February 2, 2021
For many, the holiday season can put you in a slump professionally. You’re celebrating, shopping, and closing out the year and let’s face it—your motivation can really start to slip. Even as the New Year rolls around it can be hard to pull yourself out of a rut. For small business owners, a slump like this can take its toll and create a long-lasting problem. One of the best ways to get your motivation and productivity kick-started is to get organized.
Here are five tools that will help you get organized.
- Purge unneeded files and paperwork. It’s easy to file paperwork away and forget about it, and before you know it you have 10 years’ worth of files taking up space and creating clutter. At the beginning of each year assess what files you need to keep—taking into account any rules or regulations that may apply to your industry.
- Organize and declutter your office, desk or workspace. If you’ve accumulated enough pens to supply an entire workforce or your desk has become home to a few too many family photos, it may be affecting your ability to concentrate. Whatever is causing your clutter—you can start by making sure each thing on, or in your desk has a “home.” This is a good time to get yourself a good desk organizer or set of hanging folders. Limit the amount of personal touches on your desk and get rid of anything you don’t use.
- Make sure there is a rhyme or reason to the way your computer desktop and other computer files are organized. There are many different systems of organizing your desktop and computer files, such as:
- By client or customer.
- By year or time frame.
- By category.
- By type of document.
- Go through your eMail inbox and delete unneeded messages and try not to let eMails pile up. Your eMail inbox has the potential to get out of control and quickly become a source of unnecessary stress. Block out a few hours to get a handle on your eMails so that you can start the year with a clean slate. Some find it more efficient to dedicate a certain amount of time each day to answering eMails—just find what works for you!
- Make a plan for upkeep. Set aside a little bit of time each month, or maybe even each week to stay on top of your office space organization. Being diligent about maintaining the order you’ve established will help ensure that your space is always prepared for productivity.