The world consists of two types. First you have those who were born with the organization gene; second are those who were not. Do you fall in the second group? It’s okay! There is still hope for you to keep your small business organized.
The advantages are great. A person who is organized can complete their work much more efficiently. They forget important events less. They are more relaxed and feel in control of their day. This article will give you some realistic techniques to stay organized even if you feel you are a hopeless cause:
Don’t Turn Your Back on a Mess at Night
Don’t head out the door in the evening without taking a short amount of time to straighten your desk. Gather your pens, stapler, and other tools together so you can find them in the morning. Throw out the trash and get rid of any used cups or other things that don’t belong.
A key component to this step is to “organize” your paperwork generally into the order you want to handle it in the morning. At the same time, you can quickly prepare an action plan (also known as “to-do list”) for the next day, and rank each task in order of importance.
You will find that this simple 10 minute process each evening will fire you up to jump in feet first the next day to complete what needs to be done.
Organize Work Product Using the Rule of 3
There are those who have a file folder for everything and know immediately where anything is. Then, you have all the rest of us. The rule of 3 is a helpful technique that has worked for me in finding work betters when I need them.
It is a simple concept. Maintain only three stacks of paperwork at any one time. Stack number 1 contains your most pressing things – those you want to accomplish today. The second stack should hold those that need to be handled within the week, and finally those within the month. This may take a few minutes to create the first time, but in the long run it will save you ton of time from having to look through every paper on your desk for the one that you really need.
Don’t Wait
The bottom line is that you are losing opportunities for your small business every day that you wait to find an organization system you can work with. Being organized allows you to spend more of your day focused on your small business and making it a success. And keep in mind, what works for one person is a disaster for another. So take the time to find what works for you so that you can commit to it every day.
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