive? It only translated to about 2 hours’ work because I’d backed up my computer a few weeks before that.

Now, while your computer is backing up…

2. Clean off your desk

You can do this in 30 seconds (that’s why you have the upbeat music) – yes, really. Play a game with yourself and say, “by the end of this song, my desk is going to be clean”. Works for me

Put all items belonging in another room in the plastic basket. Don’t go to the actual room to put them away – you don’t want to get sidetracked!

Throw any cooldrink cans, sweet papers, etc. in the wastepaper basket. Put all the little notes inside your desk notebook (you do have ONE desk notebook, don’t you?) and set to one side.

If you don’t use the item on a DAILY basis, it shouldn’t be on your desk. By the same token, if you use something every day, make a place for it within arm’s reach.

E.g. My headset for Skype calls is on a hook on the wall above my desk – near enough that I can just reach for it, but not taking up valuable real estate on the desk.

See? 30 seconds and you’re done!

I *do* know this is the Quick & Easy way – if you want ALL the detail, check out 7 easy steps to organise your office at http://takechargesolutions.org/?page_id=17

3. Sort out the paper

Take out the desk notebook with all the little notes. I use a spiral-bound notebook with a lovely, bright yellow and lime-green cover because it makes me happy to write my notes in a beautiful notebook

Write down all those bits and pieces – your internet provider’s helpline, website addresses, people to look up on Facebook, etc.

Throw away all the junk mail and paper you don’t need (and take it to your recycling bag later).

Put all the filing in ONE pile – you can do this in front of the TV later!

Now doesn’t that feel better? A lovely, neat and organised office!

Marcia Francois is a time management and organising coach who empowers small business owners and other busy professionals who want to make the most of their time. You’ll get simple, practical organising and time management secrets to help you work less and enjoy life more! Visit http://takechargesolutions.org for your free Organising Success Pack.

I am looking for ways to organize different aspects of my life.

Need ideas on organizing office files and folders, project files, etc.

Can you give me some ideas?

Regards K.P.R.Karanth| Project Manager

First off, my golden rule for filing is…….

1. Don’t keep any paper you absolutely don’t have to.

Less paper, less filing

This is how I only need to file about 10 papers every 3 – 4 weeks.

2. What type of organiser are you?

Note I didn’t say “what type of organiser do you want to be”. Be realistic.

Will you actually punch paper and put in lever arch files (3-ring binders) or do you know you’re a bit lazy and need to just toss things in a folder?

Before I went on my decluttering bend years ago, I used to be a very lazy filer and so I used these files. No punching, just toss. Lovely.

3. Decide on a solution and try it out for a month

Think carefully about your needs before you go out and buy anything! Buying is the last step in the organising process.

That said, if the system doesn’t suit your working style, stop frustrating yourself and try something else until it works for you.

If you’re lazy about filing like I used to be because of the MOUNDS of paper I’d collect, then I’d use the folders above and store them like this.

or I’d put the papers in clear display folders (flipfiles) and store them in these magazine holders

My favourite way to organise projects is by throwing everything in one of these clear plastic envelopes. You can see I toss in the pens and flash drives, everything.

When I’m done, I pare down the paper and keep only the essentials in these envelopes. They take slightly less paper and then they go in those magazine holders.

Do you know you can make your own magazine holders with cereal boxes?

What are your favourite ways to organise your office files and folders?

P.S. Check out more ways to organise your office

I was visiting a friend out here on holiday and came across this great idea at her sister’s loft apartment.

This desk is ready for working at, but when they’re done, they simply let down the blinds and the “desk mess” is hidden from their living area.

So this is what it looks like as is…

close-up view of the cubbyhole shelves above

and a close-up view of the desk

This is way too cluttered for my working style but I really like the idea of having it all out mid-project and then just pulling down the blinds so you’re not distracted if you need to move onto other tasks.

What do you think?

This is my colleague’s notebook that I’ve been threatening to blog about for months.

I love the way she organises her notes – hopefully this will work for some of you too.

• She uses yellow post-it flags to highlight pages where there are still outstanding actions. This means she doesn’t have to page through the whole notebook to find her place.
• She also writes the client/ product name on those flags to help keep her place.
• When she has a list of personal to-dos, she folds the page in half to help categorise those tasks separately. Can you see the page on the left is folded over?

I like to start a new page for each client meeting and for each day’s work.

Of course I always use a spiral-bound notebook!

I write down my action items either in the meeting, or at my desk as I take calls or think of things to do. When I’ve done them, I highlight them in pink so I can still read them but they don’t “bother” me anymore.

I don’t use my work notebook for personal things unless they have to be done on that particular day, e.g. paying the doctor before I go to my appointments

How do you organise your notebook?

We’re decluttering and organising our home offices this month.

