Welcome back to Part 2 of ‘6 simple ways to get organised’

4. Eliminate the clutter

I’m definitely allergic to clutter.  In my mind, everything has a home and in its home it must be. Minimalistic is great! Organised is even better!

If you can, aim to clear your desk once a week (at least!) you will be amazed by how much better you feel.  Try setting yourself deadlines to read any professional magazines you received within, two weeks for example, and be ruthless about filing away or better still recycling the old one, as soon as a new one arrives.

Give this a try – organise your current projects and papers into clear plastic wallets and have a simple system of hanging files in your filing cabinet, close to your desk if possible, to file them.  I’m a huge fan of these, I love them.  Label each wallet on the top right hand corner giving the detail of what the wallet contains.  You can even push the boat out and have different colour wallets for different subjects i.e. client notes, candidate notes, database updates, specific project name etc.  It certainly makes looking for something so much easier.

5. Identify when you’re most productive

You really will start to reap the benefits of productivity and feel so much better once you have identified – when are you at your best?  Is it first thing in the morning or perhaps after a breath of fresh air while you walk the dog, or are you an afternoon or evening person?

You can be more effective at work by focusing on key tasks when you are at your best.  A particularly challenging task will take longer to achieve if you tackle it at the wrong time.  Remember to set aside routine tasks or those that are less challenging for your low points in the day.  Don’t be counterproductive either, you are human and you mustn’t forget to take care of yourself, ensure you take a break to eat your lunch.  Skipping lunch and running yourself into the ground isn’t going to achieve much other than exhaustion.

6. Prepare your meetings

Having to attend meeting is a part of working life and it can be frustrating sitting in a meeting thinking that you could be getting on with all those things on your to-do-list.  Meetings can often take up more time than necessary, so aim to shorten them, if of course you have the control to do so.

Make sure that you are fully prepared and that you have the required information you need before the meeting, like the agenda and a list of other attendees so that you have the chance to think about the key ideas beforehand.  By being prepared you will save time.  If you are the one organising the meeting, ensure you have circulated these details to others ahead of the meeting too.

Keep focused, don’t use meetings to air your thoughts or problems on anything and everything.  Keep on track and focus on the topic, the facts and any suggestions.  Lead by example, by keeping your presentations and contributions short and concise, you never know, others may follow your lead which will result in shorter more productive meetings all round.

Do you have any preferred methods for getting yourself organised?

Please feel free to share below.  I would love to hear from you.