May 9th, 2008
(www.myorganizedbiz.com) - Paper clutter… It’s both friend and foe. It seems like a good idea to save things until later, but then they have to be dealt with eventually.
May’s Friday Features will be addressing the challenges of paper clutter. Today’s feature comes from Pam Hix as featured on HGTV with some office clutter-reducing ideas.
I especially like her suggestion of giving files an expiration date - like a carton of milk has. This can help keep you accountable for dealing with files at the end of their life span. This also ensures that paper will flow out just like it comes in to your office with frightening reliability.
What do you think of these suggestions? Are they plausable for you?
Tags: business, clutter, hgtv, home office, office, Organize, paperShare This
By Jennifer Hofmann -- 0 comments
May 8th, 2008
(www.myorganizedbiz.com) - I don’t have kids of my own (but you can read about my adorable neices on my website). Since they’re not afoot, I hardly ever think about the challenges of working at home with kids around.
Mother’s Day is this Sunday.
So, this got me wondering about what it’s like to have kids at home. What are the greatest challenges for you running a business there? What are your tiny peeves? What are the benefits?
Inquiring minds (mine) want to know!
Tags: business, kids, moms, mothers day, office, work, work at homeShare This
By Jennifer Hofmann -- 0 comments
May 7th, 2008
(www.myorganizedbiz.com) - Are you among the many people who have great ideas that get started and never completed? Before you get harsh with yourself about what a slacker you are, just know that this is a super normal thing. Go easy on yourself.
I bring up this topic because long term projects are a part of every business. We all have marketing ideas, product ideas, and a gazillion other things on the back burner that we’d like to do someday. The fact that they get started at all is remarkable considering how busy life is!
A client recently asked me how she could track these long term projects she dreams up. She’s super visual, so we talked about ways that she could remind herself to take the next step. After a great conversation, we came up with a great solution and she’s jazzed to try it out.
And it made me wonder, how do you tend to track long term projects? What works really well for you? Where are the places and times that you get stuck?
Everyone’s got their own unique approach to managing long-term projects. Would you share yours?
Tags: business, office, Organize, planner, planning, project management, small business, systems, Time ManagementShare This
By Jennifer Hofmann -- 1 comment
May 6th, 2008
(www.myorganizedbiz.com) - Have you ever had to dig to find a piece of paper? (Who hasn’t?)
Generally speaking, the stuff on your desk is made up of projects in progress, things “to do” that aren’t urgent, and miscellaneous stuff you don’t have a home for. Beyond that, there are file cabinets and bookshelves and closets that contain storage. There’s a lot of stuff around!
One day it dawned on me that all of this paper - every last piece of it - was eventually going to end up in the trash can.
It could be tomorrow or it could be after your death, but all of this stuff you’ve got is temporary.
When will you deal with it?
In my Inspired Organizing class, we’ve been talking about the concept of office maintenance. The root of this word means “to hold in your hand” - to physically pick the thing up and do something with it. Maintaining your accumulated papers is an important key to having a resilient business and organized office.
Souns bone dry, doesn’t it? Keep reading, though, there’s more to it.
See, creating a habit of picking up things in your workspace and deciding what to do with them can be a really profound way to care for yourself and your bsusiness. It gives you an opportunity to make decisions about things you’ve been considering. And maintenance helps your business and your brain stay in a state of flow, rather than stagnancy.
How do you like to maintain?
When it comes to maintaining one’s office, there three kinds of people: Schedule people, Tending people, and Buddy people.
Schedule people like to treat their office like a real client. You like to make appointments in your calendar that set aside time to work on maintaining your office. This system works as a reminder and it helps you prevent procrastination.
Tending people treat their office like a houseplant. When the office starts wilting and getting chaotic, Tending people will take time out and deal with the clutter. You’re not crazy about being pinned down to a specific schedule, but when things get out of control, you go into a flurry of activity to get it back again.
Buddy people treat their office like a team. Buddy people like to have real live humans involved in the maintenance of their office. Having someone’s support that you’re accountable to is key. Having a sounding board is extremely helpful because the companionship is reassuring and it helps you stay focused.
It’s important to know that no maintenance style is superior, just unique to you. If you haven’t done maintenance in your office for a while, give some thought to what approach might be most helpful for you. And take the next step.
The end goal of maintenance is to help bring each paper, each item, to the next place it needs to go. Sometimes it’s to a file or back into the mail, sometimes it’s the trash can or the recycle bin. If you take one item at a time and choose its next destination before moving on to the next, it can be a few short minutes before your office is a spacious, invigorating place to work.
Do you know what kind of maintainer you are? What is your preference?
Tags: business, declutter, home business, maintenance, office, Organize, recycle, small businessShare This
By Jennifer Hofmann -- 1 comment
May 4th, 2008
I just learned that today is International Shut Down Day.
What’s this, you might ask? Read more about it from Leif Hansen at Spark NW. Then consider turning off your computer and other digital devices and do something fun for a change.
You’ll feel good - I’m just sure of it.
Happy Sunday.