Here are the first 3 challenges:

1. decluttering mail and loose papers
2. that declutter at least 5 books or magazines
3. weed through at least 5 files – I also shared my top 5 filing tips

It’s not too late if you didn’t get around to any of the challenges – start anywhere with just 15 minutes a day.

1. Today, we’re going to go through our office supplies and toss:

• anything that doesn’t work
• dry pens, markers, etc.
• freebies you received that you’re not using
• duplicate supplies

If things are in good working order and you just don’t have any use for them, put them in a separate box and donate to a local school.

2. Also go around the house and return items to where they belong. If your stapler is in the kitchen for some reason, bring it back to your home office.

Incidentally, I do believe that you should have duplicates of some supplies. I have 6 pairs of scissors and we use all of them – 2 in the study, 1 with the sewing kit, 1 in the kitchen and 1 each in our two bathrooms.

(if you don’t want to post on the theme, go right ahead and post on whatever you felt like decluttering this week

Are you up for today’s decluttering challenge?

7 easy steps to organise your office MP3 and ebook system will help you get your home office organised and in tip-top shape. By the way, you get this entire system FREE when you sign up for the Virtual Organising Seminar

This week’s challenge

Please link to the post on your blog where you show off your pictures and talk about what you decluttered. If you don’t have a blog, tell me in the comments about ANYTHING you decluttered this week.

It can be anything – physical, electronic, mental clutter or even the need to be a certain way. Like perfectionism!

What did you declutter this week?

We’re decluttering and organising our home offices this month.

Last week your challenge was to declutter at least 5 books or magazines. And boy, that wasn’t a very popular challenge

It’s not too late if you didn’t get around to it – I just want you to get used to the idea that not everything you ever bought is sacred You CAN let go of some of your books.

Now today, we’re going to do something that may be a bit more fun for some of you – weeding through files.

The goal this week is to go through at least 5 files. While you’re doing that, ask yourself these four questions:

1. why am I keeping all these papers?
2. what’s the worst thing that will happen if I toss it and I need it again?
3. do I really need to keep this?
4. am I keeping it because it’s a habit?
5. is this working for me? (a la Dr Phil)

(if you don’t want to post on the theme, go right ahead and post on whatever you felt like decluttering this week

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Here is my contribution for this week…

I have one household file, one for the cars, one for medical and one personal. That’s it.

I keep my filing streamlined in these 5 ways:

• I only keep 3 months’ worth of most statements, except for our water and electricity (I have everything since we moved into this house) because things go wrong on that account from one month to the next. The Jhb residents understand this all too well
• I refuse to expand to more files so the paper is contained to just the 4 mentioned above.
• When my files get too full, I take 5 minutes and quickly declutter a couple of sections.
• I really hate filing so I only keep what I absolutely have to keep.
• When I change insurance companies, I get rid of everything from the old company after a month with the new underwriter.

So, are you up for today’s decluttering challenge?

7 easy steps to organise your office MP3 and ebook system will help you get your home office organised and in tip-top shape. By the way, you get this entire system FREE when you sign up for the Virtual Organising Seminar on Tuesday 24 Feb.

This week’s challenge

Please link to the post on your blog where you show off your pictures and talk about what you decluttered. If you don’t have a blog, tell me in the comments about ANYTHING you decluttered this week.

It can be anything – physical, electronic, mental clutter or even the need to be a certain way. Like perfectionism!

How many files did you declutter this week?

Anne here.

Confession time: I quit. I am a quitter.

It isn’t any of the self-justifying excuses I could throw out at you, it is just that I quit.

I did Steps 1-4. I had already done step 5 last fall so I limped through that one by just updating and decluttering. And I quit before I got to steps 6 and 7.

I know what you are thinking. What a loser! Way to go Anne!

I know, I know.

And the guilt is killing me.

I am so close to being finished that it is just insane to stop now. But that is how I operate. Oh, I might call it something else, but it is quitting none-the-less.

• I have plastic-canvas coasters that are 45% completed… from Christmas 7 years ago.
• I have 20% of a baby blanket started in 2000.
• I have thousands of dollars in scrapbook supplies that will *eventually* get mated with photos and stuck into albums.
• I have thrown away so much food because I got through 2 days of Freezer cooking and gave up before I got to the chicken day.
• I clean the entire kitchen and ignore the crumbs on the table.

Yep, I quit a lot.

But that is part of what this is helping me with…. the new system is so easy that I feel stupid for not using it.

And I already identified that it is easy that makes me use things, so what more excuse is there?

Loss of interest?

Could be… but no, I have enjoyed this process.

And you have all been so incredibly supportive.

So I quit quitting.

ANYWAY… I am working beyond belief to catch up and have a post for you all.

I need to share with you how I got off my butt and out of my own rut and completed all 7 steps and blogged about it. (that was a run-on sentence, I am pretty sure about that.)

