Time Management for Mere Mortals (Part 1)

Conquer Your Desk!

by Brandon Jubar

"I need to get organized!" It's the battle cry of many a business professional. But the problem of disorganization is not limited to career-oriented individuals, nor is it confined to the workplace. Most college students, though they may not realize it, would benefit greatly from spending a couple hours organizing.  And frankly, many a household would likewise be helped.

The Argument FOR Organization

On average, professional businesspeople waste 60 minutes each day looking for stuff on their desks. An entire hour each day... wasted on a needless hunting expedition. That equates to more than a month's worth of working hours every year! And if you could figure in how much time we waste at home doing the same thing, the numbers grow much higher.  Even if you don't agree that "time is money", everyone agrees that time is valuable. How much could you accomplish with a couple hundred extra hours a year?!

Another thing we must consider is that when you are organized, your stress level goes down significantly.  When everything you need is easily accessible and simple to find, your life will feel much less rushed. Get organized and you'll feel a lot more "in control" of things.  Having things in order and under control just general makes people feel better.  In the work place, it can make you feel more confident in yourself. This confidence will make all other aspects of your job easier, and that translates into eventual success.

PHASE ONE: Clean Off Your Desk

Most people start stacking files and papers on their desks for a number of different reasons. Some of them are valid, others are not. Rather than spending time discussing WHY people collect clutter, let's jump right into how we're going to conquer it.

Step 1: Round it all up.

Take everything on your desk -- papers, file folders, magazines, sticky notes -- and put it all in ONE BIG PILE.

Step 2: Separate the wheat from the chaff.

Sort through your single, monstrous pile and do one of the following with each item:

• keep it
• throw it away

Step 3: Do something with each item you've kept.

For this step, you'll need two things: a sheet of paper with the words "Master Task List" scrawled across the top, and a file folder labeled "Things To Do".  Once you have those ready, go through your single (hopefully smaller) pile and organize the items as follows:

• If it is something that requires you to do something, such as write a memo or make a phone call, write down the action needed on your Master Task List, then place the item in the "Things To Do" folder.
• If it is something that you simply want to keep for future reference, file it wherever appropriate. (Note: File it NOW! Don't create a "To File" file... just file it now!)
• If the item is actually something that someone else needs to do, place it in a pile near the door.  As soon as you have sorted, listed and filed everything else, immediately deliver the items that someone else "owns".

That's it! Pretty simple, huh?  Trust me... it may be simple, but it's not easy!  The key is to continue to sort incoming papers the same way.

• If it requires that you do something, write it down and put it with your "to do" items.
• If it needs to be filed, file it NOW.
• If it should be handled by someone else, delegate it (pass it off) immediately.

And one final rule:

GET RID OF STICKY NOTES!

If it's worth writing down, write it down on your Master Task List or on a full-sized piece of paper.  That way, you'll either do it or file it, as appropriate.

Apply It Everywhere!

Get a handle on your desk and it will be relatively easy to control the many papers that flow across it.  And as I said, these principles can be applied to the home office or the college student's floor (assuming that your floor looks like mine did when I was in college!).  Get organized and take back some of the precious time you've been wasting. I'm sure you can use it!

Life Applications:

How organized are you?
Have you tried to get organized in the past?
What are the biggest causes of disorganization?

Copyright 2001-2008 by Brandon Jubar
All rights reserved.