Tags: leif hansen, shut down day, shutdown day, slow, soultech, spark NWShare This
By Jennifer Hofmann -- 1 comment
May 3rd, 2008
(www.myorganizedbiz.com) - Have you been thinking about a new office space somewhere in your home? It can be a perplexing dilemma if you don’t have an eye for finding a perfect nook.
I just read a great article from The Montreal Gazette that has some super solutions so the perfect work space doesn’t have to be such a head-scratcher. Check it out here.
Thanks to Thursday Bram for the tip!
Tags: business, desk, furniture, home office, montreal gazette, office, Office FurnitureShare This
By Jennifer Hofmann -- 1 comment
May 1st, 2008
(www.myorganizedbiz.com) - I felt figety and lost. Hungry, yes, but not exactly sure what to do with myself.
I was given an hour lunch break.
Little did I know that when I took a one-day-a-week job at my local SBDC, they would adhere to the federally mandated break policy. Duh! As a self-employed business owner, this hour for lunch concept was foreign and almost anxiety-producing.
You mean, sit here and eat - for a whole hour?
But I warmed up my lunch in the microwave and sat down with a copy of the local paper. And read. And chuckled at the funnies. And tasted my food. Even though I looked at the clock a couple of times, I actually started to relax and enjoy myself.
When was the last time you took an hour to eat a meal?
I ask this because it gave me such pause. My coach, Kathy Mallary, suggested to me recently that I might be “bingeing” on busy-ness - which is a distraction from the things I really want to do. Like eat. Like relax. Like connect with loved ones. If there’s a federal mandate about it, I guess there must be something to this stopping-work thing.
What do you think? Does part of having an organized biz include having time off where you’re not thinking about work?
Tags: binge, break, business, kathy mallary, lunch, OSHA, SBDC, slow food, slowness, small business, Time off, vacation, workaholicShare This
By Jennifer Hofmann -- 4 comments
April 30th, 2008
(www.myorganizedbiz.com) - Do you have a lot of books?
Maybe you’re the kind of person for whom having books is really important and getting rid of them is almost painful. Or you might just have a lot of them by default and could be ready for a good purge.
My basic belief is that the books you surround yourself with need to represent who you are and where you’re going. If you have books that represent old parts of you or past careers that have fallen by the wayside, these can keep you energetically stuck and struggling in your business.
Avid reader, Tammy asked me recently:
“What do you do with the books that muliply like Topsy (I’m a reader - I do recycle, but some books are meant to stay forever). I have 3 floor to ceiling double wide bookcases in my office and one in another room, and a 1/2 bookcase by my desk. And they’re full to overflowing! Including the art magazines which I am loathe to get rid of. The basement is my studio (another bookcase down there - stuffed). Any ideas?”
If Tammy and I were working together one-on-one, I’d want to know what her books mean to her personally and what they represent for her. It’s really juicy stuff!
But for the purpose of this Wednesday Makeover, I want to suggest a process I use in my consulting work (and on myself).
1. Notice that you think of what’s in a container as one solid unit - a whole shelf, a whole box. It looks like one big thing, but it isn’t. Recognize that they’re full of separate, unique items.
2. Identify a space you want to work in and then pick up one book and ask yourself:
- Does this still represent who I am?
- Does this represent where I am going?
- Is there someone who can use this information more than I can?
3. Use your intuition. Instead of letting your head/intellect run the show, check in with your heart’s wisdom. What does it tell you about the book in your hand?
You will find that you’re able to remove individual books and other reading materials that are no longer serving you - leaving what actually supports you. And it can feel satisfying to know that someone else’s life can be enriched by sharing the information that was once so useful to you.
Libraries, thrift stores, and Amazon are all great places to donate or sell the materials you no longer need.
How do you decide how and when to get rid of your books? Is it a difficult process?
Tags: amazon, book, bookshelf, business, clutter, library, office, Office Furniture, Organize, overwhelmShare This
By Jennifer Hofmann -- 2 comments
April 30th, 2008
(www.myorganizedbiz.com) - Last week, I encouraged readers (you!) to share about what kinds of visual tricks you use in your organizing. There was a fabulous response and everyone got some great ideas, too!
Check out the full post and awesome comments!
This thread also featured a contest - anyone who replied could be chosen (at random) to receive a $10 gift certificate to my favorite bookstore, Powell’s.
I’m happy to announce that Kristen King of Biz Chicks Rule is our winner!
I used randomizer.org to choose the winner - here’s are results (you’ll note that I actually won, but went to the next post number).
List Randomizer
There were 18 items in your list. Here they are in random order:
16
11
7
2
5
17
12
10
8
9
14
18
6
4
13
15
3
1
Congrats, Kristen. And thanks to everyone for contributing!
Tags: biz chicks rule, books, creative, office, Organize, organizing, powells, visualShare This
By Jennifer Hofmann -- 1 comment
April 30th, 2008
I’m so jazzed! Now you can find the information about office organization you want - without having to paw through lists of old articles.
In the column on the right is a nifty new widget that works like any ol’ search engine does: type in a search term and up pops relevant articles with that word in it.
Go ahead and give it a whirl! What’s on your mind today?
Tags: business, my organized biz, office, Organize, search, search engineShare This
By Jennifer Hofmann -- 0 comments
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