Look for my final post next week with all the details.

Thanks for understanding!

Hi everyone, Marcia here

I love Anne’s honesty in this post; don’t you?

But more importantly, I want to use this as an organising lesson so we can all benefit.

The truth is that we ALL face obstacles in life when we try to do worthwhile things, whether they’re organising projects, getting fit, eating more nutritious food or just improving our relationships.

That’s life.

The way to overcome those obstacles is to realise that it’s normal and brainstorm ways to navigate those obstacles.

Think about it like this – when you’re getting your house painted, you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that it’s going to be messy and smelly while you’re painting but afterwards, you’re going to have a gorgeous, fresh room/house.

In the same way, the road to our dreams always has an obstacle or eleven

A couple of ways you can navigate those obstacles is:

1. realise that obstacles happen to everybody - it’s not because you’re a bad person, lack discipline, etc.
   
2. get some help (if you can) just to get you over the hump – even someone just sitting there and encouraging you is help
   
3. make yourself accountable to someone (I have the utmost faith in Anne and I know she will finish, and she will finish strong, but I do know that part of it is because she’s made herself accountable to 600-odd of my blog readers. There’s something about that accountability that propels you forward toward your goals)

Now, over to you.

Post about any project you’ve started where you’ve encountered obstacles

Remember that we’re decluttering and organising our home offices this month. Today your challenge is to declutter at least 5 books or magazines.

When I finish reading a book, I rate it out of 10. If the book is an 8 or higher, I may keep it.

Most of them get recycled to the secondhand bookshop so that my bookshelves always stay neat.

(if you don’t want to post on the theme, go right ahead and post on whatever you felt like decluttering

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Here is my contribution for this week…

3 packets of 3 books each… I find that they give me more money or credit for the books if there are smaller batches, so I take them back in threes.

Also, if you’re wondering about the business card…most times the book buyer isn’t there so this way it’s easy for them to phone me back and tell me how much they’ll give me. I’m all about making things easy!

I leave these packets in my launch pad so I can just grab and go when I run errands.

How many books did you declutter today?

7 easy steps to organise your office MP3 and ebook system will help you get your home office organised and in tip-top shape. By the way, you get this entire system FREE when you sign up for the Virtual Organising Seminar on Tuesday 24 Feb.

This week’s challenge

Please link to the post on your blog where you show off your pictures and talk about what you decluttered. If you don’t have a blog, tell me in the comments about ANYTHING you decluttered this week.

It can be anything – physical, electronic, mental clutter or even the need to be a certain way. Like perfectionism!

How many books did you declutter this week?

This month we’ll be decluttering home offices and today we’re starting with one of the absolute major organising challenges ever – PAPER.

In fact, a couple of years ago, I asked the readers of this blog what their biggest organising challenges were. The overwhelming response was paper and all things office – email, computer, desk, etc.

And so I wrote 7 easy steps to organise your office which, almost literally, flew off the virtual shelves.

I know it’s still the same out there because I get all your emails

If you don’t yet have the 7 easy steps to organise your office MP3 and ebook system, then read through a couple of the posts below to get some ideas.

Here are the posts…

1. Paper, paper and still more paper
2. Dealing with mail clutter
3. Paper decluttering
4. How I deal with all the paper

(if you don’t want to post on the theme, go right ahead and post on whatever you felt like decluttering

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Here is my contribution for this week
Before:

Categorising and sorting into the different files

After – aah, the bliss

Now tell me, did you declutter anything today?

Have a look at the Organise your Home e-course and get your entire home organised in just 12 weeks.

Now for this week’s challenge

Please link to the post on your blog where you show off your pictures and talk about what you decluttered. If you don’t have a blog, tell me in the comments about ANYTHING you decluttered this week.

It can be anything – physical, electronic, mental clutter or even the need to be a certain way. Like perfectionism!

What did you declutter this week?

So far I have 4 serious entrants to the competition and other “should I, shouldn’t I?” emails.

This is just a courtesy reminder that the disorganised office contest closes at 12PM EST today.

Get your entries in!

Okay, here’s the deal
I’m looking for someone who could use my 7 easy steps to organise your office MP3 and ebook pack.

I will donate a copy to someone free of charge and in exchange, you will guest blog (one post a week for about 4 – 6 weeks, depends how quickly you work through it) as you work through the system and organise your office.

The system covers organising your actual office space, desk, email, computer, etc. so you should have a more organised office than you had when you started

It doesn’t matter if one or two of your areas are already reasonably under control because even REALLY organised people have used just one or two tips and seen BIG results

This is how you enter

Send me an email to marcia AT organiseyourbusiness.com or leave a comment telling me

Entries close at midnight EST tonight (24 Dec).

I’ll let the winner know sometime over the weekend and everybody else will get another gift for being brave enough to step up