WLA 2006: Poof! You're Organized

Wednesday, 2-4pm

The program was presented by organizing coach Nancy Kruschke McKinney, and was a companion to her Conquer the Clock presentation given earlier in the day.

The benefits of organizing:

• You can find information quickly
  
• Others can find items when you're away
  
• Freedom from chaos. "Everything around us talks to us" so get rid of the things you don't like.
  
• Know where to put things when they come in. If you don't know where to put something it will end up in a pile. Know where an item's "home" is.
  
• Save time and money
  
• Reduces stress. One tip: put your car keys in the same place every day.

Where to start:

• Start small, otherwise it can feel overwhelming. Give it 15 minutes, and you can get rid of some of the "paper weight"
  
• Once you get started, make it part of your routine
  

Keys to organizing:

• Gather things together
  
• Sort by grouping like-items together and toss
  
• Create "homes" for everything; these can be containers or a minimum of 3 stack shelves (this utilizes both horizontal and vertical space on your desk)
  
• 1. top basket is a temporary holding place or inbox
• 2. middle basket is for action items
• 3. bottom basket is for reading materials
  
• Write it down; this helps us remember it
  
• Regular maintenance

Make your desktop usable:

• Create an effective desktop. A clean workspace helps us to stay focused and concentrate.
• UGH system:
• U - Usable - the things you use on a daily basis need to be close at hand
• G - Get rid of the garbage - photos on your desk reduces the amount of desk space you have; move the photos to a shelf (utilize vertical space) to reclaim desk space
• H - Handy - have a small supply of office supplies nearby
• Papers that clutter your desk:
• Papers you know you'll need soon
• Papers waiting for info/signature
• Papers needing decisions
• Projects
• Papers to file

Filing basics: keep your filing system...

• Simple -- don't make it complicated; be careful of over-colorcoding labels; make it easy to delegate filing to others
  
• Easy -- if it's too hard we aren't going to use it
  
• Manageable
  

When you're setting up a filing system ask these questions:

1. What areas of the filing system cause the greatest frustrations for you and your co-workers?
2. What areas of the filing system result in the greatest loss of time?
3. What is the primary criteria by which I would look for this document?
4. Who else uses these files?
5. Do I need this information in mulitple files?

Select the right filing system that's right for you:

• Alphabetical
• Numerical
• Subject
• Geographical location
  

To-do lists:

• It can be overwhelming to have everything in one list
• Big projects can be chunked into smaller bits that are easier to check off your to-do list

Types of files:
1. Action files:

• Action pending folders
• Project folders
• Reading basket
• Tickler system - one folder for each month of the year
  

2. Resource files:

• Maintain a file index
  
• Divide system into categories
• Avoid overstuffing files
• Eliminate documents that can be found someplace else
• Beware of over-colorcoding

Email

Managing email:

• Organize email into folders for easy retrieval. Don't let messages sit uncategorized in the inbox.
• Create folders and sub-folders.
  
• Is it kept somewhere else? If so, delete it.
• Resist the temptation to read each new email message as it arrives. Instead, read and reply to messages in batches several tiimes during a day. Turn off automatic notification of new messages; avoid these interruptions.